🎵Musicians

Lena Martell

British · 86 years old · Died 5 October 2026

Scottish singer whose One Day at a Time reached number one in 1979

Lena Martell was born Helen Thomson in Glasgow in 1940 and became one of Scotland's best-known singers. Her cover of One Day at a Time reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in 1979. She worked on Broadway, including as an understudy to Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, and presented her own television music series in the UK. The Herald reported that she died peacefully at a care home on October 5 after a short illness, aged 86; no cause of death was disclosed.