Felicia Dobson was born in Scarborough, Canada, a suburb of Toronto, on February 28th, 1985. The family had six children who were all born from different fathers. Although her given name is Felicia, she has always been called Fefe.
Her father abandoned the family when Fefe was young and she only saw him sporadically; she stopped talking to him when she was 13. Still, her mother was a dynamic woman and music was a great part of their lives. They were constantly listening to Top 40 radio and music quickly became a creative outlet for Fefe. In fact, most of her childhood was spent at a performing arts community center. She realized early on that she was made for music.
When she was 11, she got a present from her mother: a karaoke machine. After she started singing to Mariah Carey hits, she made herself a demo tape consisting of 24 songs from Selena, Madonna, and Janet Jackson. By the time she had started sending out the tape to record labels, she was already writing her own songs.
During that time, she was so serious about making it in the music business that she didn't understand why she was receiving so many rejection letters. She wanted success so bad, she could taste it.
Fortunately, her drive allowed her to pursue a musical education. She was accepted at Wexford Collegiate Institute, a Scarborough high school renowned for its performing arts program. At the same time, she continued to look for that record company that would make her a star.
In 2000, the music industry was riding on the coattails of teen pop sensations like Britney Spears and Brandy. That same year, when Fefe was only 15, Canadian label Zomba Records took notice of her and signed her.
For the next few months, the label executives had her meeting with a smorgasbord of music producers, all of whom were trying to find a way to mold her into a pop star. The problem was that she had such raw energy, they didn't know how to adapt it to their purpose.
With things not going as she had originally planned, Fefe was totally discouraged. It was so bad that one time she even found herself singing at 8:30 a.m. in a besmirched Toronto bar. However, that performance proved to be the most important of her career to date.
As it turns out, Lyor Cohen, CEO of Island Def Jam Music Group, was in the bar at that time. Her talent blew his mind and he called the head office directly to tell everyone he wanted to sign her on the spot. Immediately after she got out of her contract with Zomba, she signed with Def Jam.
She met with producer Jay Levine from Left Hook Productions and together they started working on her music. Her first two singles, "Take Me Away" and "Bye Bye Boyfriend," were released in September 2003 and have since gotten a lot of airplay on MTV and radio stations across North America.
In December 2003 she released her self-titled album, which received rave reviews. The label was hoping to sell 13 thousand records during the first week, but to everyone's great surprise, the album sold over 30 thousand copies during that time.
She's currently busy promoting her album, but she would love to get into television and motion pictures. With a guest appearance on American Dreams in 2004, as Tina Turner singing "River Deep, Mountain High," it looks like that wish is coming true.
Music festival returns to islandsThe Kingston Whig-Standard, CanadaFefe Dobson. Official Blues Brothers Review. What do all these acts have in common? All four of them, plus about 20 other bands, will be converging on a farm just north of Ganan -oque for the 1000 Islands Music Fest, Aug. 13-15.
Dealing with Ben Mulroney RadioEye Weekly, CanadaDid you know still-aspiring Canadian rock starlet Fefe Dobson is looking to the interweb to help her find a new bass player? Dwelling on that type of factoid obscures the fact that there's actually a hit-radio renaissance going on these days — every
He's in charge of guiding the careers of Nelly Furtado, Fefe Dobson and rapper Saukrates. True to Turner's penchant for the unexpected, her try-out for
Turner got noticed by Toronto artist manager Chris Smith, who represents Nelly Furtado, Fefe Dobson and Saukrates, among others. He assisted in recruiting a
Tandem
InDaRnB
Calgary Herald
The Gazette (Montreal)