Florence Welch

She is an avid reader and actively takes part in 'Between Two Books,' a fan-run book club. She is influenced by authors like David Vann and Kirsten Reed and poets like Ted Hughes.

Florence doesn’t follow any particular religion.

Florence was born on August 28, 1986, in Camberwell, London, England, to advertising executive Nick Russell Welch and his American emigrant wife, Evelyn Kathleen Welch. Her mother is a scholar of the Renaissance and Early Modern Period and serves at the King’s College, London, as Professor of Renaissance Studies, Provost, and Senior Vice President (Arts & Sciences). Florence holds the citizenship of both America and the UK through her mother.

Her paternal grandmother, Sybil Welch, (née Russell) motivated her to take forward her performing and singing talent. Florence displayed her singing talent quite early while performing at family weddings and funerals.

She went through a tough time following the divorce of her parents and the eventual marriage of her mother to their next-door neighbour. Her grandmother also died around the same time. Such circumstances took a toll on her and she took to drinking and doing wild stuff, including going to wild parties.

She attended Thomas's London Day School and thereafter Alleyn's School, South East London. She was diagnosed with mild dyslexia because of dyspraxia that caused coordination issues for her. This made the shy and sensitive girl feel different from others and she took refuge in books.

She enrolled at the Camberwell College of Arts, but dropped out in the middle to concentrate on her musical pursuits.

Florence mentioned that she and her art-school friend Isabella Summers made music together and jokingly and privately named the band ‘Florence + the Machine’ which eventually got out of hand.

She thought using the name ‘Florence Robot/Isa Machine' just an hour before performing her first gig but then dropped it as it would become too big. The name was then jointly used by her and Isabella while they performed together at small venues in London in 2006, and started garnering attention.

While studying at the ‘Camberwell College of Arts,’ Florence became associated with the band ‘Ashok’ that fused Gypsy (Rom) jazz with hip-hop. She recorded with the band in 2007 and that was their first and the only album ‘Plans.’ Her hit song titled ‘Kiss with a Fist’ appeared with the same lyrics for the first time in ‘Plans’ under the name ‘Happy Slap.’

The band, ‘Florence and the Machine,’ was formed in 2007, in London with Florence as the vocalist and songwriter.

On July 3, 2009, the debut studio album of ‘Florence and the Machine’ titled ‘Lungs’ was released in the UK by ‘Island Records.’ It debuted at #2 on the UK Albums Chart and after staying in the top 40 of the chart for 28 consecutive weeks, it peaked at number one on January 17, 2010. It also clinched the numero uno position on the ‘Billboard Heatseekers Albums’ chart and peaked at #3 on the ‘US Top Rock Albums’ (Billboard) chart.