Felicia Lily Dobson (born February 28, 1985) is a Canadian singer. Born in Toronto, Ontario, she began performing as a teenager, during which time she received and refused an offer from Jive Records for a recording contract. Dobson signed with Island/Def Jam soon after and released her self-titled debut album (2003), which saw the success of the singles "Bye Bye Boyfriend" and "Don't Go (Girls and Boys)" on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and for which she received two Juno Award nominations.
Dobson's second studio album Sunday Love was originally scheduled for release in 2005, but after complications during production, its mainstream release was cancelled and she left her record label due to creative differences (later made available digitally in 2012). She was re-signed to Island Records during production of her third studio album Joy (2010), whose singles "Ghost" and "Stuttering" saw continued success in Canada.[1][2]
Early life
Dobson was born on February 28, 1985, in Scarborough, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.[3] Dobson's mother is of English, Dutch, First Nations, and Irish ancestry and her father is of Jamaican heritage.[4] She went to high school at Wexford Collegiate Institute. During her childhood, she took singing lessons at the New Conservatory of Music in Agincourt, Scarborough to improve her singing. Fefe Dobson graduated from Heritage Park Public School.
Dobson began sending demo tapes – recorded on a home karaoke machine – to many recording companies in North America when she was 11 years old.[5] Then at the age of 13, she started playing the piano.[6]
Before Dobson was signed, she said that she had been stereotyped as a contemporary R&B or popular music singer instead of a rock musician due to her race, often being compared to Brandy Norwood and Britney Spears.[5]
Dobson started writing music at the age of 13 years, and the company Jive Records attempted to develop her as a popular musician, which she eventually refused.[7] After that experience, Dobson met Jay Levine and contracted with Nelly Furtado's manager Chris Smith. Smith arranged showcases with several recording companies. Universal Music Canada president Randy Lennox showed interest in her, and persuaded Island Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen and his manager of A&R, Jeff Fenster, to fly to Toronto for another showcase.[7] 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 contracted her.[5]
In 2005, Dobson released the single "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" followed by "This Is My Life" the following year.[19][20] When both singles failed to chart, Island Records dropped her from the label and canceled the major label release of Dobson's second studio album, Sunday Love.[21] "My real good fans, my hardcore fans, have it, so that's most important," Dobson said, referring to the album leaking on the internet. "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."[22]Sunday Love eventually received a wide digital release on December 18, 2012.[23]
One song from the album, "Be Strong", featured on the soundtrack for the film It's a Boy Girl Thing.[24]
Joy, Dobson's third studio album, was released on November 22, 2010, after taking almost four years to complete. The album was preceded by the release of the two buzz singles "Watch Me Move" and "I Want You", which were then followed-up by the three top 20 singles "Ghost", "Stuttering" and "Can't Breathe". The singer performed her single "Stuttering" on the November 10, 2010, broadcast of The CW Television Network series, Hellcats.[61][62] She released the album's third single, "Can't Breathe" in March 2011. It peaked at number 19 on the Canadian Hot 100.
2013–present: Single releases and Emotion Sickness
On January 22, 2013, Dobson announced that recording had begun for her fourth studio album, later revealed to be titled Firebird. The album's intended lead single "Legacy" was released on August 6, 2013,[64][65] while the song "Celebrate" was released February 11, 2014.[66]Firebird did not see a release and the project was canceled.[67]
In early July 2013, Dobson got engaged to American rapper Yelawolf; the pair were married on September 27, 2019, in Nashville, Tennessee. On April 29, 2014, Dobson performed live during the Count Me In conference global broadcast, filmed at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.[68]
In early 2022, Dobson confirmed her return to music with the single "FCKN IN LOVE",[69] which was released on 25 February 2022.[70] In 2023, she participated in an all-star recording of Serena Ryder's single "What I Wouldn't Do", which was released as a charity single to benefit Kids Help Phone's Feel Out Loud campaign for youth mental health.[71] Dobson released her fourth studio album, Emotion Sickness, on September 29, 2023. It was preceded by the single "I Can't Love Him (And Love You Too)".[72][73]
Artistry
Musical style
Fefe Dobson's self-titled debut album is generally pop-rock, as well as some traces of punk music. Several songs on the album are also in an acoustic format, stripped down to just Dobson and the guitar. The music was different from most music put out at the time, such as recent releases by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. In fact, Dobson originally signed with Jive Records, who intended to make her the next big pop star. However, Dobson didn't want to be a pop-star and wanted to make her own type of music, and quickly left the label.[7] On Dobson's second album Joy, she worked with producers David Lichens, Jon Levine, Howard Benson and Bob Ezrin - living up to the portraits of her heroes she first hung during the recording of her first album: Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Coldplay, The Vines and Jeff Buckley. Dobson co-wrote most of the songs on the album - usually composing on guitar, her instrument of choice. "I play the few chords that I know," she says. "I try to write melodies off the same chords. Joy is written with about three chords, and an extra one in the bridge." Sonically the album was rooted alternative rock.
Influences
Dobson has said that John Lennon and Judy Garland are her primary musical influences, and 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."[11][74] She also mentions Janet Jackson as a primary influence.[75] At the same time, she went to "every 'N Sync concert there was."[76]
Dobson indicated that she would like to work with Jack White, the White Stripes/Raconteurs frontman, because she admires him for his ability to make his ragged rock music become radio-style.[77]
