Freya Ridings

This article is about the singer. For her self-titled album, see Freya Ridings (album).

Freya Ridings
Freya Ridings performing live at Pryzm, Kingston in 2023
Freya Ridings performing live at Pryzm, Kingston in 2023
Background information
Birth nameFreya Olivia Rose Ridings
Born (1994-04-19) 19 April 1994 (age 30)
London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • piano
  • vocals
Years active2016–present
LabelsGood Soldier
Spouse
Ewan J. Phillips
​
(m. 2022)​

Freya Olivia Rose Ridings (born 19 April 1994) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Ridings rose to prominence in 2017 with her ballad, "Lost Without You", which became a top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart. She followed this with the release of her debut extended play, You Mean the World to Me (2019). Her self-titled debut album was supported by the single "Castles", which would become her international breakthrough.

Early and personal life

Freya Olivia Rose Ridings was raised in North London and grew up in Palmers Green. She is the daughter of English actor and musician Richard Ridings, and learned guitar from watching him play. She attended St Christopher School in Letchworth, followed by the BRIT School from the age of 16.[1]

Ridings has dyslexia.[2] In November 2022, she married folk singer Ewan J. Phillips after getting engaged two and a half months earlier.[1]

Career

Ridings performing in Sydney, Australia in March 2020.

Ridings released her debut single, "Blackout", on 5 May 2017. She released the single "Maps" (a cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs hit) on 30 June 2017. On 22 September 2017 she released her debut live album Live at St Pancras Old Church. After releasing the album she went on to her first full headline tour in the UK. She spent most of 2017 supporting the likes of Tears for Fears, Tash Sultana and Lewis Capaldi.[1] She released "Lost Without You" on 3 November 2017. The song peaked at number 9 in the UK Singles Chart, after being featured on the reality show Love Island in July 2018. It was subsequently chosen by Scott Mills' as his 'Tune of the Week' on his Radio 1 show in August 2018. She released her second live album, Live at Omeara, on 30 March 2018. She released the single "Ultraviolet" on 15 June 2018.

In 2019, she released the single "You Mean the World to Me", which was re-produced by Greg Kurstin, followed by an extended play of the same name. She also announced her self-titled debut album, with an original release date of 31 May 2019, but it was pushed back to 19 July 2019.

On 29 June 2019 Ridings played a set on the John Peel Stage at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival,[3][4] after the festival founder Michael Eavis personally attended one of her concerts in Bristol.[5]

In March 2020, Ridings toured Australia for the first time, performing shows in Sydney and Melbourne.[6]

In January 2023, Ridings released her first single in three years, "Weekends".[7] This was followed by the announcement that her second studio album, Blood Orange, would be released on 5 May 2023; this was subsequently brought forward to 28 April 2023 and would coincide with a number of album release parties at several venues around the UK.[8]

Ridings was due to perform at the Coronation Concert, marking the coronation of King Charles III in May 2023, but she pulled out at the last minute after contracting an unknown illness.[9]

In June 2023, Ridings co-wrote (alongside her husband) and performed the song Rise for the teen comedy film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[10] 		AUT
[11] 		GER
[12] 		IRE
[13] 		SCO
[14] 		SWI
[15]
Freya Ridings
  • Released: 19 July 2019
  • Label: Good Soldier
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
 3 49 27 18 3 19
Blood Orange[8]
  • Released: 28 April 2023[17]
  • Label: Good Soldier, AWAL
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
 7 71 18 82
[18]		 9 28

Live albums

Title Details Peak chart positions
SCO
[14]
Live at St Pancras Old Church[19]
  • Released: 22 September 2017
  • Label: Good Soldier
  • Format: Digital download
 —
Live at Omeara[20]
  • Released: 30 March 2018
  • Label: Good Soldier
  • Format: Digital download
 75

Extended plays

Title Details
You Mean the World to Me
  • Released: 1 March 2019
  • Label: Good Soldier
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
UK
[10] 		AUT
[11] 		BEL
(FL)
[21] 		GER
[12] 		IRE
[13] 		SCO
[22] 		SWI
[23] 		UKR
Air.
[24] 		US
AC
[25]
"Blackout"[26] 2017 — — — — — — — — — Freya Ridings
"Lost Without You" 9 — 53 — 16 5 — — 16
"Ultraviolet"[31] 2018 — — — — — — — — —
"Waking Up"[32]
(with MJ Cole) 		— — — — — — — — — Waking Up EP
"You Mean the World to Me" 2019 57 — — — 78 26 — — 15 Freya Ridings
"Castles" 16 28 12 51 12 2 14 — 15
"Love Is Fire" — — — — — 25 — — —
"Weekends"[7] 2023 31 — — — 100 — — 3 — Blood Orange[8]
"Face in the Crowd"[35] — — — — — — — — —
"Can I Jump?"[36] — — — — — — — — —
"Perfect"[37] — — — — — — — — —
"I Feel Love" — — — — — — — — —
"Rise" — — — — — — — — — Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and Blood Orange (live at Apollo)
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Promotional singles

Title Year Album
"Maps"[38] 2017 Non-album single
"Unconditional"[39] 2019 Freya Ridings

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result Ref
2020 BRIT Awards British Female Solo Artist Nominated [40]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Freya Ridings: Meet the talented 'Lost Without You' singer-songwriter". Smooth Radio. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  2. ^ "What's it like to have dyslexia?". Newsround. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Freya Ridings Setlist at Glastonbury Festival 2019". setlist.fm. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  4. ^ Roper, Kerri-Ann (26 July 2019). "Freya Ridings on Glastonbury, debut album, celebrity fans - and Peppa Pig". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  5. ^ Ackerman, Naomi (31 May 2019). "Freya Ridings: 'I was a song-writing nerd and now I'm playing Glasto'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  6. ^ "UK pop sensation Freya Ridings performs her global smash hit 'Castles'". Sunrise. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. ^ a b freyaridings (29 December 2022). "Weekends (the first single from my next album!!) will be out 12th January 💙 it would mean the world to me if you pre-saved it 🔐 link in bio 💖". Instagram. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "Freya Ridings on her upcoming album Blood Orange and headlining Latitude Festival". Virgin Radio UK. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  9. ^ Stavely, Patrick (6 May 2023). "British singer Freya Ridings pulls out of performing at the coronation concert due to mystery illness a day before showtime". Sky News Australia. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  10. ^ a b "FREYA RIDINGS > Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Discographie Freya Ridings". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Discographie Freya Ridings". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Discography Freya Ridings". Irish-charts.com. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  14. ^ a b Peaks on the Scottish Albums Chart:
  15. ^ "Discographie Freya Ridings". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  16. ^ a b c d "BRIT Certified - bpi" (To access, enter the search parameter "Freya Ridings" and select "Search by Keyword"). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Freya Ridings returns with new single 'Weekends' with second album 'Blood Orange' to be released in May". 13 January 2023.
  18. ^ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Live at St Pancras Old Church by Freya Ridings". Apple Music. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Live at Omeara by Freya Ridings". Apple Music. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  21. ^ "Discografie Freya Ridings". Ultratop. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  22. ^ Peaks on the Scottish Singles Chart:
  23. ^ "Freya Ridings - Castles - swisscharts.com". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  24. ^ "Top Radio Hits Ukraine Weekly Chart: Feb 1, 2024". TopHit. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  25. ^ Peaks on the Adult Contemporary chart:
  26. ^ "Blackout – Single by Freya Ridings". Apple Music. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  27. ^ a b "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  28. ^ a b "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Freya Ridings)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  29. ^ a b "Canadian certifications – Freya Ridings". Music Canada. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  30. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Ultraviolet – Single by Freya Ridings". Apple Music. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  32. ^ "Waking Up - Single by MJ Cole". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  33. ^ "Gold & Platin" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  34. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  35. ^ "Freya Ridings Releases New Single 'Face in the Crowd'". Broadway World. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  36. ^ "From the album, she released the third single called "Can I Jump?" on March 24, 2023". PM Studio. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  37. ^ "Freya Ridings released the fourth single called "Perfect" from her upcoming sophomore album "Blood Orange" on April 7, 2023". PM Studio. 7 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  38. ^ "Maps – Single by Freya Ridings". Apple Music. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  39. ^ "Unconditional – Single by Freya Ridings". Apple Music. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  40. ^ Lavin, Will (11 January 2020). "Lewis Capaldi, Charli XCX and Bruce Springsteen amongst artists nominated for 2020 BRIT Awards". NME. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
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