Freya Ridings is an English singer-songwriter with such a powerful voice that she has been compared to the likes of Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine. In 2018 her track ‘Lost Without You’ climbed the charts and currently has over 117 million streams on Spotify. Since then she has been playing festivals and headlining shows across the US and Europe, released her debut album earlier this year (her new track ‘Castles’ is an absolute bop) and is about to embark on her biggest headlining tour of the UK.
We took a browse through her Insta to see what else we could find out about this budding superstar…
She has opened for a bunch of awesome artists
Including Tears for Fears, Tash Sultana, James Blunt and Lewis Capaldi. She was also meant to open for Hozier, but was struck with laryngitis the week the tour was about to start.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcSdRpTnvWa/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3uolD8n68g/
She has a connection to Game of Thrones
Her music video for ‘You Mean the World to Me’ was directed by Lena Headey and stars Maisie Williams – AKA Cersei Lannister and Arya Stark 😱😱😱
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt8FHodgk9f/
She’s a big fan of Taylor Swift
And it seems the feeling is mutual. In 2017, Taylor Swift added ‘Lost Without You’ to her Apple Music playlist and Freya Ridings’ way of saying “thank you” was to share a cover of Taylor’s song ‘Don’t Blame Me’ from her album reputation.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcdPlbPHM2b/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdFSgahnTLU/
Then earlier this year, she covered ‘ME!’ by Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. Via a bit of extra detective work, we found out that Taylor gave the cover her stamp of approval by sharing Freya’s cover on her Instagram story.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_K-BanL8L/
📹 IG | Taylor reposted @FreyaRidings cover of ‘ME!’ in the @BBCR1 live lounge on her Instagram story 💕
“This cover is incredible!! Shout out to the amazing musicians/vocalists too, this made my day!” pic.twitter.com/hdhkfRyCg1
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) July 16, 2019
SEE MORE: Freya Ridings covers Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’
Her music has been featured in various television shows and movies
Most notably, her track ‘Lost Without You’ played during an episode of Love Island (UK) in July 2018 and viewers obviously fell in love with it, because the track shot up in the charts and peaked at number 9 in the UK.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlBJSbNBJZb/
The same song was also featured on Grey’s Anatomy in a powerful scene that will undoubtedly go down as one of the most memorable moments in Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, and will most likely bring you to tears.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwb64mrgtfR/
She does surprise performances on train station pianos
*currently waiting at Britomart train station for her to show up*
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl54_sMhfEy/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmI9ACXBQGz/
She covered ‘bad guy’ by Billie Eilish
and put her own hauntingly beautiful spin on the epic track.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2KPongHyV-/
She grew up struggling with dyslexia
But it didn’t hold her back at all. Being unable to read music meant that she had to start writing her own songs at a young age, which has helped her to become the talented songwriter and musician that she is today.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwHsFKBg-RK/
