Duffy (singer)
Aimée Anne Duffy (born 23 June 1984) is a Welsh singer, songwriter and actress. Her music style has been described as a mixture of soul, blue-eyed soul, pop rock, neo soul and pop music.
This article is about the female singer born in 1984. For the English male singer born in 1941, see Duffy Power. For the English male singer and songwriter born in 1960, see Stephen Duffy.
Duffy released her debut album, Rockferry, in 2008, which topped the charts in several music markets and led to worldwide attention. It followed the lead single "Mercy", which reached number one in several countries and the top ten in twelve others. In 2009, Duffy received the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Rockferry, one of three nominations, and won three out of four Brit Awards nominations, for British Breakthrough, Best British Female and Best British Album. In 2010, she made her acting debut in the film Patagonia and released her second studio album Endlessly to moderate success.
In February 2011, she announced an indefinite hiatus from music. She briefly returned in 2015, appearing in the film Legend and later contributed three songs to its soundtrack. In 2020, Duffy explained her long-term absence from the music industry, saying that she had been recovering after being abducted and sexually assaulted. According to Duffy's official website, she is currently signed to Polydor Records, which operates under Universal Music Group.[5]
Early life[edit]
Duffy was born on 23 June 1984 in Bangor, Gwynedd,[6] and was brought up by her parents; John Duffy and Joyce Smith (née Williams) in Nefyn, near Pwllheli. She has a twin sister, Kate, and an older sister, Kelly Ann, who was born in 1980. Duffy's parents divorced when she was 10 and she moved to Letterston, near the Pembrokeshire town of Fishguard, with her mother and sisters.[7]
She attended Ysgol Nefyn (Nefyn School), Gwynedd on the Llŷn Peninsula and Sir Thomas Picton School in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire as a child. At the age of 17, she attended the Pwllheli campus of Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor to study for A-levels. She subsequently went to the University of Chester and studied Commercial Music Production on the Warrington campus. From 2004, she studied Performing Arts at the Parkgate campus.[8]
In September 1998, at the age of 14, Duffy was briefly put in a police safe house when authorities uncovered a plot by her stepfather's ex-wife to pay a hitman £3,000 to kill her stepfather, Philip Smith. Smith's ex-wife, Dawn Watson, was sentenced to a 3 +1 ⁄2-year jail term for soliciting to murder. "I was so terrified. I felt so ill", Duffy recounted in 2008, as reported by the NME.[9][10][11] Duffy describes living in the safe house as a dog-eat-dog, claustrophobic and isolating experience. Aged 15, she ran away back to her father's home in Nefyn. Duffy said in retrospect, "It was a horrendous thing to do." Her mother and her sisters did not speak to her for about a year afterwards. In reaction to her parents' break-up, her next three years were a rebellious period that included binge drinking and stealing a rowing boat.[12]
Career[edit]
2003–2006: Musical beginnings[edit]
After finishing her GCSEs in Pembrokeshire,[13] Duffy returned to Nefyn, to live with her father, when she was fifteen, and started singing in various local bands. Duffy then spent six weeks in Switzerland (before she started college), collaborating with the writer-producer Soren Mounir, under the name Soulego.[14] She was advised by a lecturer at Chester University to "Go on the dole, love, and become a singer".[13] She also built up a following at Alexander's, a local jazz and blues club in Chester, where she performed with guitarist David Burton from the band The Invisible Wires, and met songwriter Lucia Cordaro, going on to perform and record one of her songs (I Melt).[15] Duffy returned to Wales in 2003 and was invited to appear on Wawffactor, a Welsh television talent show. She was expected to win but came second to winner Lisa Pedrick.[16]
In 2004, following success on Wawffactor, Duffy recorded a three-song Welsh extended play, titled Aimée Duffy, while working part-time in two jobs as waitress and in a fishmongers.[17] It later achieved Welsh chart success in 2008, charting at number one on the "Siart C2" music chart. Duffy, now in high demand, appeared on Mint Royale's See You in the Morning as a back-up singer.[18] Duffy was introduced to Jeanette Lee of Rough Trade Records in August 2004, after singing Richard Parfitt's "Oh Boy".[19] Lee moved Duffy to Crouch End in London, orchestrating a meeting between Duffy and Suede's ex-guitar player Bernard Butler.[20] Lee, with Rough Trade, would eventually manage Duffy.[21] After Butler had given Duffy a soul music "education" by downloading tracks on to her iPod that she could listen to while around London or travelling back to Wales, the pair co-wrote with her and helped create a new retro sound.[22] The music included tracks by Al Green, Bettye Swann, Ann Peebles, Doris Duke, Scott Walker, Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach.[13] Duffy described Bettye Swann as one of her biggest inspirations, particularly her song "Cover Me".[23]
Artistry[edit]
On 1 February 2009, The Times Encyclopedia of modern music named Rockferry an "Essential" Blue-eyed soul recording. Albums by Amy Winehouse and Adele were also named as essential Blue Eyed Soul recordings in the "recent" category.[95]
During her Best New Artist acceptance speech at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Adele said that she loves Duffy and thinks she is "amazing".[96]
Duffy lists Marvin Gaye, Phil Spector, and Arcade Fire as her musical influences.[97]
Duffy's "Distant Dreamer" is used as the ending theme in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean.
Other projects[edit]
Duffy has endorsed several products. In August 2008, Duffy appeared in Fashion Rocks, supporting a new range of Nivea products.[98] Duffy has also appeared in various European television commercials endorsing the beverage Diet Coke. The campaign, showing Duffy cycling through a supermarket singing "I Gotta Be Me", was launched on British television station ITV, following the 2009 BRIT Awards, which saw Duffy take home three awards for her work.[99] Duffy was named as the "face" of the brand, alongside other famous women,[100][101] though her initial advert for the brand was widely deemed as a career misstep.[102] In addition, the advert went on to spark unexpected complaints about the health of children when it showed Duffy riding without protective gear, to the United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority. However, these claims were ultimately rejected.[103]
Duffy made her film debut playing the character of Sissy in the 2010 drama film Patagonia, directed by Marc Evans. Sissy's character is "a Welsh student who livens up the holiday of a young Argentinian man on a trip to Wales".[78][104] The film is about Welsh Argentines living in Y Wladfa, Patagonia, Argentina. Patagonia premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on 10 June 2010,[105] and was released in October 2010.[106]
Studio albums
