The Chelsea Pensioners featuring Brenda Sokell

Seven singers with a combined age of 550 and an average age of 79, the Chelsea Pensioners are one of the unlikeliest group ever to aim for the pop charts. Famously clad in distinctive red tunics proudly wearing their medals, the Pensioners are war veterans living in the Royal Hospital, Chelsea in West London who decided to record an album of singalong wartime songs to raise funds to modernise their living quarters. Primarily featuring old favourites like Danny Boy, Bless 'Em All, Abide With Me and Jerusalem - and a title track Men In Scarlet was written specifically for them - it captured the imagination of audiences and attracted widespread publicity, particular for their oldest member, 88-year-old John Shuter. Guest singers from Janey Cutler, the Royal Hospital Choir, Katherine Jenkins, Dame Vera Lynn and another group of singing veterans, The Soldiers, added to the profile and, released in November 2010, the album sold over 100,000 copies in its first two weeks of release.