She was born in Dublin in 1974 in the Liberties in the south inner city. She is the youngest of five siblings, with sisters Edel Foy and Maria O’Reilly, and brothers Brendan Clabby and Fintan Clabby. In 1991, she attended Senior College Ballyfermot, where she studied Art, Graphics and Printmaking. Her career began at age 16 when she began touring the Dublin club circuit and she was occasionally barred from her own shows at Dublin’s Bruxelles club for being underage.
Described as “a unique vocal talent,” May is known for her musical style of rockabilly revival and has also been compared to female jazz musicians such as Billie Holliday. In 2003, May released No Turning Back. In 2007 she signed a recording contract with Ambassador Records, and recorded her second album. May’s second album Love Tattoo reached No.1 in Ireland and received wide critical acclaim. She caught the attention of Jools Holland, whom she later supported on tour, which led him to request that she appear on his well-known music show Later… with Jools Holland. She won Female Artist of the Year at the 2009 Meteor Awards.
On 31 January 2010, she performed at the 52nd Grammy Awards with Jeff Beck in tribute to Les Paul and Mary Ford. She released her third studio album, Mayhem, in Ireland in September 2010 – again reaching No. 1 in the Irish Album Charts – and in the United Kingdom in October 2010. She first came to my attention via this song – ‘Inside Out’. The lyrics are whimsical and she performs it with great energy.
In 2016, May performed at the Centenary Concert to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the 1916 Rising. In the U.K. May appeared on Never Mond The Buzzcocks and the Graham Norton Show. She worked with BIMM music college in Dublin to provide a scholarship (which they named after her) for up and coming artists.
May’s fifth album, Life Love Flesh Blood, was released in April 2017. She collaborated with American musician T Bone Burnett on the record, who produced the album. Throughout the creative process, May received guidance from Bono of U2 fame. Life Love Flesh Blood won critical acclaim and reached no. 4 in the UK charts. In May of that year she performed Life Love Flesh Blood at a special concert in the prestigious London Palladium.
