I’m going to start with her accomplishments and my thoughts, then I’m going to tell you what amazes me the most about her.
Birdy is a British singer who won a music competition, Open Mic UK, in 2008 against 10,000 competitors. Her very first single, from her debut album, was this song in 2011, ‘Skinny Love.’ The song was released earlier that year by Bon Iver (video below). The song charted throughout the world, breaking the top ten in numerous countries. Birdy’s version of ‘Skinny Love’ has also been featured on numerous television shows.
She contributed a song to The Hunger Games, as well as to the Pixar movie Brave. In the latter, she teamed up with Mumford and Sons, and the song was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Birdy’s passion comes across in her songs so heavily that it’s almost startling. ‘Skinny Love’ is a perfect example. If I were to guess, I would have assumed that she wrote the song after a terrible breakup. But that’s what’s so incredible about her talent:
She was twelve years old when she won that competition, and 14 when she released ‘Skinny Love’! Today, she’s only 18! If you watch the video above, you can see that she’s wearing braces on her teeth. If you listen closely, you can even hear the unique pronunciation difficulties associated with braces.
This young woman has a very long and impressive career ahead of her.
Young singer Birdy in 2013. (Photo credit: Harald Krichel)