Pop icon Cilla Black remembered outside British famous Cavern Club

A statue was unveiled Monday in Liverpool's most famous street, depicting one of Britain's highest paid female entertainer.

Cilla Black who died in 2015 rose to stardom after being discovered in the iconic Cavern Club at the same time as the Beatles were shooting to international fame.

A statue, paid for by her children, was unveiled outside the club.

The unveiling of the bronze life-like statue, happened on the day the Cavern started a day of celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of its opening on January 16, 1957.

Cilla White as she was originally known made impromptu performances at the Cavern which impressed the her friends, the Beatles. It opened the door on a lifelong career in show businesses for Cilla Black as a singer and entertainer.

The statue is placed just outside the original entrance to the Cavern, just meters away from the cloakroom where she worked as a teenager in the early 1960s.

The statue, by Liverpool artists Emma Rodgers and Andy Edwards was commissioned by her three sons, Robert, Ben and Jack.

They donated it to her home city as a thank you to the people of Liverpool for the support the family received after she died at her villa in Spain.

Mathew Street was crowded as several thousand people packed the narrow pedestrianized roadway to catch a glimpse of another piece of Liverpool pop history.

Son Robert Willis said: "We are thrilled that this beautiful statue of our mother is located where it all really began for her and for it to form part of the Cavern's 60th anniversary celebrations."

The Cavern's Dave Jones called for the famous club to be protected and preserved for all time.

The Beatles, who became one of the world's most famous pop band, played hundreds of gigs at the Cavern in the 1960s, putting the club firmly on the global musical map. Endit