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Eliza Sophie Caird (born 15 April 1988),
better known by her stage name Eliza (formerly Eliza Doolittle), is an English singer and songwriter from
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, London. After performing her music in live venues around
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
from the age of 15, Eliza signed to
Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
in 2008.
Her
debut album was released on 12 July 2010 and went Platinum
in the UK. The album produced two UK top 40 hits: "
Skinny Genes" and "
Pack Up
"Pack Up" is the second single by British recording artist Eliza Doolittle, taken from her debut album, ''Eliza Doolittle''. It was released on 5 July 2010. The song lyrics contain the title of the 1915 song "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old K ...
", the latter of which peaked within the top five on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
In 2013, Eliza contributed writing and vocals to "
You & Me" a single from British
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
duo
Disclosure
Disclosure may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Disclosure'' (The Gathering album), 2012
*Disclosure (band), a UK-based garage/electronic duo
* ''Disclosure'' (novel), 1994 novel written by Michael Crichton
** ''Disclosure'' (1994 film), an American ...
's number one debut album ''
Settle
Settle or SETTLE may refer to:
Places
* Settle, Kentucky, United States
* Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England
** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district
Music
* Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania
* ''S ...
''.
On 7 June 2013, she premiered a single called "
Big When I Was Little", which was released in July 2013. It subsequently joined
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
's and
Radio 2 playlist. It was later included on her second studio album, titled ''
In Your Hands''.
Early life
Eliza was born in
Westminster, London
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
. She comes from a family with a successful and varied musical background. Her father is
John Caird,
a stage director and writer of plays, musicals and operas who is also an honorary associate director of the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
.
Her paternal grandfather
G. B. Caird, was the theologian and principal of
Mansfield College, Oxford
Mansfield College, Oxford is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist (Protestantism), Non ...
. Her mother is musical theatre actress and model artist
Frances Ruffelle
Frances Ruffelle (born 29 August 1965) is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She won a Tony Award in 1987, and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)", ...
,
who won a
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
for her role of
Éponine
Éponine Thénardier (; ), also referred to as the "Jondrette girl", is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo.
The character is introduced as a spoiled and pampered child, but appears later in the novel as a r ...
in the English-language version of ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
''. Eliza is the granddaughter of
Sylvia Young
Sylvia Young (born 1939 in Hackney, London, England) is the founder and principal of Sylvia Young Theatre School in London, England.
Sylvia Young Theatre School
Young founded her theatre school in 1981 in Drury Lane, London, before moving to i ...
,
founder of the
eponymous theatre school. She has a younger brother. Her parents divorced when she was four years old.
Eliza grew up in
Highgate
Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...
and attended
Channing School For Girls
Channing School is an independent day school for girls at Highgate Hill in Highgate, North London. Channing School is a member of the Girls' Schools Association. The junior school is for pupils aged four to twelve and includes the Early Years ...
,
Bedales School
Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conven ...
, and
Westminster Kingsway College
Westminster Kingsway College is a large college for further education in central London with centres in King's Cross in Camden, together with Victoria and Soho centres in Westminster. Founded in 2000 and having origins dating back to 1910, the ...
. She was used to being around stages and seeing her mother singing and had always wanted to become a recording artist.
She chose the stage name of
Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play ''Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''.
Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Profe ...
, the ''
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
'' and ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
'' character, because it was her nickname as a child.
Eliza had a brief career on stage playing Young
Cosette
Cosette () is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo and in the many adaptations of the story for stage, film, and television. Her birth name, Euphrasie, is only mentioned briefly. As the orphaned child of an u ...
in ''Les Misérables'' in London's West End in 1996–1997. Her parents had met and began their relationship during the original production when her father was the co-director and her mother played Eponine. Eliza went on to play the lead role in Lucy Simon's Tony Award-winning musical version of ''The Secret Garden'' in 2001, when The Royal Shakespeare Company premiered the show in London.
Musical career
Career beginnings
Before entering the charts, Eliza toured the UK with her band. Her first release was an EP featuring the tracks "Rollerblades", "Moneybox", "Police Car" and "Go Home", which came out on 29 November 2009. Tracks from the EP were remixed by
Plastic Little
is a Japanese original video animation film and a manga series created by Satoshi Urushihara. It was released in North America on VHS by ADV Films in July 1994. It was released on DVD in February 2002. Along with '' Burn-Up Excess'' and ''A ...
("Rollerblades"),
Sam Young and
Jamie xx from
The xx
The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), a ...
("Money Box"). The EP received radio plays from
Rob Da Bank
Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals Bestival, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to Lulworth, Dorset and Camp Bestiv ...
,
Nick Grimshaw
Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), also known as Grimmy, is an English television and former radio presenter, podcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a t ...
,
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', ...
and
Jo Whiley
Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...
.
She recorded a song called 'Running For Life' which featured on the soundtrack of the cult British film ''
Adulthood
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of majo ...
'' in 2008. Later that year, she performed at
Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
on the Pussy Parlour stage, her first festival performance.
2010–2013: ''Eliza Doolittle''
![Eliza Doolittle Performs at SkyFest](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Eliza_Doolittle_Performs_at_SkyFest.jpg)
In early 2010, she took part in musician
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born 25 December 1957) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He was also a member of the Nipple Erectors and Shane MacGow ...
's charity single "
I Put a Spell on You
"I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song written and composed by Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins, whose own recording of it was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was also included in Robert ...
", in aid of the
2010 Haiti earthquake
A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...
.
Her debut single "
Skinny Genes" was released on 12 April 2010, reaching No. 22 in the UK Singles Chart. She told
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's
Steve Lamacq
Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music.
Early life
He attended The Ramsey Academ ...
the song is "a funny scenario if you didn't like someone, if they were really annoying, but you had a good time under the sheets."
Eliza's second release "
Pack Up
"Pack Up" is the second single by British recording artist Eliza Doolittle, taken from her debut album, ''Eliza Doolittle''. It was released on 5 July 2010. The song lyrics contain the title of the 1915 song "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old K ...
" was released on 5 July 2010, reaching No. 5 on the Official UK Singles Chart on 11 July 2010.
In March 2011, she performed at the
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
festival in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
as well at
Coachella Coachella may refer to:
* Coachella, California
* Coachella Canal, in California
* Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California
* "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey
See also
* Coachell ...
in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. In April 2011, Eliza was touring the UK. On 19 April 2011, Eliza's self-titled album was released in the United States almost one year from the UK date.
In 2013, Eliza collaborated with
Disclosure
Disclosure may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Disclosure'' (The Gathering album), 2012
*Disclosure (band), a UK-based garage/electronic duo
* ''Disclosure'' (novel), 1994 novel written by Michael Crichton
** ''Disclosure'' (1994 film), an American ...
on the track "
You & Me" from their debut album, ''
Settle
Settle or SETTLE may refer to:
Places
* Settle, Kentucky, United States
* Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England
** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district
Music
* Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania
* ''S ...
''.
Early that year, she began recording new material for her second album. In an interview with ''
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
'' magazine in April 2013, she stated "I'm definitely showing more of myself than I ever have before. I feel like on my last album, I hadn't experienced very much of anything really, and it's been three years or more since then and I have felt and seen things I hadn't before, and I know things I didn't know before. In a way I have answers to questions, but then those answers open up a thousand other questions. I guess I've gone through things that so many people go through at the age I am. I've written almost every day about my every thought and emotion and the album is made up of the songs that mean the most to me".
2013–2016: ''In Your Hands''
On 7 June 2013, she premiered a new single called "
Big When I Was Little", which was released in July 2013. It subsequently joined
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
's playlist, and features on her second studio album. On 17 June 2013 the video for the single premiered on her YouTube channel.
Eliza and UK garage artist
Wookie wrote a song called "The Hype" in 2013. Wookie contributed a remix to her album ''In Your Hands'' for her track "Walking on Water".
She featured on "YNSP", a track from hip hop artist
Vic Mensa
Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...
's ''
Innanetape
''Innanetape'' (stylized as ''INNANETAPE'') is the debut mixtape by American rapper Vic Mensa. It was released on September 30, 2013, as a free Music download, digital download. The mixtape features guest appearances from Chance the Rapper, Ab-Sou ...
'' mixtape produced by
DJ Dahi
Dacoury Dahi Natche (born March 10, 1983), professionally known as DJ Dahi, is an American DJ, songwriter, record producer and singer from Inglewood, California. Dahi is perhaps best known for producing " Money Trees" by American rapper Kendri ...
.
She had a cameo role as a
nightclub singer
A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...
in ''
The Great Train Robbery'', a drama series on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
in December 2013.
In 2014, Eliza was invited by
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...
to sing with him at
Henley Festival
The Henley Festival of Music and the Arts is held, at Henley on Thames, each July, on the Berkshire bank of the River Thames, at the same spot and using adapted facilities from the Henley Royal Regatta, which is held the week before.
The main s ...
in the Summer of 2014.
2016–: Re-brand, ''A Real Romantic'', and ''A Sky Without Stars''
In 2017 she re-branded her name from Eliza Doolittle to Eliza, and changed her sound. On 12 December 2018, her album ''A Real Romantic'' was released. In 2022, Eliza released a couple of new singles, "Straight Talker" and "Heat of the Moon" after signing to
IAS IAS may refer to:
Science
* Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States
* Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis.
* Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...
s Log Off/Different Recordings, and a new album, ''A Sky Without Stars'', was announced.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artist
Promotional singles
As featured artist
Music videos
Tour
Doolittle toured as the opening act for
Paloma Faith
Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer and actress. Her debut studio album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?,'' was released in 2009 and was certified double platinum in the UK. The album spawned the sin ...
's
Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful Tour and
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That.
Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...
's
Since I Saw You Last Tour
The Since I Saw You Last Tour was a concert tour by British singer-songwriter Gary Barlow in support of his fourth studio album Since I Saw You Last. The tour saw Barlow play some of the biggest arenas in the UK and Ireland performing both Take ...
in 2014.
Filmography
References
Footnotes
Sources
External links
Eliza Lovechild*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doolittle, Eliza
1988 births
Living people
Parlophone artists
Singers from London
People from Westminster
People educated at Bedales School
English soul singers
English women pop singers
English people of Canadian descent
21st-century English women singers
21st-century English singers
British indie pop musicians