Described by one of her close friends Sammy Davis Jnr as "another Streisand", the vibrant and effervescent Lynn Rogers, who grew up in Mount Isa, shares a rare insight into her career and the people she met along the way.
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Ms Rogers was born in Mt Morgan but moved to Mount Isa aged seven and grew up here and still mentions the city whenever she appears on stage.
Now 79 years old and living on the Gold Coast she still performs live.
"I'm working with my own quartet and we do shows here," Ms Rogers said.
She found fame in the 1960s as one of Australia's most popular singers, can impressively recall all the names of people, places, hotels, and bars throughout her career.
"I have a good memory,. Anything to do with my business I know in detail, but you ask what I had for breakfast, and I would't be able to tell you," she said.
Her father moved to Mount Isa in 1947 and her mother Grace (better known as Dora) was a tennis champion in the city.
While Lynn sung at parties she wanted to be a hairdresser.
After she left school she worked with Utah Australian and then Thiess Bros building the Dam, but didn't like getting her hands dirty and then worked in the typing pool at Mount Isa Mines.
"But I wasn't happy with that either so my mother said you should get a job where you are connected with people," she said.
"My sister had a hairdresser there and they were looking for an apprentice so they told mum we'll take Lynn on."
Her singing career began at 16 after winning a talent quest on Coolangatta beach.
"My mum entered me in the competition, and despite never having a singing lesson, I won," she said.
"The first prize was a TV audition and a bottle of plonk. Well, I gave the bottle of plonk to Luckie Grills, the compère and comedian who made fun of me."
The dedicated singer then 17 never came back to Mount Isa. instead she spent most of her career touring overseas, performing back to back shows.
Israel was a favourite place to perform.
"I was the first cabaret performer to appear there since the war at the Magic Carpet Room in Tel Aviv-Yafo," she said.
"Israel felt like home. I had been away from Australia for so long, and when I came out on stage, everyone started singing Waltzing Matilda. It was very emotional."
When asked what the 60s were like for a young career woman like herself, Ms Rogers laughed,
"If you can remember anything from the 60s, you weren't really there."
In the late 1960s, Ms Rogers hit number one on the Australian record charts with her song "Just Loving You".
"I was above The Easybeats, and back in those days, it was male groups that dominated the charts. It was very unusual to have a solo female singer," she said.
One night, the energetic vocalist befriended Sammy Davis Jnr after getting up during her show and singing That Old Black Magic with her.
"Sammy was appearing in a show at the Palladium in London called 'Golden Boy', which was about a boxer, but I could never understand why because you'd blow on him, and he'd fall over," she said..
Sammy Davis became her ally, taking her under his wing and being the main instigator for her to perform in Las Vegas and the Star Dust Hotel in New York.
"One night, he introduced me to Frank Sinatra. I was so gobsmacked I accidentally spat across the table on Frank. I was stumbling over all my words because I just adore him," she said.
"Even to this day, I can't believe I spat on Frank Sinatra."
Des O'Connor is another close friend of Rogers and referred to her as one of the top female singers of their time.
"But he was a mate, and I said 'oh yeah, I'll give you 25 dollars later for that'," she said.
The humble singer returned to her homeland for a brief stint, not realising the magnitude of her success and status back home.
"I was walking along the tarmac at the airport, and all these reporters and paparazzi were trying to get photos of someone, so I stood to the side, so I wasn't in their shot," she said.
"Well, on the news that night, you can see me step aside, and a journalist turns to me and says, 'welcome back, Ms Rogers, we're taking photos of you', I could not believe it."
Taking great pride in her appearance, Ms Rogers would often bring home luxurious fabrics to designer Kevin Byers to create marvellous pieces for her shows.
Ms Rogers fondly remembers when she got stuck in a garment after Mr Byers was vigorously sticking diamantes on her.
"We were in hysterics laughing, but I have never laughed so much in my life. I eventually got out of the darn thing," she said.
Ms Rogers has spent the past four years at Seachange Arundel, where she continues to hone her craft, constantly increasing her repertoire.
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