Eliza Doolittle (singer)
{{Short description|English singer and songwriter (born 1988)}}
{{Other uses|Eliza Doolittle (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Eliza
| image = Jaguar XE - Arrival in London (15185515802).jpg{{!}}border
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Eliza performing in 2014
| birth_name = Eliza Sophie Caird
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|04|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Westminster, London, England
| origin =
| genre =
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter}}
| instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|piano}}
| years_active = 2000s–present{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10600745 | title=Talking Shop: Eliza Doolittle | work=BBC News | date=13 July 2010}}
| label = Parlophone
| associated_acts =
| website =
}}
Eliza Sophie Caird (born 15 April 1988),{{cite web|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/info/eliza_doolittle|title=Eliza Biography|access-date=29 December 2010}} better known by her former stage name Eliza Doolittle and now Eliza, is an English singer and songwriter from Westminster, London.{{Cite web|url = https://twitter.com/BiteTheBallot/status/553913474116382720|title = Bite The Ballot on Twitter|date = 10 January 2015|website = Twitter}} After performing her music in live venues around London from the age of 15, Eliza signed to Parlophone in 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://www.parlophone.co.uk/artists/eliza-doolittle/news/|title=News {{!}} Eliza Doolittle |website=Parlophone records |access-date=12 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428034314/http://www.parlophone.co.uk/artists/eliza-doolittle/news/|archive-date=28 April 2016|url-status=dead}}
Her debut album was released on 12 July 2010 and went platinum. The album produced two UK top-40 hits, "Skinny Genes" and "Pack Up", the latter of which peaked within the top five on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/c45c1037-5469-420c-ac21-83841efd815d |website=British Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=30 October 2010 |title=Eliza Doolittle at BBC Music}}
In 2013, Eliza contributed writing and vocals to "You & Me", a single from British electronic music duo Disclosure's number one debut album Settle.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/apr/14/disclosure-you-and-me-featuring-eliza-doolittle-live-video-premiere|title=Disclosure – You and Me featuring Eliza Doolittle: video premiere |date=14 April 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=12 October 2016}}
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's and Radio 2 playlist. It was later included on her second studio album, titled In Your Hands.{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a502817/eliza-doolittle-announces-new-album-title.html |title=Eliza Doolittle announces new album title – Music News |publisher=Digital Spy |date=31 July 2013 |access-date=29 June 2014}}
In 2018, Eliza released the album A Real Romantic, which included tracks like "Wasn't Looking", "Livid" and "Alone & Unafraid". In 2022, she released the album A Sky Without Stars, which included tracks like "Straight Talker", "Heat of the Moon" and "Everywhere I'll Ever Be".
Early life
Eliza was born in Westminster, London. She comes from a family with a successful and varied musical background. Her father is John Caird,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10600745|title=Talking Shop: Eliza Doolittle|last=Savage|first=Mark|date=13 July 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=29 December 2010}} a stage director and writer of plays, musicals and operas who is also an honorary associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Her paternal grandfather G. B. Caird, was the theologian and principal of Mansfield College, Oxford.Chadwick, Henry, "George Bradford Caird, 1917-1984: A Memoir" in The Glory of Christ in the New Testament: Studies in Christology in Memory of George Bradford Caird, ed. L. D. Hurst and N. T. Wright (Oxford: Clarendon, 1987; reprinted Wipf and Stock, 2006), pp. xvii-xxii. Her mother is musical theatre actress and artist Frances Ruffelle, who won a Tony Award for her role of Éponine in the English-language version of Les Misérables and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. Eliza is the granddaughter of Sylvia Young, founder of the eponymous theatre school. She is one of nine siblings. Her parents divorced when she was four years old.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wbqzs |title=Radio 1 Programmes – The Chris Moyles Show, Wednesday – with Eliza Doolittle |publisher=BBC |date=8 December 2010 |access-date=13 July 2011}}
Eliza had a brief career on stage playing Young Cosette in Les Misérables in London's West End in 1996–1997.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} 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.{{cite web|publisher=Shakespeare Birthplace Trust|title=RSC Performance Database|url=https://collections.shakespeare.org.uk/search/rsc-performances/seg200011/view_as/grid/search/everywhere:secret/page/1}}
Musical career
=Career beginnings=
Before entering the charts, Eliza toured the UK with her band. She released an EP including songs Naive produced by Al Shux (A New York State of Mind), Ego and Piano Song produced by Truth & Soul (Lee Fields, El Michels Affair). On 29 November 2009, a further EP release featuring the tracks "Rollerblades", "Moneybox", "Police Car", and "Go Home" (produced by Craigie Dodds, Johnny Dollar, Matt Prime and Phil Thornaley). Tracks from the EP were remixed by Plastic Little ("Rollerblades"), Sam Young and Jamie xx from The xx ("Money Box"). The EP received radio plays from Rob Da Bank, Nick Grimshaw,{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/nickgrimshaw/tracklistingarchive.shtml?20091104 |title=Radio 1 – Nick Grimshaw – Tracklistings |publisher=BBC |access-date=29 June 2014}} Fearne Cotton, and Jo Whiley.
She recorded the song 'Running For Life", which was featured on the soundtrack of the 2008 cult British film Adulthood. Later that year, she performed at Glastonbury on the Pussy Parlour stage, her first festival performance.{{Citation|title=Running For Life|date=24 June 2008|url=https://open.spotify.com/track/34kjwd9NWwL43LPgicn6Ey|access-date=12 October 2016}}
=2010–2013: ''Eliza Doolittle''=
File:Eliza Doolittle Performs at SkyFest.jpg
In early 2010, she took part in musician Shane MacGowan's charity single "I Put a Spell on You", in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.{{cite web|url =http://www.prefixmag.com/media/shane-macgowan-and-friends/i-put-a-spell-on-you-haiti-charity-song-video/37970/|title = Shane MacGowan and Friends "I Put a Spell on You" (Haiti Charity Song) (Video)|work = Prefix magazine|access-date = 7 March 2011}} Her debut single "Skinny Genes" was released on 12 April 2010, reaching No. 22 in the UK Singles Chart.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} She told BBC's Steve Lamacq 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."{{cite web|url = http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=18900|title = Skinny Genes|work = Songfacts.com|access-date = 26 March 2010}} Eliza's second release "Pack Up" was released on 5 July 2010, reaching No. 5 on the Official UK Singles Chart on 11 July 2010.{{cite web |author=Praxis Media |url=http://www.radio1.gr/music/forthcoming_uk_singles.htm |title=Radio1 Rodos Greece ::: UK Forthcoming Singles ::: Charts, DJ Promos, Dance, Lyrics, Free Mp3 Samples Downloads |publisher=Radio1.gr |access-date=3 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020105600/http://www.radio1.gr/music/forthcoming_uk_singles.htm |archive-date=20 October 2012}}
Image:Eliza Doolittle August 2011 B.jpg
In March 2011, she performed at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2011/mar/19/sxsw-eliza-doolittle-vaccines|title=SXSW 2011: the best pictures from day eight|date=19 March 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=12 October 2016}} as well at Coachella in California.{{Cite news|url=http://www.idolator.com/5829092/eliza-doolittle-interview-coachella|title=Eliza Doolittle Talks To Us About Style, Kanye And Coachella {{!}} Idolator|date=19 April 2011|newspaper=Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on Idolator.com|access-date=12 October 2016}} 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 on the track "You & Me" from their debut album, Settle. Early that year, she began recording new material for her second album. In an interview with Elle 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".{{cite web|url=http://www.elle.com/news/fashion-style/eliza-doolittle-palladium-campaign |title=Eliza in Wonderland: Eliza Doolittle Stars in Palladium's New Campaign |publisher=Elle.com |date=11 April 2013 |access-date=10 May 2013}}
=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's playlist, and features on her second studio album. On 17 June 2013 the video for the single premiered on her YouTube channel.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqGx1lfyb6s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/XqGx1lfyb6s |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Big When I Was Little |publisher=YouTube.com |date=17 June 2013 |access-date=17 June 2013}}{{cbignore}}
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".{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}
She featured on "YNSP", a track from hip hop artist Vic Mensa's Innanetape mixtape produced by DJ Dahi.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}
She had a cameo role as a nightclub singer in The Great Train Robbery, a drama series on BBC One in December 2013.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}
In 2014, Eliza was invited by Burt Bacharach to sing with him at Henley Festival in the summer of 2014.{{cite web | url=https://www.henleyherald.com/2014/06/30/eliza-doolittle-joins-burt-bacharach-for-a-special-little-prayer/ | title=Eliza Doolittle Joins Burt Bacharach for a Special 'Little' Prayer | date=30 June 2014 }}
=2016: Rebrand, ''A Real Romantic'' and ''A Sky Without Stars''=
In 2017, she rebranded her name from Eliza Doolittle to Eliza and changed her sound.{{cite web | url=https://www.asbomagazine.com/2022/04/11/elizas-straight-talker-is-a-hypnotic-piece-with-a-somber-tone/ | title=ELIZA's "Straight Talker" is a hypnotic piece with a somber tone | date=11 April 2022}} On 12 December 2018, her album A Real Romantic was released. In 2022, Eliza released a couple of new singles ("Straight Talker"{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015m9k | title=BBC Radio 6 Music - New Music Fix, New Music Fix Playlist}} and "Heat of the Moon") after signing{{cite web | url=https://www.pias.com/different-recordings-welcomes-eliza/ | title=Different Recordings Welcomes ELIZA | date=28 March 2022}}{{cite web | url=https://www.pias.com/videos/eliza-marks-arrival-to-different-recordings-with-release-of-straight-talker-alongside-accompanying-video/ | title=ELIZA marks arrival to Different Recordings with release of 'Straight Talker' alongside accompanying video}} to [PIAS]'s Different Recordings{{Cite web|url=https://www.elizalovechild.com/|title=Eliza - Official Website|website=Eliza}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.differentrecordings.com/|title=Different Recordings|website=www.differentrecordings.com}} and a new album, A Sky Without Stars, was announced.
A Sky without Stars received praise and acclaim from reviewers. Dom Taylor of R&B website The Pit wrote that the album "let the music lead" and "can be boiled down to an irreplaceable feeling of soul. The foot-tapping, transformative, time-loses-all-meaning kind of soul."{{cite web | url=https://www.thepitldn.com/pitnews/nf4qj9h3uys3y7uknrafkzmi2twsir | title=ELIZA - A Sky Without Stars [Stream] | date=16 September 2022 }} Haste magazine's Becca Hemens summarised a live performance by ELIZA following the release of the album as "An Enigmatic and Sensual Performance for an Album of Melodic Reinvention and Feminine Power" and was struck by the "aura of mystique" in ELIZA's performance.{{cite web | url=https://www.hastemagazine.co.uk/eliza-a-sky-without-stars-album-and-gig-review/ | title=ELIZA "A Sky Without Stars" - Album and Gig Review }}
Discography
=Studio albums=
=Extended plays=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |
| scope="col"| Title
! scope="col"| EP details |
|---|
| scope="row"| Eliza Doolittle
|
|
| scope="row"| Xmas In Bed{{efn|Free download including "The Gift of Giving", "Xmas in Bed" and "Last Christmas".}}
|
|
=Singles=
==As lead artist==
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of singles as lead artist ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="9" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;" | Certifications ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |
| scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | UK ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | AUS ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | BEL ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | DEN ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | FIN ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | GER ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | IRE ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | NLD ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | SWI |
|---|
| scope="row"| "Skinny Genes"
| rowspan="3"| 2010 | 22 || — || 42 || — || — || 42 || 42 || 90 || 48 | | rowspan="4"| Eliza Doolittle |
| scope="row"| "Pack Up"
| 5 || 96 || 10 || 37 || 16 || 49 || 6 || 8 || 75 | |
| scope="row"| "Rollerblades"
| 58 || — || 61 || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "Mr Medicine"
| 2011 | 130 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "Big When I Was Little"
| rowspan="3"| 2013 | 12 || — || 77 || — || — || — || — || — || — | | rowspan="3"| In Your Hands |
| scope="row"| "Let It Rain"
| 55 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "Walking On Water"
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "Wide Eyed Fool"
| rowspan="2"| 2017 | — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | | rowspan="5"| A Real Romantic |
| scope="row"| "Wasn't Looking"
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "Livid"
| rowspan="3"| 2018 | — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "Alone & Unafraid"
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "All Night"
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "Straight Talker"
| rowspan="3"| 2022 | — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | | rowspan="3"| A Sky Without Stars |
| scope="row"| "Heat of the Moon"
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| scope="row"| "Everywhere I'll Ever Be"
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |
| colspan="13" style="font-size:85%"| "—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released. |
==Promotional singles==
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of promotional singles ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |
| scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | BEL |
|---|
| scope="row" | "Walking on Water"
| 2013 | 64 | In Your Hands |
| scope="row" | "Big City"
| 2015 | — |
| scope="row" | "Alone & Unafraid"
| 2018 | — | A Real Romantic |
| colspan="4" style="font-size:85%"| "—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released. |
==As featured artist==
=Music videos=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Videos for Eliza's music |
| scope="col" style="width:18em;"| Title
! scope="col"| Year ! scope="col"| Director |
|---|
| scope="row"| "Piano Song"
| 2008 | — |
| scope="row"| "Skinny Genes"
| rowspan="5"| 2010 | — |
| scope="row"| "Skinny Genes 2.0"
| — |
| scope="row"| "Pack Up"
| — |
| scope="row"| "Rollerblades"
| — |
| scope="row"| "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (As part of The Justice Collective)
| — |
| scope="row"| "Mr. Medicine"
| 2011 | — |
| scope="row"| "Big When I Was Little"
| rowspan="6"| 2013 | — |
| scope="row"| "Let It Rain"
| — |
| scope="row"| "Waste of Time"
| — |
| scope="row"| "You & Me" (Disclosure featuring Eliza Doolittle)
| — |
| scope="row"| "The Hype" (Wookie featuring Eliza Doolittle)
| — |
| scope="row"| "Walking on Water"
| — |
| scope="row"| "In Your Hands"
| 2014 | — |
| scope="row"| "Wide Eyed Fool"
| rowspan="2"| 2017 | Charlie Robins |
| scope="row"| "Wasn't Looking"
| — |
| scope="row"| "Livid"
| rowspan="2"| 2018 | Eliza |
| scope="row"| "Alone & Unafraid"
| Charlie Robins |
| scope="row"| "Straight Talker"
| rowspan="3"| 2022 | Charlie Robins |
| scope="row"| "Heat of the Moon"
| Charlie Robins |
| scope="row"| "Everywhere I'll Ever Be"
| Charlie Robins |
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Television |
| scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Title ! scope="col"| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| scope="row"| 2013
| Nightclub Singer | Episode: "A Robber's Tale" |
| scope="row"| 2014
| Herself | Episode #1.5932 |
References
=Footnotes=
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
=Sources=
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Eliza Doolittle}}
- {{youTube|user=elizadoolittlemusic|Eliza Doolittle}}
{{Eliza Doolittle}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eliza}}
Category:Singers from the City of Westminster
Category:People educated at Bedales School
Category:English women pop singers
Category:English people of Canadian descent
Category:21st-century English women singers
Category:21st-century English singers