Florence Welch | |
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Welch in 2013 at The Sound of Change Live
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Background information | |
Birth name | Florence Leontine Mary Welch |
Born |
Camberwell, London, England |
28 August 1986
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals, percussion |
Years active | 2006–present |
Labels | |
Associated acts | Florence and the Machine |
Website | florenceandthemachine |
Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter best known as the lead singer of indie rock band Florence and the Machine.
Florence and the Machine's debut album, Lungs, was released in 2009; on 17 January 2010, the album reached the top position in the UK after being on the chart for 28 consecutive weeks. Lungs won the Brit Award for Best British Album in 2010. The group's second studio album, Ceremonials, released in October 2011, debuted at number one in the UK and number six in the US. The band's third album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful was released in 2015 to very positive reviews from critics, and topped the UK and US charts.
Florence Leontine Mary Welch was born in Camberwell, London on 28 August 1986. Her father is Nick Russell Welch, an advertising executive. Her mother, Evelyn Welch (née Evelyn Kathleen Samuels), is an American immigrant from New York City who was educated at Harvard University and the Warburg Institute, University of London. Evelyn is currently Professor of Renaissance Studies and Vice-Principal for Arts and Sciences at King's College London. Welch is the niece of the satirist Craig Brown via Brown's wife and Welch's aunt, Frances Welch, and granddaughter of Colin Welch (James Colin Ross Welch), former deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph and former Daily Mail parliamentary sketchwriter, originally of Cambridgeshire. Welch's uncle (her mother's brother) is actor .
During her youth, Welch was encouraged by her Scottish paternal grandmother, Sybil Welch (née Russell), to pursue her performing and singing talents; Welch's deceased grandmothers inspired numerous songs on Florence and the Machine's début album, Lungs.