Duffy | |
|---|---|
 Duffy in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Aimée Anne Duffy (1984-06-23)23 June 1984 (age 41)[1] |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2003–2011, 2015[3] |
| Labels | |
| Website | iamduffy |
Aimée Anne Duffy (born 23 June 1984), knownmononymously asDuffy, is a Welsh singer and actress. Her music style has been described as a mixture ofsoul,blue-eyed soul,pop rock,neo soul andpop music.
Duffy released her debut album,Rockferry, in 2008, which topped theUK Albums Chart and also topped the charts in several music markets, leading to worldwide attention. It followed the lead single "Mercy", which topped theUK Singles Chart and also topped the chart in several countries and the top ten in twelve others. In 2009, Duffy received theGrammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album forRockferry, one of three nominations, and won three out of fourBrit Awards nominations, for British Breakthrough, Best British Female and Best British Album. In 2010, she made her acting debut in the filmPatagonia and released her second studio albumEndlessly to moderate success.
Duffy retreated from the public eye in 2011 following an alleged experience ofabduction andrape, which she disclosed in 2020. All musical endeavours and scheduled performances were cancelled until 2015, when she appeared in the filmLegend and later contributed three songs to its soundtrack. According to Duffy's official website, she is currently signed toPolydor Records, which operates underUniversal Music Group.[5]
Duffy was born on 23 June 1984 inBangor,[6] and was brought up by herEnglish father John Duffy andWelsh mother Joyce (née Williams) inNefyn. Duffy's parents divorced when she was 10 and she moved toLetterston,[citation needed] near thePembrokeshire town ofFishguard, with her mother and two sisters.[7]
She attended Ysgol Nefyn (Nefyn School), Gwynedd on theLlŷn Peninsula andSir Thomas Picton School inHaverfordwest, Pembrokeshire as a child. At the age of 17, she attended the Pwllheli campus ofColeg Meirion-Dwyfor to study for A-levels. She subsequently went to theUniversity of Chester and studied Commercial Music Production on theWarrington 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 policesafe 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 3½-year jail term for soliciting to murder. "I was so terrified. I felt so ill", Duffy recounted in 2008, as reported by theNME.[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 includedbinge drinking and stealing a rowing boat.[12]
After finishing herGCSEs 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 atChester University to "Go on thedole, love, and become a singer".[13] She also built up a following atAlexander's, a local jazz and blues club inChester, where she performed with guitarist David Burton from the bandThe 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 onWawffactor, a Welsh television talent show. She was expected to win but came second to winner Lisa Pedrick.[16]
In 2004, following success onWawffactor, Duffy recorded a three-song Welshextended play, titledAimée 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 "SiartC2" music chart. Duffy, now in high demand, appeared onMint Royale'sSee You in the Morning as a back-up singer.[18] Duffy was introduced toJeanette Lee ofRough Trade Records in August 2004, after singingRichard Parfitt's "Oh Boy".[19] Lee moved Duffy toCrouch End in London, orchestrating a meeting between Duffy andSuede's ex-guitar playerBernard Butler.[20] Lee, with Rough Trade, would eventually manage Duffy.[21] After Butler had given Duffy asoul music "education" by downloading tracks on to heriPod 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 byAl Green,Bettye Swann,Ann Peebles,Doris Duke,Scott Walker,Phil Spector andBurt Bacharach.[13] Duffy describedBettye Swann as one of her biggest inspirations, particularly her song "Cover Me".[23]
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Duffy was contracted toA&M Records (UK) on 23 November 2007.[24] She performed on the BBC Two television showLater with Jools Holland,[25] which resulted in a second appearance on the related broadcastHootenanny, where Duffy performed withEddie Floyd. On 22 February 2008, she appeared onLater with Jools Holland for a third time and performed "Rockferry", "Mercy", and "Stepping Stone". Duffy also made appearances on the BBC Two television programmeThe Culture Show on 23 February 2008, performing "Mercy". In January 2008, Duffy came second toAdele in the annualBBC News Online poll of industry expertsSound of 2008, for acts to emerge in the coming year.[26] In Wales, following Duffy's recent promotion of her music,Aimée Duffy reached number-one on the "SiartC2" music chart.[27] By 2007, Duffy was finalising her debut album effort, to be titledRockferry, afterRock Ferry, where her grandmother lives.[28] She subsequently struck a US label deal withMercury Records, a newly re-activated imprint ofIsland Def Jam Music Group. The first single from the album, also titled "Rockferry" was critically well-received with Allmusic calling it a "grand, sweeping ballad".[29]
Butler and his musical partnerDavid McAlmont, along with a number of other musicians, formed the backbone of Duffy's band for her debut album,Rockferry, which was released on A&M Records on 3 March 2008.[30] The black-and-white album art and video for the title track were shot by directors Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull, on and around theFfestiniog Railway inPorthmadog, which was renamed 'Rockferry' for the occasion.[31] According to Duffy, "The album took nearly four years to make. We had to hire cheap, tiny studios and sometimes there would be three-week periods between writing and recording." Bernard Butler, who was not initially paid, produced four songs for the album, including the single "Rockferry".[32] The singles "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone" were co-written and produced by Steve Booker, and the third single "Warwick Avenue", byJimmy Hogarth andEg White. Duffy released the debut limited-edition single "Rockferry" in November 2007; it was followed by "Mercy", produced and co-written by Steve Booker, which went straight to number one. "Mercy" was the last song written for the album.[33] The single was physically released on 25 February 2008.[citation needed] She said that both "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone" are autobiographical; "Mercy" is about "sexual liberty" and "not doing something somebody else wants you to do", and "Stepping Stone" is about not expressing her feelings to a person she fell in love with.[34] "Warwick Avenue" was the second single released from the album. The song occurred when Duffy, then 19 years old, was familiarising herself with theLondon Underground and accidentally found herself at theWarwick Avenue station. The following day the song "just sort of came out". At first the video for the song was meant to be an elaborate production, but ended up a tearful head shot in a taxi cab with Duffy's mascara smudging. Duffy has said "That's as close as I'm ever going to get to doing a performance that's real in a video."[35]
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By May, "Mercy" was a staple onVH1 and a hotAdult Contemporary radio hit and had been featured in the season finale of the American television medical dramaGrey's Anatomy as well as being on the soundtrack album forSex and the City: The Movie.[36][37][38] A remix of "Mercy", featuring rap artistThe Game, was released on 10 May.[39] On 13 May,Rockferry was released in the United States to positive reviews.[40][41][42] The album's low cost of production reaped Duffy substantial financial benefits.[32] Despite her album's success in the United States, she was quoted as saying "I don't like how big American stars consider themselves an exception from humanity".[43] In November 2008, the single "Rain on Your Parade", produced and co-written by Steve Booker, was released. The song was first released on download sales only on 10 November 2008, before being released physically on 17 November 2008.[44] Duffy describes this as "a big, disco-y dance song".[45] It entered theUK Singles Chart at number twenty-two before rising to a peak of fifteen the following week. The track was included on the deluxe edition ofRockferry. At the2008 MOJO Awards, Duffy won the "Song of the Year" award for "Mercy"[46] and was nominated also for "Album of the Year" and "Breakthrough Act". These three nominations were the largest number of nominations for any one act.[47] She also received a 2008Q Award in the category ofBreakthrough Act,[48] a nomination for the Q category ofBest Track for "Mercy",[49] a Music of Black Origin Award nomination forBest UK Female.[50] At theMTV Europe Music Awards, she received nominations in the categories ofAlbum of the Year,Most Addictive Track, andNew Act.[51] She performed at the EMA show.[52]
Duffy has performed at concerts and festival gigs around the world. Her first American performances took place at theSXSW conference,[53] and theCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was her first festival gig.[54] To coincide with the release ofRockferry, Duffy performed at theApollo Theater in New York City.[55] Duffy received the honour of performing at theRoyal Variety Performance 2008.[56] In 2008, Duffy played many festivals in Europe. This included visits to French,[57] Swedish and Irish[58] summer festivals, amongst others. In the United Kingdom, Duffy played venues such asGlastonbury and theEvolution Festival. She also toured the American summer festivals in 2008, including a visit toLollapalooza in Chicago.[59] She toured the United Kingdom and Ireland during November and December 2008.[60] To promoteRockferry, Duffy made many visits to American television, includingLate Night with Conan O'Brien,[61] andSaturday Night Live.[62] Duffy played a fourteen-city North American tour. Plans had called for her to open forColdplay on six of the dates.[63] During a concert in Cleveland, Duffy accidentally set the left side of her hair on fire.[64] In New York, Duffy was left apologising to an audience after briefly bursting into tears. She stated to the audience that this happens in one out of every 15 of her shows when she feels exposed for reasons she does not fully understand.[65] Duffy also made a recording for British broadcaster BBC, performing at the LSO St. Luke's. The performance was televised in 2009 on the British television station BBC One.[66]
At the51st Grammy Awards held in February 2009, Duffy won a Grammy Award in the category ofBest Pop Vocal Album forRockferry. Earlier she had been nominated for awards in the categories ofBest New Artist andBest Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single "Mercy".[67] Duffy equalled Coldplay with four 2009Brit Awards nominations. She eventually won three awards, including Best Album forRockferry, one behind the record held by Blur for the most won in one night.[68] "I cannot tell you what this means after five years of hard work," Duffy said.[69] At the awards ceremony she performed "Warwick Avenue". Record producers & songwriters Steve Booker & Bernard Butler gained awards for their work on theRockferry album. She shared a 2009Ivor Novello Award in the category "Most Performed Work" with Steve Booker for their work onMercy. SongwriterEg White won the award for "Songwriter of the Year" in part forWarwick Avenue, which he co-wrote with Duffy.[70][71] "Mercy" was played on United States radio and television more than 3 million times earning Duffy a 2009Broadcast Music Incorporated award.[72] The album was nominated and shortlisted for theAlbum of 30 Years category at the 2010Brit Awards.[73]
The album's success led to a period of confusion about her role in the music business that nearly led her to quit music.[12] Duffy has said that she did not mind peopleillegally downloading her music because she believes most people who do are kids who cannot afford the CDs and will buy them when they get older.[74] Duffy recorded a cover ofPaul McCartney and Wings' song "Live and Let Die". It was used on theWar Child charity album titledWar Child Heroes, Volume I.[75] Acclaim came from Paul McCartney, saying that Duffy's version "is great –I was really impressed".[76] Duffy and Bernard Butler wrote the song "Smoke Without Fire", which appeared on the soundtrack for the filmAn Education.[77] For the 2009 movie called "The Boat That Rocked" in the UK and "Pirate Radio" in North America, Duffy sang Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me Baby".
Duffy said that she needed to slow the pace of her career in order to write her second album.[78] In January 2010, Rough Trade Management, who withJeanette Lee had managed Duffy, announced that they and the singer had parted amicably. Duffy's new management stated that "the professional relationship between Duffy and Rough Trade management has run its course."[21] On 16 September 2010, Duffy announced the release of her second album,Endlessly. The album was recorded in New York, London and Spain[79] in the year prior to the announcement. Duffy formed a song writing partnership withAlbert Hammond for the record.Endlessly was released in the United Kingdom on 29 November 2010 and placed at number 9 in the album charts of 5 December. The album's first single failed to achieve the success of previous singles, entering the UK charts at number 41 on 21 November.[80] Called "Well, Well, Well", the single features a rhythm section by United Stateship hop groupThe Roots.[81][78][82]
In 2011, producersDavid Banner andAlbert Hammond announced that Duffy was in the studio for her third album, but nothing happened for the next few years.[83][84] In August 2011, Duffy was scheduled to perform in Monaco for the Sporting Summer Festival, but cancelled.[85] In October 2012, Duffy was announced as a performer for the Atelier Festival in Dubai but also cancelled.[86][87] In September 2013, Duffy gave her first live performance in three years during a tribute toEdith Piaf in New York City.[88] At the2014 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that Duffy would star in a film project calledSecret Love which was never released.[89] In 2015, she appeared in the crime thriller filmLegend, playing American singerTimi Yuro and also contributed three songs to the soundtrack, her first recordings since 2010.[90]
After years of avoiding the media and public events, as well as not releasing new musical material, Duffy said in an interview in 2020 that she was "raped and drugged and held hostage" years ago and that was the reason for her hiatus.[91] In 2020, she posted two of her unreleased songs, "Something Beautiful" and "River in the Sky".[92][93][94]
On 26 March 2025, Duffy appeared in a video posted toTikTok, lip-syncing to a garage remix of "Mercy" by The Emotion; the track is expected to be released, however no date has been announced.[95][96]
On 1 February 2009,The Times Encyclopedia of modern music namedRockferry an "Essential"blue-eyed soul recording. Albums byAmy Winehouse and Adele were also named as essential Blue Eyed Soul recordings in the "recent" category.[97]During her Best New Artist acceptance speech at the51st Annual Grammy Awards,Adele said that she loves Duffy and thinks she is "amazing".[98]
Duffy listsMarvin Gaye,Phil Spector, andArcade Fire as her musical influences.[99]
Duffy's "Distant Dreamer" is used as the ending theme inJoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean.
Duffy has endorsed several products. In August 2008, Duffy appeared inFashion Rocks, supporting a new range ofNivea products.[100] Duffy has also appeared in various European television commercials endorsing the beverageDiet Coke. The campaign, showing Duffy cycling through a supermarket singing "I Gotta Be Me", was launched on British television stationITV, following the2009 BRIT Awards, which saw Duffy take home three awards for her work.[101] Duffy was named as the "face" of the brand, alongside other famous women,[102][103] though her initial advert for the brand was widely deemed as a career misstep.[104] 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'sAdvertising Standards Authority. However, these claims were ultimately rejected.[105]
Duffy made her film debut playing the character of Sissy in the 2010 drama filmPatagonia, directed byMarc Evans. Sissy's character is "a Welsh student who livens up the holiday of a young Argentinian man on a trip to Wales".[78][106] The film is about Welsh Argentines living inY Wladfa,Patagonia, Argentina.Patagonia premiered at theSeattle International Film Festival on 10 June 2010,[107] and was released in October 2010.[108]
Duffy datedCheshire-born Mark Durston[109] for over five years until November 2006. They lived inAbersoch.[110] In September 2008, Duffy said that she was "on the borderline of a nervous breakdown" because of the pressure that fame had brought her. She said that she had considered becoming a recluse, but eventually decided against the idea for the sake of her fans. Although acknowledging that most people do mean well, she spoke of finding it "scary" when people recognised her in the street, and was fearful of her image possibly changing the person she is.[111][112] In 2009, Duffy's estimated fortune of £4 million placed her in 16th place in that year'sSunday Times listing of Great Britain's wealthiest young musicians.[113] She dated Welsh international rugby playerMike Phillips from September 2009[106] to May 2011.[114]
On 3 October 2012, Duffy escaped from a fire in her rented penthouse apartment in Abbots House inKensington, London.[115]
She was awarded anHonorary Fellowship byBangor University on 10 July 2011.[116][117]
In July 2011, Duffy was sued by Angela Becker, the manager she had hired in 2010 to replace her former manager Jeanette Lee. Becker said that she was hired in March 2010 and was dismissed in December 2010, but was supposed to remain Duffy's manager until the end of the promotion ofEndlessly or alternatively four months after its initial release.[118]
On 25 February 2020, on her official website, Duffy wrote that she had been "raped and drugged and held hostage over some weeks". She said she had disappeared from the spotlight so she could recover, adding that she was now doing well, but it had taken her time to recover.[119][91] She did not disclose the identity of her attackers, when, or where the attack took place.[120]
In a longer statement published that April, Duffy wrote that she had been drugged at a restaurant on her birthday, taken to a foreign country on a plane, and was then held captive in a hotel room and raped. Since the ordeal, Duffy said that she spent "almost 10 years completely alone" and, thanking her psychologist, said that she now felt she could "leave this decade behind", but added: "I very much doubt I will ever be the person people once knew".[121][122][123]
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Patagonia | Sissy |
| 2015 | Legend | Timi Yuro |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
