Florence + The Machine

Florence + the Machine rose from London’s indie circuit with a grand, theatrical sound built around Florence Welch’s powerful vocals, keyboards, harp, guitar and drums. Formed in 2007, the English band’s original lineup included Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and harpist Tom Monger. Their music draws together alternative rock, baroque pop and soul, with dramatic productions that became central to the group’s early identity.

The BBC helped introduce the band to a wider public through BBC Music Introducing, and Florence + the Machine received the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2009 Brit Awards. Their debut album, Lungs, arrived on 3 July 2009. It spent its first five weeks at number two on the UK Albums Chart before reaching number one on 17 January 2010, after 28 consecutive weeks on the chart. Lungs remained in the UK top 40 for 65 straight weeks and became one of the best-selling albums of 2009 and 2010. It later won the 2010 Brit Award for Best British Album.

The follow-up, Ceremonials, was released in October 2011 and entered at number one in the UK and number six in the United States. In July 2012, “Spectrum (Say My Name)” was issued in a Calvin Harris remix, becoming the group’s best-selling UK single according to the supplied biography. Florence + the Machine have also received six Grammy nominations, including nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Their third album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, was released on 2 June 2015. It topped the UK chart and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, the band’s first album to do so. The record reached number one in eight countries and the top 10 in 20. That year, Florence + the Machine headlined Glastonbury Festival, with Welch becoming the first British female headliner of the 21st century.

Later releases include 2018’s High as Hope, introduced by “Hunger,” and the 2022 album Dance Fever, announced alongside its first single, “King.”