Imelda May

An Irish rockabilly vocalist
who has drawn comparisons to Billie Holiday, Imelda May was born Imelda Mary
Clabby in Dublin on July 10, 1974. She began singing in pubs and clubs in
Ireland until she moved to the UK in 1998 and joined Mike Sanchez (Big Town
Playboys and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings). After forming her own band in 2003 she
released her debut album No Turning Back. It was to be another five
years before she released her second album, 2008’s Love Tattoo. It
reached Number 1 in Ireland and was well received by fans and critics alike
prompting an invitation from Jools Holland to appear on his TV show. Following
the appearance, May's career began to take off and in 2009 she won Female
Artist of the Year at the Meteor Awards. 2010’s Mayhem, went to Number 1
and gave her a pair of top 40 hits, the title track and “Kentish Town Waltz”.
May subsequently recorded with names such as The Chieftains, Lou Reed, Jeff
Beck, Meat Loaf, Smokey Robinson, Jools Holland, The Levellers and many more.
In 2014 May released her third straight Number 1 album, Tribal, which
included her biggest single to that point, the Number 19 hit “It’s Good to
Be Alive”. A year later she was the guest on U2's Dublin leg of their world
tour. 2017’s Life Love Flesh Blood topped out at Number 2 on the
Irish charts, and four years later she returned with 11 Past the Hour.