Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde (born 15 May 1996), better known by her stage name Birdy, is an English singer and songwriter. She won the music competition Open Mic UK in 2008, at the age of 12. Her debut single, a cover version of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love”, was her breakthrough, charting all across Europe and earning platinum certification six times in Australia.

Her self-titled debut album, Birdy, was released on 7 November 2011 to similar success, peaking at number one in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands. Her second studio album, Fire Within, was released on 23 September 2013 in the UK. At the 2014 Brit Awards, she was nominated for Best British Female Solo Artist. Her third studio album, Beautiful Lies, was released on 25 March 2016. Her fourth studio album Young Heart was released on 30 April 2021.

Birdy was born on 15 May 1996, in Lymington, England, United Kingdom. Her father is Rupert Oliver Benjamin van den Bogaerde, a writer; her mother is Sophie Patricia (née Roper-Curzon), a concert pianist. Birdy learned to play the piano at the age of seven, and began writing her own music at the age of eight. She stated that listening to classical music and the songs her mother played has been a big influence on her sound. Her parents were married in 1995 and have two other children: Jake, born in 1997, and Caitlin in 1999. She also has two elder half-brothers, Moses and Sam, from her father’s first marriage.

Birdy studied at Durlston Court Prep School in Barton on Sea, at Priestlands School, and at Brockenhurst College, a sixth form college in the New Forest. Her maternal grandfather was Captain John Christopher Ingram Roper-Curzon, the 20th Baron Teynham, and she grew up on Pylewell Park, the family estate near Lymington, Hampshire. Her great-uncle was the actor Sir Dirk Bogarde. She has English, Belgian (Flemish), Dutch and Scottish ancestry.

Birdy’s second given name, Lucilla, was the name of her father’s stepmother. Birdy’s stage name comes from the nickname her parents gave her as a baby, because she opened her mouth like a little bird when being fed. In 2008, while still a 12-year-old pupil at Durlston Court Preparatory School, Birdy won the UK talent contest Open Mic UK, a spinoff of the Live and Unsigned competition. She won both the under-18s category and the Grand Prize, against 10,000 other competitors.She performed her own song, called “So Be Free”, at the competition in front of 2,000 people.

In 2009, Birdy performed live on piano for BBC Radio 3’s Pianothon in London. In January 2011, at the age of 14, Birdy released a cover version of Bon Iver’s song “Skinny Love”. The song became her first hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at 17. The single was chosen as “Record of the Week” by UK radio DJ Fearne Cotton, resulting in it being added to BBC Radio 1’s B‑list playlist as soon as it was released in March 2011. The official music video for the song was directed by Sophie Muller. The song was also featured on The Vampire Diaries episode “The Sun Also Rises”, which aired on 5 May 2011. “Skinny Love” peaked at number 1 in the Netherlands.

Since then, Birdy has covered a number of songs, including “The A Team” by Ed Sheeran and the xx’s “Shelter”. On 19 July 2011, she performed in BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. In the session, she performed both “Shelter” and “The A Team”. Her cover of “Shelter” was also featured on The Vampire Diaries episode “The End of the Affair”, which aired on 29 September 2011.

Birdy’s eponymous debut album of cover versions (plus one original song written by her) was released on 7 November 2011; the album peaked at No. 13 in the UK, No. 40 in Ireland and number 1 in Belgium, the Netherlands and Australia. In August 2012 her début album peaked at number one in Australia, while the singles “Skinny Love” and “People Help the People” peaked at numbers 2 and 10 respectively. In June 2012, Birdy contributed the song “Learn Me Right” with Mumford & Sons to the Pixar film Brave for which she received her first Grammy Award nomination.

On 7 August 2012, Birdy released her “Live in London” EP, which contained eight songs. This included her cover of Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team” and her song from The Hunger Games soundtrack, “Just a Game”. On 29 August 2012 Birdy performed ANOHNI’s song “Bird Gerhl” (from Antony and the Johnsons’ I Am a Bird Now album) during the opening ceremony of the London Paralympic Games. In October 2012, Birdy sang live on French TV music programme Taratata, performing “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. Birdy paid a visit to Australia in August 2012, during which Dolly magazine took her on a visit to Taronga Zoo in Sydney. She also made appearances on shows such as Sunrise and The X Factor singing “Skinny Love” and “People Help the People”.

On 16 February 2013, Birdy sang at Sanremo Music Festival 2013. She then announced the release of her second studio album, entitled Fire Within, via a YouTube video on 10 July 2013. The video included footage of Birdy in the studio along with a preview of two songs, “Wings” and “No Angel”, which are both featured on the album. The first official single, “Wings”, was released on 22 July 2013 and a second song, “All You Never Say”, was sent to subscribers of Birdy’s mailing list and posted on YouTube on 15 August 2013. The song “Wings” was also featured on The Vampire Diaries episode “Home”, which aired on 15 May 2014 (her eighteenth birthday). The album was released in the UK and other surrounding countries on 23 September 2013 and received mostly positive reviews. In North America, the album was released on 3 June 2014. A subsequent EP entitled Breathe was released on 24 September.

Birdy did tours of America and Australia in 2013. After her concert in the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, a reviewer described her as a sensational pianist who appears to be shy and timid, but whose voice “rings throughout the theatre.” The only criticism was that what was “severely lacking” was any sense of crowd interaction. The tour also included appearances on TV shows like Sunrise, on which she sang “Wings.” While in Melbourne, Birdy also sang “Skinny Love” at the Logie Awards in April 2013.