A Chancer's Guide To Imelda May | Live at the Marquee 2016

Imelda May performs at Live At The Marquee tonight! Here's a handy guide!

Imelda May was born Imelda Clabby in Dublin in 1974. She grew up in the Liberties and is the youngest of five siblings. Her early musical influences came from Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent and by the age of nine she was a rockabilly and blues fan. 

When she was 14 years old Imelda sang in an ad for Findus Fish Fingers.

At the age of 16 she began touring around the Dublin scene and was sometimes barred from her own shows for being underage.

Her professional career began in 2003 when she formed her band and released No Turning Back under her maiden name. In 2007 she released Love Tattoo under Ambassador Records. The album received critical acclaim and reached number one in Ireland. The album caught the attention of Jools Holland and later ended up supporting him on his tour as well as performing on his successful Later...with Jools Holland show.

In 2009 she released two of her most successful singles, Johnny Got A Boom Boom and Big Handsome Man. The same year she won Female Artist Of The Year at the Meteor Awards as well as performing on the Late Late Show, toured with jazz artist Jamie Cullum and appeared on Other Voices in Dingle. In 2010 Imelda performed at the Grammy Awards with Jeff Beck in a tribute to Les Paul.

After promotional performances and extensive touring of Love Tattoo, Imelda finally released her second album Mayhem in September 2010 and once again topped the Irish chart as well as the UK chart. Since then she has also released the 2014 album Tribal.

In 2011 May appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Conan and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in America.

She has performed with dozens of other artists including Bono, Elvis Costello, The Supremes, Paolo Nutini, Lou Reed, Alison Moyet and Meatloaf to name but a few.

Imelda was married to her band member Darren Higham from 2002 - 2015. The couple had one daughter together, born in 2012. 

On the 2016 Centenary programme on RTE, May performed It's Not Easy Being Green.

Support for tonight's show comes from Cork's very own Stephanie Rainey.