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Amy Jane Studt British singer/songwriter/musician.
Growing up in what she regards as her hometown of Bournemouth, soutern England, Amy Studt started teaching herself piano, playing guitar and learning the oboe. Studt’s father is a violinist and conductor who has toured with Roy Orbison and played on films, while her mother was head of music at a school.
From age 13, she attended Bryanston School, Dorset. By the time Studt was 14, she had written 42 songs. Her father, who regularly works in studios, suggested she record some. She gave or sold the finished CD to various friends, and one found its way to Simon Fuller (manager of Annie Lennox, Spice Girls, S Club 7, etc.).
Studt released her first single, "Just a Little Girl", in July 2002, dubbed by some as the UK's Avril Lavigne, even though Studt had written most of the songs before Avril Lavigne had first entered a recording studio. Her debut entered the UK charts at #14 but straight after the release she seemed to disappear off the scene. “Just a Little Girl” found its way onto playlists in New York City, Los Angeles and throughout the United States. In the United States, she is generally considered a one-hit wonder, but "Just a Little Girl" still receives occasional airplay on CHR stations.
Almost 11 months later, however, Studt returned to the UK music scene in June 2003 with her follow-up to "Just A Little Girl", her second single "Misfit". In the song Amy slates those who conform to the general stereotypes of teenage life - the in-crowd - calling them superficial but saying that it's fine because she is happy to be a misfit. "Misfit" received regular videoplay and more regular airplay than her debut, which helped her improve on it, reaching #6 in the UK chart. Alongside the chart success of Misfit was the release of Amy's debut album "False Smiles", which entered the chart at #24.
29 September 2003 saw the release of the third cut from the album, "Under The Thumb". The song became her second Top 10 and third Top 20 single, entering at #10, which also helped push the album to a peak of #18. "False Smiles" has since been certified Gold, selling 100,000 copies in the UK and was even considered for the much coveted Mercury Music Prize shortlist. In an attempt to sell more copies of the album, "False Smiles" was re-released at the beginning of 2004 which included one new track, a cover of the Sheryl Crow classic, "All I Wanna Do". The song failed to set the charts alight at all, peaking at #21. The album re-release also failed to improve sales, missing out on the Top40 altogether.
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