Sheila Diana Ferguson (born October 8, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and author, who has worked primarily in the United Kingdom.

She has forged a prolific stage and screen career in the UK, starring in numerous musicals, soul legend tours, and her own sitcom Land of Hope and Gloria.

While at high school, Ferguson was introduced by her teacher to Richard Barrett, who had previously been a singer with a group called The Valentines, and later had gone on to become a manager.

Although Barrett signed Ferguson as a solo artist, he was already in the process of creating a group called The Three Degrees with the line up of Fayette Pinkney, Shirley Porter and Linda Turner.

Having previously appeared with the group as a cover when one of the girls fell ill, Ferguson was asked by Pinkney and Harmon to become a permanent member.

It was during this year that The Three Degrees enjoyed their greatest success when signed by Philadelphia International Records and working with Gamble and Huff.

The self-titled The Three Degrees was released in 1973 and yielded hits such as "Dirty Ol' Man" (which went to #13 in the UK Singles Chart) and "Year of Decision" (which went to gold in the Netherlands and Belgium).

However, the subsequent release of "When Will I See You Again" ensured international recognition when the song became #1 in the UK charts for two weeks in August 1974 (the first time this had been achieved by an all female group since The Supremes).

Following an appearance on Top of the Pops, other countries followed suit and "When Will I See You Again" did extremely well worldwide reaching #2 in the U.S. where it sold over two million copies and earned the group a gold record in 1974.

This album was called Take Good Care of Yourself in the UK, the title song of which reached the top 10 in the same country.

Realizing that her long absences from home caused her daughters to become emotionally distant from her, she then made the ultimate decision to leave the group.

[5][6][7][8] Although Ferguson no longer has any professional relational encounters with The Three Degrees, she still will perform hit songs that she originally recorded and sang with The Three Degrees; such as "When Will I See You Again", "Dirty Ol Man", "Year of Decision", "Woman In Love", "Giving Up Giving In", and "Take Good Care Of Yourself".

Ferguson has performed in multiple soul legend tours and appeared as the Acid Queen at the 50th anniversary of The Who at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in November 2014.

In 2010, Ferguson joined the cast of the Irish National Tour of Fame the Musical playing the strict head teacher Miss Sherman.

[23] Most recently she starred in the West End musical celebration Respect La Diva at the Garrick Theatre and in Daddy Cool as Pearl.

Ferguson also appeared as the Fairy Godmother and Wicked Queen in numerous pantomimes, including Dick Whittington, Cinderella, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast.

Ferguson headlined Ipswich Regent Theatre's pantomime, playing the Wicked Fairy in Sleeping Beauty from December 2016 to January 2017.

She played the lead role in the TV sitcom Land of Hope and Gloria, which ran for six episodes in 1992 and was her first acting venture.

Ferguson appeared in the second BBC series of The Real Marigold Hotel, and spent a month in India with seven other celebrities.

On April 11, 2012, Ferguson co-hosted Newcastle-based charity, Toma Fund's Eurovision Reunited event..

In 1989, Ferguson published a cook book inspired by recipes from her African American background, Soul Food: Classic Cuisine from the Deep South.

[5] From sometime in 2005 until 2010, she had temporarily resided in Mallorca with her partner Jonathan Curry who was a theatre technician and was roughly 20 years her junior.