Duffy's meteoric arrival on the pop scene in early 2008 took the world by storm. In March of that year, she became one of only nine solo female superstars in UK chart history to hold the #1 spot on the singles and albums charts simultaneously, with “Mercy” and Rockferry. That same month she came to the U.S. for her premiere performance at SXSW Conference in Texas which was followed by her first festival appearance at Coachella. The night before Rockferry's official U.S. release, Duffy headlined the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem. With several TV appearances including Saturday Night Live, Rockferry promptly debuted in the Top 5 in Soundscan and was certified gold by RIAA in less than two months. Her smash single “Mercy” was heard everywhere, from the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy to episodes including ER, The Ghost Whisperer and The Hills, and promo spots for Entourage and Damages.

By year’s end, the awards began to pour in – Breakthrough Act Of the Year at the Q magazine awards; and Song Of the Year (“Mercy”) at the MOJO Awards. In 2009, Duffy won an Ivor Novello Award for songwriting, three BRIT Awards and a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Duffy was born and spent her childhood years in the north Wales coastal community of Nefyn, a place too remote to be driven by style wars or opposing music factions (the nearest record counter was a bus ride away and only stocked the Top 40). The upbringing she describes is one in which everyone had to rub along together, making do and mending, accepting each other and their tastes without prejudice.

Having no CD collection of her own, her first real musical memory is of walking into the kitchen unannounced to find her mother and stepfather dancing to Rod Stewart. The first steps she took towards defining her own personal identity came when she borrowed one of her dad's VHS tapes of the ‘60s TV show ‘Ready, Steady, Go!'. "It had The Beatles, the Stones, the Walker Brothers, Sandie Shaw and Millie singing ‘My Boy Lollipop'. So sexy and exciting! I played it again and again until finally it disintegrated." Opting out of college, she worked as a waitress, sang in a bar, and cobbled out some demo recordings, some of which found their way to Jeanette Lee, noted founder and partner of the Rough Trade record label and manage¬ment company. She recognized Duffy’s huge potential, encouraged her to write her own material, put her in the studio with like-minded co-writers/producers, and signed her to A&M/Polydor UK.

What you'll find in Duffy's music is irrefutable evidence of a significant new talent, and one that has developed in splendid isolation, not in reaction to market forces or the input of focus groups and industry experts. Duffy is the real, unspoiled original deal. "People keep asking me where my voice comes from and the fact is I don't know," says Duffy. "Why are your eyes the colour they are? It's no answer at all but it's the only one I have."