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Some artists put out a few albums, land a few hits and then drift off our radar. But some are blessed with the kind of incomparable talent, show-stopping charisma and sheer star wattage that keep us coming back for more year after year, decade after decade.

Take, for instance, one Dame Shirley Bassey. With just a withering glance and salty shake of her formidable vibrato, the 76-year-old singer who's a good six decades into her career managed to silence (at least temporarily) all the hubbub around Jennifer Lawrence's spill, Anne Hathaway's (career) peaks and whether Seth McFarlane was a funny sexist pig or a boring sexist pig at the Oscars a few weeks back. (The answer: Who cares? All we heard was Shirley wailing, "He loves only gold! He loves GOOOOLLLDDDD!")

Dame Shirley is exactly the kind of diva we're talking about here: the sort of lady who just doesn't quit, who embodies fierceness, who is a sheer force of nature, hairspray and gold lamé. And this is a playlist full of her comrades in high drama, artists across genres whom we've adored across generations as they've continued to perform, record and just kill it. Age ain't nothin' but a number, honey.