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Florence Welch
Florence Welch
	Welch in 2024
Born	Florence Leontine Mary Welch; August 28, 1986 (age 38); Camberwell, London, England
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Years active	2006--present

Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986)^[1] is an English singer who is part of Florence and the Machine.

Early life

Welch was born Florence Leontine Mary Welch on 28 August 1986 in Camberwell, London, England.^[2] Her mother, Evelyn Welch, is a Professor of Renaissance Studies and Academic Dean for Arts at Queen Mary, University of London^[3] and author and formerly a Studio 54 regular. Her father, Nick Welch, works in advertising. Since her mother is American and her father is British, Welch is a citizen of both the United States and England.^[4] She has two younger siblings: Grace and J.J.^[5] Welch was raised as a Catholic.^[6]

When Welch was 13, her parents divorced. Her mother quickly got remarried to their neighbor, Professor Peter Openshaw.^[7] Welch subsequently gained three stepsiblings: Maddie, Sam, and John. She also has a stepbrother named Nick through her father.^[5] When Welch was 14, her maternal grandmother, who had bipolar disorder, committed suicide by jumping from her New York apartment.^[7]

Around this time, Welch found comfort in the music of Hole, Nirvana, Green Day, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, The Velvet Underground and Celine Dion.^[8] She also enjoyed reading and music,^[9] frequently exploring her talent as a singer.^[10] While in middle school, she and her friends started a witch coven, creating spells and trying to cast them on people. One time, Welch used the name of a boy in her class and a drop of blood to try and get him to fall in love with her.^[9] At the age of 17, Welch became anorexic, which she wrote about in her 2018 song "Hunger".^[11]

Career

As a teenager she was the frontwoman for the bands Toxic Cockroaches and Ashok, though she did not stay in either band for long.^[1] Around this time, Welch met Isabella Summers. They became friends and formed a band with the name as a practical joke: Florence and the Machine (formally styled Florence + the Machine), as Summers and Welch had nicknamed each other "Isa Machine" and "Florence Robot".^[12] The band released its debut album, Lungs, in 2009, with several singles, including "You've Got The Love" (a cover of The Source's "You Got The Love")^[13] and their top hit "Dog Days Are Over"^[14]. The album was highly successful: within a month, over 100,000 copies had sold in the United Kingdom.^[15] The band was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 53rd Grammy Awards.^[16]

In 2011, their second album, Ceremonials, was released.^[17] The album was successful, reaching no. 1 in the United Kingdom.^[1] It earned more Grammy nominations, for Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album and Grammy Award for Best Pop/Duo Group Performance (for the album's single "Shake It Out").^[16] In 2012, Florence and the Machine performed for a sold-out crowd at Coachella, an annual music festival.^[18] Along with releasing an MTV Unplugged album,^[19] the band wrote a song called "Breath of Life" for the Disney film Snow White And The Huntsman.^[20]

Their third album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, released in 2015. It became the number one album in the United States.^[21] Once again, it nominated them for Grammys, for Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop/Duo Group Performance (for "Ship To Wreck"), and Best Rock Performance (for "What Kind Of Man".^[16] That year, Florence and the Machine performed at Coachella for the second time. While singing "Dog Days Are Over", Welch told the audience to strip down. Getting overexcited after removing her shirt, she jumped off the stage and tried to crowd surf, but broke her foot instead and had to be carried away.^[7]^[22]

2018 marked the release of their fourth album, High As Hope.^[23] On the song "Hunger", Welch detailed her struggles with anorexia nervosa. None of her family had known of her condition until the song was released.^[7] Meanwhile, on another song called "Grace", Welch laments not being a better sister to her younger sister, Grace.^[23]

In 2022, Florence and the Machine released Dance Fever, their fifth album.^[24] The song "King" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance.^[16] In addition, they released Dance Fever (Live at Madison Square Garden), a live concert album.^[25]

In 2024, Florence and the Machine collaborated with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift on "Florida!!!", a song from Swift's album The Tortured Poets Department. Welch joined Swift when The Eras Tour stopped in Miami, Florida to perform the song.^[26] In September of that same year, Florence and the Machine performed a concert with Jules Buckley and His Orchestra, Symphony of Lungs, at the Royal Albert Hall as part of BBC Proms. The album, which received praise from critics, released digitally on October 25, 2024, and will release physically on March 14, 2025.^[27]

Personal life

Welch says she is prone to "falling into severe holes” that leave her crying on the floor and has been diagnosed with dyslexia and dysmetria.^[8] In addition, she has struggled with alcoholism, panic attacks, anxiety. and depression.^[7]^[28]

In addition to breaking her foot at Coachella in 2015, Welch was forced to cancel several concerts in 2022 because of a second foot injury. The injury forced her to undergo lifesaving surgery.^[29]

Welch was previously in relationships with Stuart Hammond, who she dated from an unknown date to 2011.^[30] Then she was in relationships with James Nesbitt (from 2012 to 2014)^[31]^[32] and Felix White (an unknown date to 2018).^[31]^[33] She and her current boyfriend, whose name she has kept private, live in South London together.^[34]^[33]