Dame Vera Lynn revealed in unearthed footage from a candid interview that her singing teacher branded her untrainable before she found her fame.
The singing icon, who died today aged 103, was speaking about her illustrious career alongside her daughter Virginia in clips aired by BBC1 in their special tribute show.
Vera had great success with songs including We'll Meet Again, The White Cliffs Of Dover, There'll Always Be An England, I'll Be Seeing You, Wishing and If Only I Had Wings.
But she admitted when she first hired a singing teacher before she hit the big time, the teacher gave up straight away.
Vera explained that she did not actually much enjoy singing when she was younger, but she was "alright once I was on, in full swing, I was ok."
"Once they found out I could sing, they used to take me around all the working men's clubs in London," she said.
"They were great audiences, there were no microphones in those days, but my voice was much louder because I sang in a higher key.
"When I started using a microphone I had to lower my tone."
Virgina mentioned Vera's singular singing lesson which she had "when she was older".
"I just went once, I thought I could extend my range, but when she heard me sing she said, 'No I can't train that voice, it's not a natural voice', so I said, 'Thank you very much madam', and left," she laughed.
"I wonder if she ever heard me when I was on the radio after that!"
Songwriter Sir Tim Rice made a statement about Vera and her musical talents
"Dame Vera Lynn was one of the greatest ever British popular singers, not just because of her immaculate voice, warm, sincere, instantly recognisable and musically flawless," he said.
"She will be remembered just as affectionately for her vital work in the Second World War and for her own Charitable Foundations in the 75 years since.
"A link with more certain times has been irrevocably broken."
