“When I first started, especially because I got the Critics' Choice before I'd released an album, there was a lot of scrutiny on what my character was, what my background was, what colour my hair was. I fought quite hard for the music to overtake the personality aspect.”

English singer and songwriter

Florence Welch is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine. She became widely known through the band’s chart success in the UK. Their debut album, Lungs, was released in 2009, reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and won the Brit Award for Best British Album. The band’s next five albums also performed well on the charts. In 2018, Welch published Useless Magic, a book of her lyrics and poems with illustrations.