Lena Martell

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Lena Martell (born Helen Thomson, 15 May 1940, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish singer, who had a number one UK single with "One Day at a Time" in 1979.

She had released a number of standards throughout the 1970s on the Pye record label and was a popular draw on the cabaret circuit, but her gospel tinged country cover of the song written by Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson, proved to be an unlikely success at the height of disco and new wave, topping the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in November 1979. Her follow up singles failed to chart, so she has the dubious honour of being classified as a one-hit wonder.

Although out of the limelight for a while while nursing her sick mother, Martell has now returned to the music industry, and is still touring the UK. She has recently released a few albums on the ScotDisc label, which have been very successful.^{[citation needed]}

Lena has just undergone surgery to replace a valve in her heart and in March 2008 underwent triple heart bypass surgery.

Her audience's favorite still remains "One Day at a Time".

Preceded by "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Buggles

UK number one single October 27, 1979

Succeeded by "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" by Dr. Hook