Lena Martell, first Scottish woman to top the UK singles chart, dies aged 86 after a short illness

From the Newshound archive · first published 6 October 2026.

Lena Martell, the Glasgow-born singer whose 1979 hit 'One Day at a Time' sold 2.5 million copies and spent five weeks at number one in four countries, has died peacefully in a care home aged 86. Born Helen Thomson in Possilpark, she won Britain's first televised talent show as a teenager, earned her first recording contract at 16, and went on to sell almost 20 million records across a career spanning Broadway, Las Vegas and the West End.

Martell famously understudied Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in Broadway's 'Funny Girl', and performed alongside Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.

'One Day at a Time' entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1979 after staying in the charts for 36 weeks, making her the first Scottish solo female artist to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart.

Former Pavilion Theatre manager Iain Gordon said: 'Lena and Sydney Devine were not only favourites at home in Scotland but across the world — may she rest in peace.'