Florence and the Machine (stylised asFlorence + the Machine) are an Englishindie rock band formed inLondon in 2007 by lead vocalistFlorence Welch, keyboardistIsabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and harpist Tom Monger. The band's music features dramatic, eccentric production and Welch's powerful vocals.[1] Their sound has been described as a combination of various genres, includingrock andsoul.[2][3]
The band's debut studio album,Lungs, was released on 3 July 2009, and held the number-two position for its first five weeks on theUK Albums Chart.[4] On 17 January 2010, the album reached the top position, after being on the chart for twenty-eight consecutive weeks.[5] As of October 2010, the album had been in the top forty in the United Kingdom for sixty-five consecutive weeks, making it one of the best-selling albums of 2009 and 2010. The group's second studio album,Ceremonials, released in October 2011, entered the charts at number one in the UK and number six in the US. The band's third studio album,How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, was released on 2 June 2015. It topped the UK charts, and debuted at number one on the USBillboard 200, their first to do so.[6][7] The album reached number one in a total of eight countries and the top ten of twenty. Also in 2015, the band was the headlining act atGlastonbury Festival, making Welch the first British female headliner of the 21st century.[8]
The name of Florence and the Machine is attributed toFlorence Welch's teenage collaboration withIsabella "Machine" Summers. Welch and Summers performed together for a time under the name Florence Robot/Isa Machine. According to Welch, "The name Florence and the Machine started off as aprivate joke that got out of hand. I made music with my friend, who we called Isabella Machine to which I was Florence Robot. When I was about an hour away from my first gig, I still didn't have a name, so I thought 'Okay, I'll be Florence Robot Is A Machine', before realising that name was so long it'd drive me mad."[9][10] In addition to Summers (keyboards), the current band members include musicians Robert Ackroyd (guitar), Chris Hayden (drums, percussion and backing vocals), Mark Saunders (bass guitar and percussion) and Tom Monger (harp).[11] In the past, Welch has praised her band for understanding her creative process, claiming, "I've worked with most of them for a long time and they know my style, know the way I write, they know what I want."[12]
In 2007, Welch recorded with a band named Ashok, who released an album titledPlans on the Filthy Lucre/About Records label. This album included the earliest version of her later hit "Kiss with a Fist", which at this point was titled "Happy Slap".[13]
Florence and the Machine released their first albumLungs in the Netherlands and Ireland on 3 July 2009. The album was produced byJames Ford,Paul Epworth,Steve Mackey,Isabella Summers and Charlie Hugall.[3] The album was officially launched with a set at theRivoli Ballroom inBrockley, south-east London. It peaked at number one in the UK and number two in Ireland. As of 6 August 2009, the album had sold more than 100,000 copies in the UK and by 10 August it had been at number two for five consecutive weeks.[14][15] Following its 25 July 2009 release for download in the United States, the album entered the charts at number seventeen on theBillboardHeatseekers Albums chart,[16] ultimately peaking at number one.[17] The album was released physically in the US on 20 October byUniversal Republic.[18]
Lead vocalist Welch performing live inSingapore, 2010
After the release ofLungs, "Drumming Song" and a cover ofthe Source andCandi Staton's 1986 song "You've Got the Love" were released as singles.[31][32] "Cosmic Love" was released on 5 July 2010 as the sixth and final single fromLungs, with a music video having already been shot.[33] The song was featured in several American television shows, includingGrey's Anatomy,[34]The Vampire Diaries,[35]V,[36]Nikita[37] andSo You Think You Can Dance.[38] The band also made a guest appearance on 7 February 2011 episode ofGossip Girl, titled "Panic Roommate", where they performed an acoustic rendition of "Cosmic Love".[39] On 12 May 2010, it was announced that Florence and the Machine would provide a track called "Heavy in Your Arms" for thesoundtrack toThe Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third film ofThe Twilight Saga.[40]Eclipse was released in cinemas on 30 June 2010, with "Heavy in Your Arms" playing during the end credits. The music video followed on 7 July 2010. An exclusive remix of "I'm Not Calling You a Liar" is featured in the 2011 video gameDragon Age II as "I'm Not Calling You a Liar (Dragon Age II: Varric's Theme)", produced by the game's composerInon Zur.[41]
The first demo session occurred in January 2010 with Welch andPaul Epworth at a small London studio. Numerous producers expressed an interest in working on the album but Welch rejected the offers because she wantedCeremonials to be a better version ofLungs with a "more dark, more heavy, bigger drum sounds, bigger bass, but with more of a whole sound". For the rest of the year work on the album continued only intermittently as the band concentrated on an extensive tour of the US, whereLungs had become popular. The majority of the writing for the album was done between January and April 2011, with recording taking place in April atAbbey Road Studios. Refinement took place at Epworth's own London studios while Welch recorded vocal tracks in various US studios, during days off from touring. The final recording session took place in July at Epworth's studio.[42] Epworth co-wrote seven tracks. Several other British writers share credits on the album, including Summers,Kid Harpoon,James Ford and composerEg White.[42]
In June 2011, a cover of theBuddy Holly song "Not Fade Away", which Florence and the Machine recorded for the tribute albumRave On Buddy Holly tied to Holly's seventy-fifth birthday year, was released[43] and they performedCeremonials' setup track "What the Water Gave Me" at theGreek Theatre inBerkeley, California.[44] In August 2011, the single "What the Water Gave Me" was released oniTunes[45] along with an accompanying video on the band's website and YouTube channel.[46] The video drew 1.5 millionYouTube views in two days and the track received play on US alternative radio with strong support fromLos Angeles radio stationKROQ.[42] The single "Shake It Out" was released over the internet in September 2011, with standard release 11 October. In Australia, the song was playlisted atTriple J andNova radio networks and received strong airplay in Scandinavia, Italy and Canada.[42]
The band's second studio album,Ceremonials, was released on 28 October 2011. It reached number one on theUK Albums Chart and number six on the USBillboard 200.[47][48] On 12 January 2012, Florence and the Machine were nominated for twoBrit Awards, Best British Female Artist and British Album of the Year, with theawards ceremony taking place on 21 February 2012 atthe O2 Arena, London.[49] On 26 April 2012, the band released "Breath of Life", a song that was recorded as the official theme song for the filmSnow White and the Huntsman.[50][51] On 5 July 2012, a remix of "Spectrum (Say My Name)" by Scottish musicianCalvin Harris was released as the fourth single fromCeremonials, becoming the band's first UK number-one hit. Welch expressed excitement about putting new material together for a third studio album after the band finishes touring at the end of September 2012.[52] Welch collaborated for a second time with Harris on the song "Sweet Nothing", released on 12 October 2012 as a single from Harris's third studio album18 Months (2012). The song entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming their second collaborative number-one single.[53]
In mid-2012, it was announced that Universal Republic Records was going defunct, moving all artists including Florence and the Machine toRepublic Records making the label itself revived. In late August 2012, Welch toldStyle magazine that she plans to take a twelve-month hiatus before starting work on the band's next studio album, stating, "There's a big 'take a year off' plan. The record company have put no pressure on me for the next album. They've said I can have as long as I want."[54] In December 2012, Florence and the Machine were nominated forBest Pop Vocal Album forCeremonials andBest Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Shake It Out" at the54th Annual Grammy Awards.[55] On 4 April 2013, it was announced that Florence and the Machine had written a song forBaz Luhrmann's film rendition ofThe Great Gatsby (2013), titled "Over the Love",[56] which was released on 17 April 2013 onSoundCloud.
On 4 June 2014, Welch toldNME that the band's third studio album was in the works.[57] In January 2015, a fansite posted a photo showing Florence and the Machine's upcoming album being mixed in a recording studio. On 9 February, the band played all the songs from the new album in full, among them "Ship to Wreck", "Caught", "Delilah" and the album's first single, "What Kind of Man" in a private London show.[58]The next day, on 10 February, the band released a short music video for the title track of their 2015 studio album,How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful,[59] which also acted as the official album teaser, directed byTabitha Denholm and Vincent Haycock and shot in Mexico. The single and album were available to pre-order subsequently on all popular online music stores. The music video is just under three minutes as compared to the five minute album version of the track. On 12 February, the album's lead single "What Kind of Man" was revealed on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show,[60] followed by the release of music video later that day on band'sVevo channel via YouTube.[61]
The band released a music video of another track called "St. Jude" on 23 March. The video was choreographed byRyan Heffington and directed by Vincent Haycock; it continues the narrative from the previous video of "What Kind of Man".[62][63] On 8 April, the album's second single titled "Ship to Wreck" premiered onHuw Stephens' show onBBC Radio 1. The accompanying music video was released a week later on 13 April, continuing the storyline of past two videos.[64]On 19 May, DJAnnie Mac revealed another new song from the record on her BBC radio show, namely "Delilah".[65]
The album was released on 29 May in Germany, 1 June in the UK and 2 June in the US. A deluxe version of the album containing five additional tracks was released on 13 May 2015.[66] The album became their third number one on theUK Albums Chart, and debuted at number one on the USBillboard 200.[6][7] The album earned five nominations in the58th Annual Grammy Awards.
In 2016 Florence and the Machine recorded aclassical cover ofBen E. King's 1961 song "Stand by Me", which was featured as the main theme to the video gameFinal Fantasy XV. It was premiered during the "Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV" event on 30 March 2016,[71][72] and the full version was released on 12 August 2016. Alongside their "Stand by Me" cover, they also composed two original songs forFinal Fantasy XV, entitled "I Will Be" and "Too Much Is Never Enough", which were also released on 12 August 2016. In April 2016, the band releasedThe Odyssey, a short film by Vincent Haycock and Welch that consisted of all music videos shot within theHow Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2015) era, together with some interconnecting sung and spoken scenes. The premiere took place at London'sRio Cinema on 20 April 2016, and was followed by an unrecorded Q&A. The online world premiere on 21 April 2016 was delayed to the 24th due toPrince's death. The band contributed a song to the 2016Tim Burton filmMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children titled "Wish That You Were Here", released as a single on 25 August 2016.
Welch confirmed on 27 May 2017 that a new studio album was in the works.[73] On 28 February 2018, the band's drummer, Christopher Hayden, announced that he had left the band.[74] The first single from the album, "Sky Full of Song", was released on 12 April 2018,[75] followed by "Hunger" in May.[76] TitledHigh as Hope, the band's fourth studio album was released on 29 June 2018.[77] A third single, "Patricia", was released on 10 August 2018. On 24 January 2019, Florence and the Machine released a new single, "Moderation", which had been previously performed live during the Australian leg of theHigh as Hope Tour.[78] It was accompanied by a B-side, "Haunted House".[79]
In early 2022, Florence and the Machine were confirmed to be headlining a series of summer music festivals, including the Madrid'sMad Cool.[citation needed] Towards the end of February 2022, fans of the band started to receive letters with a print titled, "King - Chapter 1", as well as a billboard inLondon displaying the visual of the work. Speculation indicating that a new single was about to be released were confirmed on 22 February by Welch herself through herInstagram account. The single, titled "King" was digitally released the next day along with its accompanying music video. Soon after, the single "Heaven Is Here" was released on 7 March. On 9 March 2022, Welch announcedDance Fever, the band's fifth studio album in a post to herInstagram account also revealing the album cover and pre-order date. She described the album as "a fairytale in 14 songs" in the same post.[83] The announcement was followed up with the release of the third single "My Love" on 10 March. On 20 April, the fourth single "Free" was released. The album was released on 13 May. It debuted at number one in the UK and number two in Australia.[84] In 2022, keyboardist Hazel Mills and drummer Loren Humphrey left the band. On 16 March 2022, Sam Doyle (drummer fromthe Maccabees) was confirmed as joining the band on tour for this era. However, Humphrey rejoined the band in summer of 2022.[citation needed]Isabella Summers, a founding member of the band and a long-time songwriting contributor for the band's previous records, did not participate in writing or producingDance Fever. She also did not join the band for theDance Fever Tour.[85][86]
In August 2025, Welch began teasing a potential return through a series of cryptic posts on her social media accounts.[88] Their sixth studio album,Everybody Scream, is set to release on 31 October 2025.[89][90] On August 20, 2025, the band released thetitle track as the lead single. The second single, "One of The Greats" was released on September 24, 2024. Welch said that the song was originally written as a long poem and then recorded it one take, which she "sang straight from the page".[91]
Florence and the Machine performing live at theO2 ABC Glasgow during theirLungs TourFlorence and the Machine performing during the Dance Fever Tour in Chicago
Florence and the Machine started off by playing a handful of gigs in and around London. In November 2008 Florence played a legendarily intimate show for Get It Loud In Libraries at Lancaster Library.[92] In May 2008, they supportedMGMT on tour in Europe.[93] TheBBC played a large part in Florence and the Machine's rise to prominence by promoting her as part ofBBC Introducing.[94] This led to their playing music festivals in 2008, includingGlastonbury,[95]Reading and Leeds[96] andBestival.[97] Florence and the Machine were also part of theShockwaves NME Awards Tour 2009 in January and February.[98]
Florence and the Machine played at Australia'sSplendour in the Grass music festival in July 2010. The group drew one of the biggest crowds of the three-day festival. They performed in the natural open-air amphitheatre, which had to be closed off by security due to safety concerns as an unprecedented number of festival-goers rushed to see the performance. It is estimated that 28,000 people of the 33,000 people who attended the festival crammed in to see Florence and the Machine. The amphitheatre was reopened shortly after the start, once the safety concerns were allayed.[106] In October 2009, the band's equipment and instruments were caught in a trailer fire during their European tour, forcing the band to use rented instruments to complete their remaining shows.[107] Welch stated, "You could hear theharp's strings ping in the fire. Strange sound. We recorded it and I want to use it in a song."
The Cosmic Love Tour kicked off atDublin'sOlympia Theatre on 2 May 2010 where the group performed a new song called "Strangeness and Charm"[121] and ended at London'sHammersmith Apollo on 15 May 2010.[122] On 25 June, the group played theGlastonbury Festival 2010, where they performed "Strangeness and Charm" and a cover ofFleetwood Mac's "The Chain" during their ten-song set.[123] Their performance drew one of the biggest crowds of the day and one of the biggest in the Other Stage's history.[123] Florence and the Machine opened forU2 on the North American leg of theirU2 360° Tour in June and July 2011.[124]On 11 September 2024, Florence and the Machine performed as part of the 2024BBC Proms, at the Royal Albert Hall, withJules Buckley and his orchestra for "Symphony of Lungs", with organ byAnna Lapwood.[125][126][127]
In an interview withNew York Post's PopWrap, Welch revealed that in the weeks and months prior to her performance of 12 September at the2010 MTV Video Music Awards, she was so nervous she lost sleep and cried.[128] In addition, she struggled during the pre-show rehearsal with a move that required her to stand up on a rotating platform.[129] It was described as "both ethereal and downright joyous".[129] After the performance,Lungs (2009) rose to number two on theiTunes albums chart and "Dog Days Are Over" rose to number nine on the iTunes singles chart.[130] In addition, Florence and the Machine became the number-one search onGoogle and received 1,700 tweets per minute onTwitter.[130] Florence and the Machine performed "Dog Days Are Over" onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show on 15 October 2010.[131] On 20 November 2010, the band performed "Dog Days Are Over" and "You've Got the Love" onSaturday Night Live.[132] They performed an online-only concert at New York City'sEd Sullivan Theater on 16 December 2010 as part of theLive on Letterman concert series.[133] Welch and a number of other female singers opened the53rd Annual Grammy Awards on 13 February 2011 with a tribute to an ailingAretha Franklin.[134] On 27 February 2011, Welch replaced pregnantDido and sang her portion ofBest Original Song nominee "If I Rise" (from127 Hours) withA. R. Rahman at the83rd Academy Awards.[135][136] Two years ofworldwide touring had been scheduled to promoteCeremonials.[137] Welch and guitarist Rob Ackroyd held a private performance for a terminally ill 15-year-old fan, Karinya Chen, in Austin, Texas on 23 May 2016.[138] On 29 September 2019,the band finished their High as Hope tour at the Acropolis.[139]
Florence and the Machine performing live atTerminal 5 in New York City, 2010
Florence Welch has been compared to other female singers such asKate Bush,[140][141]Siouxsie Sioux ofSiouxsie and the Banshees,[140][141]PJ Harvey,[140]Tori Amos andBjörk.[141] During an interview, Welch citedGrace Slick ofJefferson Airplane as her influence and "hero".[142] Florence and the Machine's style has been described as "dark, robust and romantic".[140] Their music is a mix of "classic soul and midnight-on-the-moors English art rock".[140] Welch stated that her lyrics related toRenaissance artists: "We're dealing with all of the same things they did—love and death, time and pain, heaven and hell."[143] Commenting on her success, she said: "I'm lucky that there seems to be a massive revival in female performers. My icons were always women like Kate Bush,Stevie Nicks and Siouxsie Sioux. Who wouldn't be proud to carry on that tradition?".[144]
Florence and the Machine won the Critic's Choice Award at the2009 Brit Awards after coming third in the BBC'sSound of 2009 poll.[156][157] As well as attention from the BBC, the band received significant support fromNME magazine, who included them on their annual Shockwaves NME Awards Tour for 2009, along withGlasvegas,Friendly Fires andWhite Lies.[98]
The Sunday Times described Welch as "the most peculiar and most highly acclaimed female singer of the moment" and "the latest in a line of great English popeccentrics".[9]AllMusic referred toLungs as "one of the most musically mature and emotionally mesmerising albums of 2009".[158]Spin magazine ratedLungs (2009) eight out of ten and wrote, "You've gotta hand it to the girl: She always makes you feelsomething."[159] The magazine named it the eighth best album of 2009.[160] In December 2010, Florence and the Machine appeared on one ofSpin's three holiday issue covers as Artist of the Year.[161][162]
Florence and the Machine won theMastercard British Album award forLungs at the2010 Brit Awards,[163] having also been nominated for British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.[164] On 19 February 2010, Florence and the Machine won Best International Band at the2010 Meteor Awards.[165] The group led the nominations for the 2010MOJO Awards, with four nods.[166] They received a nomination forBest New Artist at the53rd Annual Grammy Awards.[167] In April 2011, Florence and the Machine were ranked 50 in the 2011Time 100 poll, which annually lists the 100 most influential people in the world.[168] American recording artistBeyoncé cited Florence and the Machine as an influence for her 2011 album4.[169]
^Cooper, Leonie (February 2016). "And She Came To Give Her Blessing".Nylon Magazine. p. 8.I'm lucky that there seems to be a massive revival in female performers. My icons were always women like Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks and Siouxsie Sioux. Who wouldn't be proud to carry on that tradition?
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