Duffy Biography

news-detailsBeginning with a broken nose at the age of four, Duffy consequently was thankful for the incident that provided a twist of fate. Aimee Anne Duffy was born on June 23, 1984 in Gwynedd, Wales as the twin sister of Katy. She has an older sister and lived with her family in Nefyn, Llyn Penisula. When she was four, Duffy played with her sister and caught in a little accident. "When I was four-years-old my sister blindfolded me and chased me round the garden," Duffy recalled. "She forgot that I was blindfolded and I ran into a fence and broke my nose. I remember it as well because it was so extreme, and I was really worried. I went to the doctor, I had broke my nose, everything was a mess. I was screaming and upset, and the doctor said, 'Don't worry. One day, she'll be a really good singer.'" It was proven true much later, but still Duffy had to pay a high price on her journey to stardom.

Duffy started taking interest in singing since she was only 6. She would often carry around pen and papers to scribble lyrics. Sadly, at the age of 10, her parents chose to go separate ways by filing for a divorce and she consequently followed her mom together with her sisters to move to Pembrokeshire while her dad stayed in Nefyn. As soon as she finished her GCSE, Duffy went gig-trotting with several local bands. She even traveled to Switzerland to pursue the interest but returned to Wales in 2003 when she joined a local reality show called Wawffactor. The show that scouted for fresh talents put her second to Lisa Pedrig, but her journey did not end there. While juggling as a musician, Duffy scored a job as an optician's assistant. Later on, she also got to know David Burton of The Invisible Wires and took the opportunity to work with him. In 2004 an EP consisting of three tracks was released. Several other music projects followed including her being tapped as guest vocals, one of them being in Mint Royale's "See You in the Morning".

Her big break only came after she was introduced to Jeanette Lee who was known as the co-owner of Rough Trade Records and a music manager. With determination to launch her music career, Duffy moved to London where she met Suede's ex-guitarist Bernard Butler who later on played a significant role in her debut album. Working with Butler, Duffy was also enlightened with her signing to A&M Records in 2007. She, Adele and Gabriella Cilmi by that time were dubbed as the next "Amys", a term used in reference to British soul singer Amy Winehouse who broke to the world prominence in 2007 with her album "Back to Black". Hyphened by the media promotions and huge talent, Duffy successfully delivered herself in front of her fans who grew out in numbers each day. She made appearances on BBC2's "Later With Jools Holland" in total of three times and brought out her breakthrough single "Mercy" to the eyes of the world. The single was an instant hit that it peaked at #1 on British Singles chart for two consecutive weeks in February 2008. So widely popular that the single was also used in several American TV series such as "Smallville" and "E.R.".

Backed by Butler and David McAlmont, she recorded her first studio album "Rockferry" that was released in several European countries on March 3, 2008 through Polydor. Her take over on the U.S. market was only on May 13 later that year, with her album entering the Hot 200 chart at #4. Already, the world was ready for another potentially big but fresh female musician.