By now you might have heard of Florence Welch, the red haired British import who records under the name Florence + the Machine. After she was discovered performing in a small club in London, she has quickly gained fame in both the US and Europe, and her debut album Lungs has gone gold, selling over 500,000 copies and peaking at #1 on the Billboard Heatseeker charts. Her voice has been likened to Kate Bush, with occasional touches of Bjork.
She really hit the mainstream this year when she earned a coveted spot on MTV’s Video Music Awards to perform her single “The Dog Days Are Over”. She has since followed up with high profile performances during the Oscars, The Brit Awards, SNL, Dancing with the Stars, and the Grammys, where she was nominated for Best New Artist and paid tribute to Aretha Franklin alongside Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Yolanda Adams.
She puts some real vocal power behind unusual melodies to make soulful, emotional music that hits all the notes. We love “Girl With One Eye”, perhaps the most minimal song on the album, and “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”, an epic battle cry and the most recent single.
We also can’t take our eyes off her fashion. Her uncoventional looks have landed her recent spreads in Elle, The New York Times T magazine and Vogue, and she was all over the blogs for her looks during Paris Fashion Week. She’s a 24 year old that could pass for 38, with light skin, vermilion red hair, and long, thin legs that people just won’t stop talking about. It’s features like these that help her pull off nearly any look, from basic jeans to the ethereal, vintage dresses she loves to wear on stage.
You can catch Florence performing (with the Machine) during her U.S. tour, which starts in June.
