Sydney Devine MBE (11 January 1940 – 13 February 2021) was a Scottish country singer born in Bellside, near Cleland, North Lanarkshire, whose early talent for bird calls caught the attention of tenor Robert Wilson, leading to a role in the White Heather Club troupe and a breakthrough in 1959 with the single "Wee Jean Frae Auld Aberdeen". Devine’s recording career launched with Your Favourite Country Songs (1970) on Emerald Gem, followed by a steady stream of releases such as Country (1973), Encores (1974), Crying Time (1974), and the compilation The Very Best Of (1975). He continued to chart with singles like "You're Sixteen" (1973) and "Oor Wee Willie" (1974), and he collaborated with artists including Roy Orbison and Dolly Parton. In the 1970s he hosted the television series Devine Time on STV and appeared on Radio Clyde, where he popularised the catchphrase “get the kettle on, Shirley”. Devine’s work earned him 15 million album sales worldwide, a place in the Guinness Book of Records in 2019 for the longest continuous theatre show, and an MBE in 2003 for services to entertainment in Scotland. He died at University Hospital Ayr on 13 February 2021, leaving a legacy of country music recordings that continue to be reissued by labels such as Emerald and Scotdisc.
