Florence and The Machine is the name for Florence Welch and her cast of backing musicians. The band has received a great deal of critical acclaim since their inception and were chosen in 2008 as one of the BBC's 'Sound of 2009' shortlist - an honour previously bestowed on the likes of Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Adele. The 2009 contest was won by Little Boots, aka Victoria Hesketh.
Florence Welch: Florence Welch lives in Camberwell, in South London. She grew up listening to her parents' record collection, which included bands such as The Velvet Underground, Love and The Smiths. At school, her teachers often had to reprimand her for singing in class - something she struggled to stop doing.
Florence has stated in the past that her songs are "stories with consequences and weird morality issues."
The Band: The line-up of Florence's band changes regularly. In the past, it has included Devonte Hynes, better known as 'Dev', from Lightspeed Champion and formerly a member of the Test-Icicles.
The most recent line-up of the band includes Robert Ackroyd on guitar, Tom Monger on harp, Isabella Summers on keyboards and Christopher Lloyd Hayden on drums.
Starting Out: When Florence and The Machine started out, they were playing in London venues such as The Lock Tavern and for people such as Blue Flowers and Filthy Few. On some occasions, her band members would fail to turn up to the gigs, so she would do them acapella.
In June 2008, Florence and The Machine released 'Kiss With A Fist' on 7" vinyl and as a download. Their next release was in December 2008, when they released the single 'Dog Days Are Over'. The band's third single, 'You've Got The Love' was released in January 2009.
Their debut album Lungs was released on 3rd July 2009 and has sold three million copies worldwide. They also won the MasterCard British Album award at the Brits in 2010 and were also shortlisted for the 2009 Mercury Prize.
On 28th October 2011 the band released their second studio album Ceremonials which was recorded in Abbey Road Studios. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums chart making it their second consecutive number one in the UK charts. It also made it to number six on the US Billboard 200 making it the band's first top ten album in the US. The lead single for the album was Shake It Out and has been the bands most successful single to date.
Florence and the Machine released their third studio album 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful' on the 29th May 2015. The album offers a different feel to their previous two albums as it is more stripped - down instrumentally and deals lyrically with personal conflicts and struggles. The album debuted at number one in the UK album Chart once again making it their third consecutive number - one album. The band released four singles: What Kind of Man, Ship to Wreck, Queen of Peace and Delilah. To support this album the band have also released a series of Vincent Haycock - directed music videos which each have a different chapter and together make up a story named The Odyssey.
Critical Acclaim: Both the BBC and NME were quick to pick up on Florence and The Machine's potential. The band was chosen to perform in the NME Awards Tour 2009, alongside Friendly Fires, White Lies and Glasvegas. The tour passes through a number of large university venues and 'Academy' venues.
In February 2009, Florence and The Machine received the Critics' Choice Award at the Brit Awards. This particular award is chosen by a panel of experts and music industry insiders. Adele won the award the previous year and went on to sell over 1 million copies of her album.
Biography by Contactmusic.com
