Madeleine Peyroux has received critical acclaim for a voice that echoes and reinterprets jazz and blues greats like Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. Her singing has been likened to a worn-out angel’s.
She left home at the age of fifteen after running away from an English boarding school, and started her musical training with a group of Parisian street musicians. After three years of living on the streets and travelling round Europe, she was eventually spotted by a record label and released her debut album to critical acclaim at the age of twenty two.
She performs a track from her new album “Half The Perfect World” and talks to Martha Kearney about her unusual route to musical success.
