Amy Macdonald (born 25
August 1987 in Bishopbriggs
, East
Dunbartonshire) is a Scottish
singer and
songwriter.
Her debut album,
This Is the
Life, was released on 30 July 2007 and has sold more than
2.5 million copies. Her first single, "
Poison Prince", was released on 7 May 2007.
She played
shows at music festivals such as Glastonbury
, Hyde Park,
T in the Park, and V festival andBeladrum Tartan Heart
Festival. Amy is signed to record company
Vertigo. Amy's vocal range is
contralto.
Macdonald started playing on stage acoustic gigs at 15. Her
influences include
Travis,
The Killers,
Pete
Doherty, and
Bruce
Springsteen. After several shows in mainland Europe, Macdonald
played at festivals such as V Fest during the summer of 2008.
In 2008, Macdonald was engaged to
Falkirk striker
Steve
Lovell.
Early life
Macdonald attended
Bishopbriggs
High School. She is a self-taught musician, playing her
father's guitar after being inspired by Travis at the T in the Park
Festival in 2000, where she heard Travis' song "
Turn" and wanted to play it herself.
Macdonald
started playing in pubs and coffee houses around Glasgow at 15,
including the Brunswick Cellars on Sauchiehall Street
. She sent a demo CD in response to an
advertisement placed in the
NME by a
new production company set up by songwriters Pete Wilkinson and
Sarah Erasmus called
Melodramatic
Records.
In an interview with
HitQuarters,
Wilkinson said he was "literally aghast" at her songwriting
abilities when first he heard Macdonald play the songs 'This is the
Life' and 'Mr Rock n Roll'.
"I said, “Amy, who wrote those songs?” And she said, “I
did.” I said, “No, you didn't,” giggling, hoping she really
did.
She said, “I bloody well did!” I told her she was
extraordinarily talented, and the moment she sang those songs I
remembered her voice and the hooks, which out of 500 [demos
submitted] was a very good sign."
Wilkinson then spent around eight or nine months recording demos
with Amy at his home studio with a view to securing a record deal
for his new client.
Music Career
Breakthrough
Amy Macdonald, 2008
Reviewers have described Macdonald as softly spoken but with a
booming singing voice. Despite her Scottish origins, her singing
voice is described as partly Irish and similar to
Dolores O'Riordan of
The Cranberries. She has called herself a
slight
tomboy. On her
MySpace blog, she mentions cars, such as
Audis, and video games as her interests. Macdonald
expressed how fast her life is moving when she mentions her
admiration when meeting other singers from the UK such as Travis's
Fran Healy and
Elton John.
Macdonald got press coverage when she questioned whether the 2007
winner of
The X Factor,
Leon Jackson, was suffering from
tonsillitis, referring to it as
"lazyitis". This was because Amy had tonsillitis at the same time
but still performed at Glasgow and at the BBC's
Hogmanay Live show the same night.
Macdonald is the first artist to have a single featured on
Bebo/
iTunes' "Free Single of the
Week" program. The free single, "Youth of Today", was written when
she was 15.
She appeared as a musical performing guest on British and foreign
shows such as
The Album Chart
Show,
Loose Women,
Friday Night Project,
Taratata (France), and
This Morning. She
has also won the best newcomer award at the Silver Clef
awards.
This Is the Life (2007 - 2010)
In 2007, Macdonald released her debut album, titled
This Is the
Life. The album became the UK's #1 album for 1 week. The
album debuted at #2 in the UK in its first week but then fell to 4
and then to 6 in its third week. The first single from the album,
"
Poison Prince", was only a limited
release. The second single, "
Mr. Rock
and Roll", became Macdonald's first top 40 song charting at #12
in the United Kingdom. However the third single,
L.A., missed the top 40 at #48,
but however managed #5 in the Scottish singles chart. The fourth
and most successful single, "
This Is the Life",
charted at #28 in the UK, but was #1 in five other European
countries. The single was awarded Platinum in Germany and Belgium
and Gold in Spain and Switzerland. The fifth single, "
Run", gave Macdonald her second
lowest chart position in the UK at #75. However Run charted at #36
in Germany. The sixth and final single was the re-release of
"
Poison Prince", but charted at #148
in the UK, Macdonald's lowest chart position.
The album has sold over 4 million records worldwide.
Second studio album (2010 - present)
Macdonald stated she will start working on a new album in 2009.
According to her Twitter she is writing for the album and she has
recorded some bedroom demos.She said "Some of the sounds are just
amazing and we've managed to persuade one of my favourite artists
to whack some stuff down on them, but you'll have to wait and
see."According to music-week magazine, the album, yet to be titled,
will be released on 8th March 2010. It will be preceded by the
single, "Don't Tell Me That It's Over" a week earlier on 1st March
2010. It is expected the single will be released to radio late
January/ early February.
Awards and nominations
In December 2008 Macdonald was voted "Scottish person of the year"
by the
Daily Record.
Macdonald was set to perform, along with
U2, at
the German
Echo awards, where she
was nominated in the category "Best International Female".
Amy Macdonald won the "Best International Newcomer" Award, and
played "This Is the Life" at the award show.
She won Best Newcomer at the Tartan Clef Awards.
Macdonald won Best New Comer at the Silver Clef Awards
Macdonald won Best International Album and Best International Song
at the Swiss Music Awards.
| Year |
Award |
Category |
Result |
| 2009 |
Echo Awards (2009) |
Best Newcomer International |
Won |
| 2007 |
Silver Clef Award |
Best Newcomer |
Won |
| Daily Record |
Scottish Person of the Year (2008) |
Won |
|
Discography
Studio Albums
Extended Plays
- 2007: Amy Macdonald
- 2007: Live from Glasgow
- 2008: This Is the Life: Deluxe Edition
References
External links
Wikis
Map
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