After performing a duet with Jeff Beck at the 2010 Grammy Awards of Les Paul's "How High The Moon," Imelda May and her band paid tribute to Paul alongside Beck at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York last spring. The DVD of the evening entitled Rock ‘n' Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul) was recently released and to celebrate, May will hit the road with Beck on March 24 in Washington, D.C., stopping by the Beacon Theater in New York and Austin City Limits before heading west. The Imelda May Band will perform one solo date at Los Angeles' El Ray on April 7. (See below for dates).
May just released her second album Mayhem in the U.K. on Decca Records, the follow-up to her beloved debut Love Tattoo. Mayhem reached number seven on the U.K. chart and remained in the top ten for two weeks. The album is currently in the Top Twenty for the fourth week in a roW. Mayhem has gone three times platinum in Ireland and gold in the U.K. Her live show continues to draw crowds as she plays to sold out venues in Australia following her sold out U.K tour.
Over the past year, May has garnered awards including Best Breakthrough Artist at the 2010 Classic Rock Awards, Best Female Artist at the 2010 Irish Tatler Awards and Best Festival Act from the Irish Festival Awards this year. In the mean time, she's graced TV screens in the U.K. performing at "Graham Norton" and for a second time at "Jools Holland." Mayhem has received four-star reviews from MOJO, The Daily Mirror, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.
Performing a fusion of surf guitars, blues and rockabilly, May self-released and recorded her debut Love Tattoo which went Triple Platinum. The album was picked up and released by Decca abroad and through Verve Forecast here. Since that time, May has shared stages with Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, David Gilmore, Shane Macgowan, Kristy McCall, Van Morrison, Lionel Richie, Wanda Jackson, Paul Brady, Jamie Cullum and Meatloaf. In 2009, Love Tattoo knocked Bruce Springsteen off the number one spot on the Irish album charts, making May the first woman to grace the top spot for nearly twenty years.
May fell in love with rockabilly and the blues at the age of nine and her first foray into the entertainment business was payment of £40 for a Findus Fish Fingers ad at age 14. She went onto perform in burlesque clubs and was part of a swing troupe before breaking out on her own. She caught people's attention not only musically but with her 50s look has led her to grace the front cover of the Irish Sunday Times Style Magazine.
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