What is Imelda May's Net Worth?
Imelda May is an Irish vocalist and musician who has a net worth of $8 million. Imelda May also plays the bodhran, guitar, bass, and tambourine and has earned her net worth over a successful career in music.
Early Life
Imelda Mary Higham was born Imelda Mary Clabby on July 10, 1974, in Dublin in an area known as The Liberties. Early in her life, she was influenced by the music of Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent. At the age of nine, she was a fan of Rockabilly and Blues, especially the music of Elmore James and Billie Holiday. She performed in an advertisement for Findus Fish Fingers at the age of 14, and the rest is history.
Music Career
Imelda May's music career started at the age of 16 years old when she began touring the Dublin club circuit. Occasionally she was barred and not allowed to perform at the Dublin's Bruxelles club because she was underage. She moved to the UK in 1998, and there she began singing with Blue Harlem and Mike Sanchez.
May formed her own band who specialized in rockabilly music in 2003 and released the album "No Turning Back." This debut album was distributed by Foot Tapping Records and was recorded under her maiden name, Imelda Clabby, signifying the beginning of her professional career. In 2005, the album was re-recorded and re-issued by Foot Tapping Records under her married name.
She made an appearance on the BBC music program "Later… with Jools Holland" in 2008, and released her second studio album "Love Tattoo" the following year. She won the Best Female Artist of the Year award at the 2009 Meteor Awards. Her third album, "Mayhem," was released in 2010 and earned her the RTE Radio 1 Album of the Year award and a Choice Music Prize nomination. In 2014, she released the album "Tribal," followed by her fifth album "Life Love Flesh Blood" in 2017 and "11 Past the Hour" in 2021.
Over her career, May has collaborated and performed with many other artists. In 2010, she performed with Jeff Beck to honor Les Paul at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, and then they toured together for five weeks. In 2011, she sold out two nights at O2 Dublin where Bono made a surprise appearance as her guest. In 2020, May was part of a group of Irish female musicians called Irish Women in Harmony who recorded a version of the song "Dreams" for the charity SafeIreland. She sang with Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones on the single "Just One Kiss" from her "11 Past the Hour" album.
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Personal Life
Imelda May married her guitarist and band member, Darrel Higham, in 2002, and they had a daughter together in 2012. In July of 2015, the couple announced their decision to separate after 13 years of marriage.
On March 9, 2022, May performed at Night for Ukraine at the Roundhouse in north London to help raise funds for the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal to provide aid to those fleeing the country following the Russian invasion.
May made her acting debut in the movie "Fisherman's Friends: One and All" in 2022.
