Fefe Dobson

Fefe Dobson Introduction

With her edgy attire, pop/rock hits, and spunky sexiness, she's pretty much like the northern Rihanna or the black Avril Lavigne...you know, whatever you decide to go for. Fefe Dobson is still Fefe Dobson.

Fefe Dobson Biography

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.

Fefe Dobson Demo

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.

Fefe Dobson Career

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. Dobson was discovered and signed by Jive Records in 2000.

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.