R.I.P. Cilla Black 1943

“It is with deep sorrow that I confirm today the passing of singer and TV personality Cilla Black”, Nick Fiveash said in an emailed statement.

Asked what she would like on her tombstone, she said: “Here lies Cilla Black, singer“.

Black’s debut single, Love of the Loved, which was written for her by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, was a modest success.

She had one of the biggest-selling singles ever, coined the catchphrase “A lorra lorra laughs” and had her life story turned into an award-winning drama.

Other tributes included “The X Factor” host Caroline Flack, who said she was an “inspiration me growing up”.

And fellow “Hey Jude” hitmaker Ringo Starr took to the micro blogging site Twitter to offer his and his wife Barbara Bach’s condolences. The death appeared to be due to natural causes, but this had not yet been confirmed by tests, Spanish police said. She was Liverpool’s Cinderella, and she did go to the ball.

Alex and Sue kept in touch with Black in the years that followed, and were interviewed for Black’s TV special to mark her 50th year in the entertainment industry back in 2013. “She knew something we didn’t”.

Sir Cliff Richard remembered her as “outrageous, funny, incredibly gifted but above all full of heart”.

“She knew she was going to die and she said she wasn’t going to linger like her mother”. Surprise!, described Black as a “national treasure” adding that she will “always be with me”. We’ve been friends for almost 20 years.

In a tweet, her friend Joan Collins called Black “a resplendent and rare talent”.

Before signing with Beatles manager Brian Epstein in 1963, Cilla attended secretarial college and worked in the city’s Zodiac coffee lounge and as a cloakroom attendant at the famed Cavern Club.

She wrote: “Very sad news about Cilla Black“.

It is thought Cilla, who was in Spain with Robert – one of her three beloved sons – passed away overnight as authorities were reportedly notified of her death earlier this morning. So successful was her television career, she went on to became the most popular presenter on television.

Cilla Black’s pool cleaner claims she died of a stroke, even though no official cause of death had yet been revealed.