On both side of the Atlantic today, people can't stop talking about Duffy. The Welsh chanteuse won the trifecta at last night's Brit Awards, nabbing Best British Female, Best Breakthrough Act and the coveted Best Album trophies.
Already Duffy-mania is in full bloom: since last evening, sales of her debut album, Rockferry (2008's fourth biggest-selling album), have gone through the roof. Early reports indicate that it's being downloaded at a rate four times the market average.
So now that it looks as if the 24-year-old Aimee Ann Duffy is here to stay, how about we find out a little more about her. For instance, did you know...
1. She's not just a heartbreaker, she's a record-breaker
When her song Mercy hit Number One last year, Duffy became the first Welsh female to score the top spot in the past 25 years.
2. She was an early flop
It's true. At the age of 11, Duffy was kicked out of her primary school choir because her voice was "too big" and "didn't fit in." She's a late bloomer - and having the last laugh.
3. She has good taste in bands
Her current favorite group is Kings Of Leon, proving that she knows a thing or two about a thing or two.
4. Everything she learned about soul came from the movies
Although she's been compared to '60s soul singer Dusty Springfield, Duffy has said that she first got the inspiration to sing while watching the movie Sister Act on TV as a kid. Here she is, acting a bit starstruck while being interviewed by Sister Act star Whoopi Goldberg.
5. You shouldn't invite her and Johnny Rotten to the same party
They've had their problems, such as the incident at last year's MOJO Awards where the former Sex Pistol got rough with her. According to Duffy, "I walked past him, said 'Hi, you all right?', and next thing I was literally slammed against the wall, pinned by his arm at my throat. He called me a cunt. The violence was awful". Lydon says, "I was doing an interview and she came up behind me - I didn't see anything". Claiming that he mistook her for a "young girl who made the mistake of trying to jump on my back," he now says, "Oh, she got an award? I quite like her."
6. She's had shit jobs
Barmaid, waitress - that's pretty standard. She did work as a fishmonger, though - for one day, which was all she could stomach. "I didn't know kilograms and I'm not mathematical," she says. "I took the money from a customer and it went through my fingers and into the squid pot - dead squid. I just took the coin out and the fish was contaminated by the dirty money but I didn't say. It's not really rock 'n' roll."
7. She's just not that into Dusty
Endlessly compared to Dusty Springfeld, Duffy says, "To be honest, I'm not influenced by that era. I've grown up listening to Bowie and Richard Hawley, not Dusty Springfield. Therefore it's difficult to relate to that soul bracket because I don't know it; it's not what I think I am. The whole process of writing and recording the album was very organic, not preconceived'.
