Biography:
Felicia Lynn Dobson was born on February 28, 1985, in the Toronto, Ontario district of Scarborough. Fefe Dobson is biracial. Her mother is of Irish, Dutch and English ancestry, while her father is of Jamaican Heritage Dobson has three siblings, two younger brothers, and an older sister. Often at school Dobson and her older sister Tanya were picked on because of her skin color. Although her real name is Felicia, she has always been called Fefe. Her father left the family when she was young, and she only saw him periodically. She eventually stopped seeing and talking to him when she turned 13. Her anger is expressed in her song "Unforgiven". Dobson went to a performing arts community center when she was young. In the fifth grade, she played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at her school. "After that, I felt a spiritual connection with Judy Garland," she said. She has also said 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."
When she was 11, her mother had given her a karaoke machine for her birthday. After she learned how to use the machine, she made a demo tape of 24 songs by such artists as Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Selena, and Madonna. She began sending the demo tape to record labels, but with little success. By this time Dobson had also begun writing her own songs.
She went to Wexford Collegiate Institute, a high school in Scarborough known for its performing arts program. She still kept looking for a record company that would make a record deal with her. Before signing with Universal Music Canada and Island Records, Fefe Dobson considered signing to her first record deal years earlier.
In the year 2000 she was discovered by Jive Records and they signed her immediately. The record label wanted to give her a traditional pop star image. Dobson, however, wanted more guitar and to include some of her own written songs. Jive rejected the idea, so she left the record company. She found herself singing in a Toronto bar at 8:30 in the morning. It turned out a CEO at The Island Def Jam Music Group was in the bar that very morning. He wanted to sign her. They signed her up on the wrong lyrics. She sang her song "Stupid Little Love Song" and what the people thought she sang was "Stupid Little Buzz Saw" which they thought was "genius". She met producer Jay Levine through Island Records and they began working on her music. “He just really let me be free. He found something in me that he really thought was special, it was just fate”. When in the recording studio, she hung up inspirational pictures of Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Coldplay, Jeff Buckley and the Vines, to help motivate her sound and to commemorate the artists who influenced her.
Dobson joined the Camplified Tour, along with Skye Sweetnam. She also appeared on the soundtracks for Raising Helen (If You Walk Away) and The Perfect Score (Everything).
During much of 2004, Dobson did a lot of promotion for her debut album, appearing for a live performance on TRL, and numerous magazine covers and articles. She was asked to open for Justin Timberlake for his European tour. In July 2004, she released a single, "Don't Go (Girls and Boys)", which was also featured in a Tommy Hilfiger commercial staring the singer. Her album was later reissued with the single added. Dobson received considerable attention throughout 2004, appearing, for instance, as a spokesperson for the Got Milk? ad campaign.
As 2005 rolled around, Dobson recorded a song, titled "Truth Anthem", on the Much Dance 2005 CD, where the profits would benefit the Canadian branch of the charitable organization War Child. In April 2005, Dobson was nominated for two Juno Awards, one for album of the year and the other, Fan Choice Award; both categories were won by Avril Lavigne that year. In the summer of 2005, Dobson was in a public service ad called "Make Poverty History" which brings awareness to child poverty worldwide. Dobson is devoted to this campaign, due in part to her having grown up in a poor family.
By 2006, Dobson had returned to the studio to add some finishing touches to her second album Sunday Love. During the recording process, early in the studio, she collaborated with many of the music industry's legends such as Nina Gordon, Kay Hanley, Marilyn Manson guitarist John 5, Billy Steinberg, Matthew Wilder, Cyndi Lauper, Courtney Love, Joan Jett, and Rancid's Tim Armstrong.
In February 2006 Dobson sang "O Canada" at All-Star Saturday Night, part of the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston, TX. In spring 2006 Dobson performed several shows around the United States, and began promoting her new album. The first single Don't Let it Go To Your Head stalled on the charts most likely due to the fact that the video wasn't released until 3 months after the single and it was only available online. The second single This is My Life was edited by her label to make it sound more pop but it had virtually no promotion which led to its flop.
"It was sad," says Dobson. "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."
Her song "Be Strong" featured on the soundtrack for the 2006 romantic comedy "It's a Boy/Girl Thing".
