Paloma Faith
Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing to Epic Records in 2008, she released her debut studio album, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? (2009), which was certified double platinum in the UK. The album spawned the singles "Stone Cold Sober", "New York", and "Upside Down", and earned Faith her first BRIT Award nomination in 2010.
Paloma Faith
- Singer
- songwriter
- actress
Leyman Lahcine (2012–2022)
2
Vocals
2007–present
Faith released her second studio album, Fall to Grace (2012), which charted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and earned her a double platinum certification. The album produced her first top ten single, "Picking Up the Pieces", the top twenty cover version of INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart", and earned her two BRIT Award nominations. Her third studio album, A Perfect Contradiction (2014), stands as her most successful album to date, also receiving a double platinum certification. The album spawned the hit singles "Can't Rely on You" and "Only Love Can Hurt Like This", with the latter also topping the charts in Australia. Her fourth studio album, The Architect (2017), debuted at number one in the UK, becoming Faith's first number-one album. In 2020, she released her fifth studio album, Infinite Things. Faith released her sixth studio album, The Glorification of Sadness, in 2024.
In addition to her solo work, Faith collaborated with the duo Sigma on the 2014 single "Changing", which charted at number one in the UK, and DJ Sigala on "Lullaby", which reached the top ten in 2018. As an actress, she has appeared in St Trinian's (2007), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), Dread (2009), Youth (2015), and Pennyworth (2019–2022). Faith was a judge on the fifth series of The Voice UK in 2016, and on The Voice Kids in 2020.
Early life[edit]
Paloma Faith Blomfield was born in the Hackney area of London on 21 July 1981,[1][2] the daughter of an English mother and Spanish father. Both of her parents were raised in Norfolk.[3] Her parents separated when she was two years old and divorced two years later. She was raised by her mother in Stoke Newington, although she maintains a close relationship with her paternal grandmother.[4] As a child, she took ballet classes in Dalston.[5] After completing her A-levels at City and Islington College, she went on to study for a degree in contemporary dance at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds,[6] while working as a hip-hop dancer at the nightclub LoveDough. She then studied for an MA in theatre directing at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and took various part-time jobs as a sales assistant at Agent Provocateur, a singer in a burlesque cabaret, a bartender, a life model, and a magician's assistant.[4]
Music career[edit]
2007–2008: Career beginnings[edit]
Faith's first foray into music began when she mimicked famous soul and jazz singers including Etta James and Billie Holiday, whom she admires and cites as influences for her own work.[4][7] She met her managers Jamie Binns and Christian Wåhlberg of Lateral Management in 2007.[8] Binns had been tipped off by the producer Peanut, a client who had recently worked with Faith in his studio and been impressed.[9] He met up with Faith shortly afterwards and was "completely blown away", later saying, "I wasn't sure what this girl was going to do – she was an actress and a singer – but there was just something about her in that artistic realness that when I came out of the meeting I called Christian and said, 'We have to do something with this girl!'"[9]
During her time at college, Faith worked in a pub where the manager asked her to front his band, which they later called Paloma and the Penetrators.[10] During a performance with the band at a cabaret show, she was scouted by an A&R man from Epic Records, who invited her to sing for the manager of the label.[10] 20 minutes into the audition, she asked the manager to turn his phone off; when he refused, she walked out.[10][11] The manager later called her and offered her a contract, claiming that he had seen many acts since their meeting but none had been as memorable as her.[10] She turned down an opportunity to join Amy Winehouse's band in order to write and perform her own songs.[12] Her first recognised work was the song "It's Christmas (and I Hate You)", which she recorded as a duet with Josh Weller in 2008.[13]
2009–2013: Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? and Fall to Grace[edit]
In June 2009, Faith released her debut single "Stone Cold Sober", which reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.[14] Her second single, "New York", was released in September 2009,[15] charting at number 15 in the UK.[16] It was later re-released as an updated version featuring rapper Ghostface Killah.[17] In September 2009, she released her debut album, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?,[18] for which she wrote or co-wrote all of the songs in the UK, Sweden and America.[19] It debuted at number 14 on the UK Albums Chart and later peaked at number nine, remaining in the chart for 16 weeks.[20] and becoming BBC Radio 2's "Album of the Week" from 19 September 2009.[18] She released her third single, the album's title track in December 2009.[21] The song peaked at number 64 in the UK.[22] In the same year, Faith appeared as a vocalist on Basement Jaxx's Scars album and American hip-hop artist MF Doom's album, Born Like This.[23][24]
Television and film career[edit]
In 2007, Faith appeared in an episode of the BBC police drama HolbyBlue portraying a thief. She was also cast as Andrea in St Trinian's in 2007. Faith was also cast in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus as Sally, the girlfriend of the Devil (played by Tom Waits) in 2009.[72] She also appeared in the horror film Dread as Clara Thornhill. She later starred in the Channel 4 series Coming Up and the short film A Nice Touch. Of getting the part, she stated "I don't think they even knew I was an actress. I went to an audition and they said that they liked my interpretation of the character and I said, 'I'm just being myself'."[73] In 2013, she appeared as cabaret performer Georgia, in a television adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse's Blandings (episode "The Crime Wave at Blandings") on the BBC.[74] In 2015 she appeared as herself in Paolo Sorrentino's Youth. Later that year, Faith also appeared as Tinker Bell in the TV film Peter & Wendy, based on J. M. Barrie's novel Peter Pan.
In 2016, Faith became a judge on The Voice UK. She remained on the panel for one series, owing to her pregnancy.[75] In 2017, Faith sang with Grace Davies' on Grace's original song, "Roots", on "The X Factor". In 2018, Faith was cast as the lead villainess in the Epix series Pennyworth, a Batman prequel.[76] She also voices Portia the goth poodle on 101 Dalmatian Street.
Artistry[edit]
Faith is known for her retro and eccentric style. She is a mezzo-soprano. Her music often blends soul and elements of jazz and gospel; she has been consequently compared to Amy Winehouse, Adele and Duffy.[77][78][79]
On 31 January 2024, it was announced that Faith will be a headline performance at Camp Bestival at Weston Park in Shropshire in August 2024.[80]
Personal life[edit]
During an episode of The Voice UK, Faith claimed she once read an article that called music artist KT Tunstall old despite being only 27 at the time. As she was 27 herself at the time, Faith felt pressure to lie about her age when trying to acquire a record deal, and claimed to be 23.[81] She later admitted to lying about her age, claiming, "I want to be judged for my music, not my age" and would frequently change her age on Wikipedia until a fan provided her birth certificate.[82]
Faith married New Zealand chef Rian Haynes in 2005, though they separated after eight months and were divorced in 2009.[83] She later said of the marriage, "It was just a young, frivolous thing. We were in our early twenties and we did something quickly and realised it was a mistake. But we're still close. I am still friends with him. All my other relationships were the ones that screwed me up, not that one!"[84]
In August 2016, it was revealed that Faith was expecting her first child with long-term boyfriend Leyman Lahcine.[85] She gave birth to a daughter in December 2016,[86]. She gave birth to a second daughter in February 2021.[87][88] In an October 2023 interview with The Independent, Faith stated that she had split from Lahcine after a 10-year relationship, but would not confirm that they had been married.[71]