The life and legacy of Patti Flynn
With a career spanning more than 50 years, Nadine White leads the celebrations of one of Wales’ finest musical exports, Patti Flynn
An Image of Pink Flowers by PixabayTRENCH
Patti Flynn is celebrated for an industrious, multifaceted career across entertainment, literature and equality activism that spanned over 50 years.
Born Patricia Young in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, in 1937 to Wilmott and Beatrice Young, a white woman from Wales and a Black merchant seaman from Jamaica.
An Image of Pink Flowers by PixabayTRENCH
Mrs. Flynn, a contemporary of Dame Shirley Bassey, was encouraged to pursue a singing career by Vic Parker, a renowned jazz guitarist who lived locally and took the budding starlet under his wing as a mentor.
After performing as a cabaret act in local venues between the 1960s to late 1970s, Mrs. Flynn eventually released an album in 1979 entitled With Love To Come through independent label SRT Productions.
It featured, among nine other tracks, a rendition of the disco classic "Love Is In The Air" and a haunting take on "Killing Me Softly".
This was followed up with two singles, "Xmas Everyday" and "Soul Stuntmania", in 1982, via Prairie Records and Movie Music, respectively.
An Image of Pink Flowers by PixabayTRENCH
During this decade, Mrs. Flynn moved to Spain, delving into music production and radio presenting. Thereafter, the entertainer returned to her hometown of Cardiff to launch and perform in shows including Jazz Ladies Of The Twentieth Century and Trip Down Memory Lane.
Ever committed to shining a light on others, she established the Butetown Bay Jazz Heritage Festival alongside Humie Webbe, her friend and a fellow jazz singer, which platforms rising musical talent.
A passionate advocate for Black history, Mrs. Flynn was a founder of the Black History Month movement in Wales.
Moreover, she campaigned for almost three decades to have a monument erected for the contributions made by the Back, Asian and minority ethnic service men and women during World War I and II.
This was important, Mrs. Flynn felt, so that their sacrifices "will never be extinguished" and she was proud to lobby for this alongside Betty Campbell, Wales’ first Black headteacher.
In 2019, the monument was finally installed at the Welsh National War Memorial in Cardiff by the Welsh Government and British Armed forces senior officials.
During the same year, Mrs. Flynn was bestowed with the Ethnic Minority Welsh Women Achievement Association's Lifetime Achievement Award (EMWWAA).
She died the following year, in September 2020, aged 83, following a short battle with cancer, leaving behind three children, grandchildren, and an unforgettable legacy.
This digital work has been produced in collaboration with PRS Foundation and POWER UP. The article first featured in TRENCH x Union Black's Chapter One: Game Changers zine.
Words by Nadine White
Video by Patty Flynn, Peterellis8411, Cardiff Music History, Diverse Cymru
Commissioned by TRENCH
