Shirley Bassey advises Church to take a rest

Shirley Bassey has hit out at fellow Welsh singer Charlotte Church.

The 68-year-old diva said Church has “let herself down” by turning into a party animal.

And she said Church, 19, should have stuck to classical music instead of reinventing herself as a rock chick.

Bassey told the Daily Telegraph: “Charlotte Church? She needs to take a long rest – a year off to go away and think. Because she has made a very bad choice moving into rock music. She was once the classical voice of an angel. Not now.”

She went on: “I think Charlotte has let herself down. When I was that age, there was no such thing as binge drinking. It was totally different. We had an adventure… We used to say, ‘Let’s go to a dance and see what gorgeous fellows we can meet.’ Now, girls like Charlotte say, ‘Let’s go and see how many drinks we can knock back.’ I think it is dreadful.

“You know, if they live to 30 or 35, they’ll know all about it then. You damage the liver and it is not good for the voice. Terrible!”

The two singers share the same home city of Cardiff and have met several times.

Church, currently at number two in the charts with her new single Crazy Chick, recently confessed to downing 10 double vodkas on an average night out.

Elsewhere in the interview Dame Shirley, whose hits include Goldfinger and Big Spender, complained about some of her fans.

Her most dedicated fans follow her to every gig she plays and always buy seats in the front row.

The singer said: “They follow me across the country but I don’t want to see them there night after night. They think it is mean of me and unreasonable, but they don’t see my side of it. I am going to a different town every night and I don’t want to see the same old faces, it is psychologically upsetting.”