Birdy Biography

Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde, better known by her stage name Birdy, is an English singer-songwriter. She won the music competition Open Mic UK in 2008, at the age of 12. Her debut single, a version of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love", was her breakthrough, charting all across Europe and earning platinum certification six times in Australia. Her self-titled debut album, Birdy, was released on 7 November 2011 to similar success, peaking at number 1 in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands. Her second studio album, Fire Within, was released 23 September 2013 in the UK and other surrounding countries.

Birdy was born on 15 May 1996, in Lymington, Hampshire, UK. Her father is Rupert Oliver Benjamin van den Bogaerde; her mother, the Hon. Sophie Patricia (née Roper-Curzon) is a concert pianist, and Birdy learned to play the piano at the age of seven, and began writing her own music at the age of eight. Birdy studied at Brockenhurst College in Brockenhurst, a sixth form college in the New Forest, as of 2013. She sings and plays the piano. Her grandfather is Captain John Christopher Ingram Roper-Curzon, the 20th Baron Teynham and a member of the Peerage of England. Her great-uncle was the actor Sir Dirk Bogarde. Her great-great-great grandfather was Belgian, the rest of her ancestors were English and Scottish.

Birdy announced the release of her second studio album, entitled "Fire Within", via a YouTube video on 10 July 2013. The video included footage of Birdy in the studio along with a preview of two songs, "Wings" and "No Angel", which are both featured on the album. The first official single, "Wings", was released on 22 July 2013 and a second song, "All You Never Say", was sent to subscribers of Birdy's mailing list and posted on YouTube on 15 August 2013. The song Wings was also featured on The Vampire Diaries episode "Home", which aired on 15 May 2014. The album was released in the UK and other surrounding countries on 23 September 2013 and has so far achieved mostly positive reviews. In North America, the album was released on 3 June 2014. A subsequent EP titled Breathe was released on 16 October in its place.

Birdy contributed three songs to the soundtrack for the movie The Fault in Our Stars: "Tee Shirt", "Best shot" (with Jaymes Young) and "Not About Angels".Videos for both have been officially released. In March 2012, Birdy was one of the artists who contributed to The Hunger Games film soundtrack with her single "Just a Game". In June 2012, Birdy contributed the song "Learn Me Right" with Mumford & Sons to the Pixar film Brave for which she received her first Grammy Award nomination.