Paloma Faith facts: Singer's age, partner, children and career revealed
4 May 2023, 13:54 | Updated: 4 May 2023, 13:55
Paloma Faith is one of the most talented stars of her generation of 21st century singer-songwriters.
Paloma Faith is best known for her own brand of retro and eccentric fashion and music. She released her debut album Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? in 2009.
Her second album Fall to Grace in 2012 was even more successful than her debut, and has since released two more LPs including the 2017 number one The Architect.
Paloma Faith - Upside Down (Official Video)
She is also an actress, appearing in films The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Dread, the 2007 remake of St Trinian's and Youth.
Paloma appeared as a judge on the fifth series of The Voice UK in 2016, and on The Voice Kids in 2020.
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How old is Paloma Faith and where is she from?
Paloma Faith in 2019. Picture: Getty Paloma Faith was born on July 21, 1981. She celebrated her 41st birthday in 2022.
In 2014, she admitted to being born in 1981, rather than 1985 like she had claimed, after her birth certificate was revealed online. She explained that she told record executives that she was younger because she felt that she would not get signed to their label if they knew her true age.
Paloma was born to an English mother and Spanish father in Hackney, but her parents were both from Norfolk.
Her parents split when she was two years old, and divorced two years later. She was raised by her mother in Stoke Newington, but she kept a close relationship with her paternal grandmother.
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How did she break into music?
Paloma Faith in 2009. Picture: Getty Paloma was encouraged to dance by her mother as a child, and took weekly ballet classes in Dalston.
She studied for a degree in contemporary dance at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, and worked as a hip-hop dancer at club LoveDough.
She then studied for an MA in theatre directing at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, while working part-time jobs including as a sales assistant at Agent Provocateur, a singer in a burlesque cabaret, a life model and a magician's assistant.
While working in a pub, her manager Dr Vishaal Goel asked her to front his band, which they later named Paloma and the Penetrators. During a performance, she was scouted by an A&R man from Epic Records, who invited her to sing for the manager of the label.
20 minutes into her audition, she asked the manager to turn his phone off and when he refused, she walked out. The manager later called and offered her a contract, saying he had seen many singers but none as memorable as her.
She turned down the chance to join Amy Winehouse's band, and started writing and performing her own songs.
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What are most famous songs?
Paloma Faith - Only Love Can Hurt Like This (Official Video)
Her biggest hits include:
- Stone Cold Sober
- Upside Down
- Picking Up the Pieces
- Never Tear Us Apart (INXS cover)
- Can't Rely On You
- Only Love Can Hurt Like This
- Lullaby (with Sigala)
- Make Your Own Kind of Music (Mama Cass cover)
- Changing (with Sigma)
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Is Paloma Faith married and does she have children?
Leyman Lahcine and Paloma Faith. Picture: Getty Paloma Faith was briefly married to New Zealand chef Rian Haynes in 2005, but they split after eight months.
In August 2016, she announced that she was expecting her first child with long-term boyfriend Leyman Lahcine, a French artist. The singer later said: "Leyman is my husband. You don't need a marriage certificate."
Paloma gave birth to a baby in December 2016. In 2020, she confirmed that her child was a girl, after previously alluding to raising her child as gender-neutral.
In 2020, it was announced that Paloma was expecting her second child, which she conceived with her sixth round of IVF. The baby girl was born in February 2021.
In late 2022, Paloma confirmed that she and Leyman had split up after more than eight years together.
