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Felicia "Fefe" Dobson (born February 28, 1985) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Her self-titled debut album earned her two Juno Award nominations. Her second album Sunday Love was not released due to the album's singles failure to chart and she was then dropped from her record label. Dobson's third studio album Joy is scheduled for a late October/Fall 2009 release.

Biography

Early life

Felicia Lynn Dobson was born on February 28, 1985, in Scarborough, Ontario (east district of Toronto, Ontario Canada). Dobson's mother is of Irish, Dutch, Canadian Indian and English ancestry and her father is of Jamaican heritage. Dobson's mixed heritage caused turmoil during her childhood, and has admitted to being bullied, making her racial struggles even more difficult was the absence of her father. Dobson at the age of thirteen, started playing the piano; with influences ranging from Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to Cyndi Lauper and Silverchair. She has also said that her biggest musical inspiration growing up was Michael Jackson, "I swore I was Michael Jackson. Then I found out I wasn't Michael Jackson and it broke my heart." Before Dobson was signed, she admitted to being stereotyped as as contemporary R&B or pop singer instead of a rock musician due to her race, often being compared to Brandy and Britney Spears.

Dobson started writing at the age of fourteen and caught the ear of Jive Records, a year later. The label loved her voice and set her up with a number of producers with an eye towards developing a pop star. But Dobson refused the idea and left the label. After the experience Dobson met Jay Levine and signed with Nelly Furtado’s manager Chris Smith. Smith arranged showcases with several labels. Universal Music Canada president Randy Lennox showed interest in her and coaxed Island Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen and his head of A&R, Jeff Fenster, to fly into Toronto for another showcase. Dobson played a showcase for Island/Def Jam, about 30 seconds into the first song —- a punk thrash track about longing titled "Stupid Little Love Song"—- the executives were impressed and signed her.

Music career

Debut album

When in the recording studio, she hung up inspirational pictures of Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Coldplay, Jeff Buckley and the Vines, to help motivate her sound and to commemorate the artists who influenced her.

Dobson's self-titled debut album was released December 9, 2003 by Island Records and sold 307,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan as quoted by Billboard.. The album debuted at number 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart. Four singles were released from the album; "Bye Bye Boyfriend," "Take Me Away", "Everything", and "Don't Go (Girls and Boys)". There is an official music video for each of the singles. Two of the album's tracks, "Everything" and "Unforgiven" were used in the film The Perfect Score.

During much of 2004, Dobson promoted her debut album, appearing for a live performance on TRL and numerous magazine covers and articles. Dobson made an appearance on NBC's TV series American Dreams where she played the role of Tina Turner, covering the song "River Deep, Mountain High". She was also the opening act on Justin Timberlake's European
tour. That July, she released a new single, "Don't Go (Girls and Boys)", which was also featured in a Tommy Hilfiger commercial starring the singer. The album was later reissued with that single added. Dobson also had a new song, "If You Walk Away", on the soundtrack of Raising Helen.

Fefe was an endorser for the Got Milk? organization and the photo of her shows her jumping up in a rocker chick style with a microphone on a stand behind her.

Dobson released "Truth Anthem" on the Much Dance 2005 CD compilation, a benefit for the Canadian branch of War Child. In April 2005, Dobson was nominated for two Juno Awards, Pop Album of the Year and New Artist of the Year; both categories were won by Avril Lavigne. In the summer of 2005, Dobson was in a public service ad "Make Poverty History", which brings awareness to child poverty worldwide.

Sunday Love

By 2006, Dobson returned to the studio to add some finishing touches to her second album, Sunday Love. Musicians and songwriters she collaborated with during the recording process include Nina Gordon, Kay Hanley, John 5, Billy Steinberg, Matthew Wilder, Cyndi Lauper, Courtney Love, Joan Jett, and Rancid's Tim Armstrong.

In February 2006 Dobson sang "O Canada" at All-Star Saturday Night, part of the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston, Texas. In spring 2006, Dobson performed several shows around the United States, and began promoting Sunday Love in anticipation of its release. The first single, "Don't Let It Go to Your Head", was released in 2005 but did not chart. There is an official music video for the song. A second single, "This Is My Life" was released in 2006. No video was made for it and it also did not chart.

Sunday Love was never released because Dobson was dropped from Island Records. The album was reviewed in both Spin and Vibe magazine. "My real good fans, my hardcore fans, have it, so that's most important," Dobson says. "At least it got out there to a few hands, and now it's time to make a record on my own terms." "It was sad," says Dobson. "But instead of sitting there and being depressed and begging people for the record, I went back to the studio, got people that I knew, friends that I knew, and I started again."

One song from the unreleased album, "Be Strong", appeared on the soundtrack for the film It's a Boy Girl Thing.

The music of "This Is My Life" is used by the Taiwanese girl-group S.H.E in their song "I Love Trouble" (我愛烦恼) on their 2008 album FM S.H.E which became quite popular in Asia.

Dobson's "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" is covered by Lilyjets, a Norwegian girl group, as a single and on their 2006 debut album 3rd Floor. It is also covered by Jordin Sparks on her 2009 sophomore album Battlefield. Shortly after Jordin's album was released Fefe said, "Jordin Sparks just did , which was on Sunday Love, which was very cool. She did kind of, like, a more R&B version of it, which I think is really nice, actually. It was really cool that she didn't try and do a rock version of it, and she did what she's more comfortable with, which I thought was awesome."

Going independent: Joy (2009)

After being dropped by Island Records, Dobson decided to go back to her roots and create a new album on her own terms. She said in an April 2007 interview that her new efforts were coming along nicely and should see the light of day sooner than later.

"Start All Over", a song co-written by Dobson and featuring her in background vocals, was recorded by Miley Cyrus on her 2007 album Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus and was released as a single, peaking at number 57 on the Billboard Pop 100. In a 2009 interview Fefe said, "I wrote a song, she dug it, and she sang it. But I didn't want it for my record. It just wasn't right for me, and I just felt like it was better for someone else, and she does a great job on it. I was really impressed. She sounded great. I'm actually happier she did it than I did it."

In March 2008, Dobson performed three songs, including "Everything", at Toronto's Earth Hour concert. In June 2008, Dobson hosted a segment for E! Canada's E! News Weekend which talked about fashion for petite women.

In early 2008, "Watch Me Move" was heard in promos for the NBC show, Lipstick Jungle. It was also used as the Title theme for comedian Margaret Cho's The Cho Show.
"Watch Me Move" was released as a Digital download on September 9, 2008. In an interview in January 2009, Dobson said that "Watch Me Move" was a "teaser to what's to come" and hinted that the first single and promotional video will be released soon and will have a "soft rock vibe".

A song was posted by Dobson in February 2009, titled "I Want You." The song was featured on Dobson's official website for a time, and is now on her imeem. In April 2009, she released a video blog of updates, stating that her album is finally complete, and that it should be available soon. In May 2009, Fefe posted a mix of both "Watch Me Move" and "I Want You", entitled "I Want You 2 Watch Me Move" on her imeem, MySpace, and official website. She confirmed that the song is the first official single from her upcoming album, Joy. Fefe has posted on her Fefe Dobson Official Facebook page that Joy is scheduled for a late October 2009 release. A music video was shot for the single on May 23, 2009. Photos from the video shoot were subsequently released by MuchMusic. Dobson officially released "I Want You" as a digital download on July 3, 2009. The song is featured in promos for the VH1 show, Megan Wants a Millionaire. On August 5, 2009 the video premiered on MTV, The N, and LOGO. It consists of four incarnations, the individual songs of "I Want You", "Watch Me Move", "I Want You Remix" and a combination titled "I Want You 2 Watch Me Move."

On August 11, 2009 Fefe presented a showcase performance at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. Attendance was by INVITATION ONLY and included fans and music industry tastemakers. "Fefe performed a set — which included old favorites from her self-titled debut album and upcoming sophomore effort, Joy — that was drenched with passion, soaked with edge, and slicked with pop perfection." "Her new songs were incredibly well received and displayed the incredible growth and maturity of Fefe’s music." One of the new songs heard was "I Made Out with Your Boyfriend" and a video was captured by a correspondent. In an interview at the showcase Fefe mused, "It's almost like when an animal is in a small cage, but when you let it out it's running around like crazy. That's how I feel when I'm onstage." There are also photos of the event.
On August 27, 2009 Fefe gave us a "sneak peak" of her song "Paranoia" also stating that it will be a single. It is featured on the promo for the Fox series, "Fringe".

Promotion for Fefe continues as part of MTV's VMA weekend 2009, she will perform on Friday night, September 11, at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza.

Discography

• Fefe Dobson (Island, 2003)
• Sunday Love (unreleased)
• Joy (21 Music, coming late October/Fall 2009)

Awards and nominations

References

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External links

• Official website
• Template:Myspace
• Fefe Dobson at imeem
• Fefe Dobson at BestFan
• Fefe Dobson at Facebook
• Fefe Dobson discography at MusicBrainz
• Fefe Dobson discography at Discogs

Template:Persondata

• 1985 births
• Living people
• Black Canadian musicians
• Canadian female singers
• Canadian pop singers
• Canadian rock singers
• Canadian singer-songwriters
• English-language singers
• Musicians from Ontario
• People from Scarborough, Toronto
• Punk-pop singers
• Def Jam Recordings artists
• Universal Music Group artists
• Mercury Records artists