Syd Wolfe

Syd Wolfe
Wolfe at event in 2013
Background information
Born	(1986-05-16) May 16, 1986
Origin	Rockwood, Tennessee, US
Genre	Pop, Pop Rock, Hip Hop
Years active	2008–present
Label	Fusion Records
Associated acts
MIDNIGHT, Aurora Reed, Crystal Barker

Sydney Nicole Wolfe (born May 16, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, record label owner, television personality, model & entrepreneur. She became interested in becoming a professional singer whilst working as session singer for dance music artists in Los Angeles. Subsequently venturing into her own music career, she began to gain recognition in 2009 when she signed to Ensemble records and released her debut album "Big Bad Wolfe", which reached #1 in the United Kingdom and other territories around Europe. Quickly establishing herself as 'one to watch', Wolfe seemingly sprung from nowhere to take the UK by storm and earned her first UK #1 single, "To The Floor" in June 2009. Her sophomore album "Cry Wolfe" was met with mixed critical reviews despite charting at #1 in the UK. It wasn't until her third album "Monsters" that Wolfe found worldwide recognition. The album spawned eight successful top 3 UK singles and reached #1 in 52 countries worldwide, selling over 20 million copies. It was the biggest selling album of 2011 in the UK. Her current album "The Scientist" has already broken records worldwide. Notably in the UK where it sold over 2.5 million copies in 9 months to become the biggest selling album of 2013. It also spawned three of the UK's biggest selling singles of 2013, with Wolfe holding the #1, #2 & #7 spots on the end of year singles chart with "The Scientist", "Destroying Diamonds" & 'Romancing Strangers". The album has currently sold 16 million copies worldwide, making Wolfe one of the biggest selling female artists of all time.

In addition to her music career, Wolfe has established herself as a notable figure in both the fashion and film industry, making her debut in both fields in 2013. In February 2013, in collaboration with UK fashion high street retailer River Island, Wolfe debuted her SYDNEY by Syd Wolfe collection at London Fashion Week. Her line was met with considerable praise. The Spring/Summer line was distributed to stores around the UK & Ireland in March 2013 and sold out within hours. In April 2013, Wolfe starred in her debut feature film "Working Girl", a retelling of the 1988 romantic comedy, and a role written specifically with Wolfe in mind. She starred alongside Hailey Klass & Ryan Gosling. The movie was in the top 10 highest-grossing films of 2013, coming in at #7 with a worldwide gross of $712,680,546. The films soundtrack also debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and went on to win an American Music Award for Best Soundtrack.

The entertainer has used her position as a global icon of pop culture to begin her own empire, consisting of a production company, fragrance, television shows and a charitable foundation among other activities. She parlayed her position into becoming brand ambassadors for companies such as Giorgio Armani, Pepsi and Motorola. Her signature scent, distributed by Elizabeth Arden, is called 'Enchantment'. She is also a judge on URAPS Idol, taking on the role of head judge for the thirteenth season.

Wolfe created and opened Fusion Records in 2010. It is currently the largest grossing record label in the United Kingdom and the leader of the 'big four' record companies. She still remains CEO & majority stockholder of the label.

Wolfe's accolades include Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, BRIT Awards, Urapopstar Awards, People's Choice Awards & a Golden Globe Award amongst others. She was featured in the Forbes magazine 'Top 10 Celebrity Earners' in 2012, 2013 & 2014 respectively. In December 2014, Wolfe was voted #1 on Forbes' 'Top 20 Most Powerful Public Figures' list.

Wolfe's public image and personal relationships have attracted worldwide media attention. Wolfe's first high profile relationship was with alternative singer Luke Ramada, whom she dated for a year. She was then romantically linked with numerous high-profile male singers but became romantically involved with her bodyguard Ryan Green in 2011, who would later become the muse of her fourth studio album The Scientist. The couple married in September 2011 but filed for divorce 3 months later citing unreasonable behaviour. The singer is currently romantically linked to Jetfire star Aaron Dixon, the couple have been public about their relationship since March 2013. Wolfe gave birth to her first child with Dixon on October 10, 2014, a boy named Apollo Xander Aaronite Wolfe. She also has a 10 year old adopted son, Max, and her two younger brothers are also singers. Most famously, Taylor is a hugely successful actor and singer & Justyce was the breakout star of 2014.

Early Life

Syd was born Sydney Nicole Wolfe, to Jonah & Darlene Wolfe, on 16 May 1986 in Rockwood, Tennessee. Syd is a middle child, with 1 older and 3 younger siblings. Syd's younger brothers are hugely successful in their own right. Taylor is a successful musician and oscar-winning actor & Justyce has a hugely successful music career. Her older sister Kimberly works for Syd as a nanny to her son, Max. Her youngest brother Cody plays guitar in a band in the US & her mother Darlene is also a singer.

The family lived in Rockwood, Tennessee until 2001 when her father Jonah Wolfe relocated the family to Los Angeles, California. Jonah worked as a self employed plumber in Tennessee for 18 years, until his children's dreams and aspirations led him to relocate to Los Angeles. Luckily for the Wolfe family, Jonah found work almost instantly and the family lived a happy middle class life.

While in Los Angeles, Syd attended Los Angeles High School and was part of the graduating class of 2004. Syd majored in the arts and often took performing arts classes as extra curricular activities. In her last year at LAHS, Syd was chosen to play the part of Dorothy Gale in their production of The Wizard of Oz. Syd graduated LAHS soon after and began working as a session singer for a recording studio in Los Angeles.

Music career: 2008 to present

Early music career

One year after Syd had graduated high school, she was discovered by US dance duo The Remotes, when she was working in an LA recording studio as a session singer. Syd later worked on the single "Keep It Up" with The Remotes in 2008 where they peaked at #47 on the Billboard Hot 100. This later led to Syd being signed by bRECORDS.

Debut Album: Big Bad Wolfe (2009)

Big Bad Wolfe album cover

Syd began work on her debut album almost as soon as she was signed to bRECORDS in August 2008. The label arranged sessions with world class producers and they worked closely with Syd producing and co-writing tracks with her.

The album came together rapidly and was completed in 3 months, being prominently recorded in the UK, US & Sweden. Producers such as Max Martin & Dr Luke told the media that Syd's professionalism and integrity was 'mind blowing & genius'.

Released in April 2009, after the success of debut single "Smoke & Mirrors", which reached #10 in the UK, & "Boyfriend" which was a UK #6 hit, "Big Bad Wolfe" debuted at #5 in the UK albums chart and went on to be certified platinum.

A third single, "Highway" (UK #5) was also lifted from the album. It was during this single that Syd moved from Elite records to Ensemble entertainment. In May 2009, Syd revealed she was heading back to the US to record tracks with Ryan Teddar for her upcoming re-release. Syd worked with Teddar & Brian Kennedy on new tracks.

One of which was the fourth single and Syd's first #1 "To The Floor", released June 29th. The re-release album was later released with the fifth and final single from the era "Easy"/"Good Ol'" (UK #3) & reached #1, breaking the record for the biggest jump to #1 (40-1).

Second Album: Cry Wolfe (2010)

Cry Wolfe

In July, Children in Need announced that they had selected Syd to release their official single for 2009.

The track was later confirmed to be "Better Man" and was announced to be a buzz single for her sophomore album. The single was released November 23, 2009 and charted at #2 - selling 261,849 copies. Syd revealed during promotion for "Better Man" that "Ridiculous" would be considered the album's first and lead single and that "Better Man" was meant to be a stand alone single. It was later added to the album as a bonus track. A tour named The Cry Wolfe Tour was announced for February in support of the album. Many dates sold out within a week of going on sale.

Cry Wolfe and "Ridiculous" were released together on January 4, 2010. Shortly before the releases had charted, at the album's launch party, Syd revealed she planned to take a "well deserved" break. "Ridiculous" eventually debuted at #4 and ascended to #3 the following week. The same week, Ensemble cancelled the Cry Wolfe tour and Syd was checked into a European rehabilitation clinic to treat nervous exhaustion.

While Syd was in rehab, Ensemble revealed that the second single from the album would be "Looks To Kill" and would go ahead with or without Syd's involvement, stating they had spent a generous amount of money on the album and wanted to keep the spirit alive while Syd recovered. Soon after, Syd re-began promotional duties and welcomed the release of the single. Plans for this release were eventually scrapped as Syd began participation in Tango Challenge 4.

On April 12, 2010, Cry Wolfe was re-issued to include the Tango Challenge track "Give Me The Night". Besides a new cover & shuffled track listing, the album had no other differences.

Third album: Monsters & Monsters Reloaded (2011-12)

Monsters

Monsters Reloaded

On March 14, 2011, Syd released her third album Monsters and its lead single "The Mud".
Both releases debuted at #1 on March 20, 2011 making it the first time a Syd Wolfe album had debuted at #1 on the album charts. It was also Syd's first #1 single since "To The Floor" in June 2009, marking almost 2 years between #1 singles and was regarded by many as Wolfe's return to the top of her game after a sophomore slump.
The second single was "Diamond Skies" which was released in the UK on May 2, 2011 and debuted at #3. On June 20, 2011 "Diamond Skies" was re-issued as a special edition single with "Bumblebees". "Bumblebees" was released as a single in its own right in the US and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July.
The single went platinum and spent 12 weeks on the chart, rising back up to as high as #18 on July 18, 2011 - one week before "Monsters", the albums third single, was released physically. "Monsters", the single was released on July 25, 2011 and debuted at #1 .
"Whatever Bitch" was released on September 19, 2011 and peaked at #2 on the UK charts & #1 on the download charts.
"Try Sleeping With The Enemy" was remixed to feature Crystal Barker and was released as the first single from "Monsters Reloaded" on November 21, 2011, with the album charting at #1 the week before. The single peaked at #2 on the UK single & downloads chart.
"Glow" featuring Beastette was released as the albums sixth single on December 19th, 2011. The original release date was to be January 2012, but the singles release was pulled forward. Due to the confusion, "Glow" charted at #5 in its first week on the charts which happened to be 'Christmas week'. The song was however the Christmas #1 download of 2011. The following week, it climbed to #2 on the UK charts.

Fourth album: The Scientist (2013)

At midnight on 02 January 2013, Wolfe's official website was updated with a new promotional picture, a new logo and a countdown until 10 January.
News about the album also appeared on several release schedules around the world. "The Scientist" was given as the title and a 10/11 March 2013 date for US & UK. On 10 January, Wolfe's official website was updated with news about the album. It was confirmed that the lead single, also titled "The Scientist", would serve as the official Comic Relief single of 2013. The reveal also announced that the album would be released in two editions, with 11 tracks on the standard edition. Four major collaborations were also confirmed, as well as a world tour. What also seemed to be titles of tracks from the album were mentioned. They were 'Melancholia', ' Indietronica', How We Destroy Diamonds', 'Parliament Behaviour' & 'Hallelujah Forever'. It was later confirmed that 'Indietronica' is, in fact, a genre of music that Syd will experiment with on the album. On 13 January, the website was updated again with another reveal. This time revealing information about Syd's first ever feature film "Working Girl" which she revealed will also star Hailey Klass & several other stars in the movie and on the soundtrack. On 16 January, the website was further updated with details about Syd's first fragrance & clothing range through fashion retailer River Island. Plus, it included another countdown clock which would count down to a feature 'Countdown to The Scientist'. It is set to count down until 25 January 2013.

Fusion Records

Main article: Fusion Records

Fusion Records Music Group was set up in July 2010 after Wolfe pursued backing from HSBC Holdings plc and was granted a funding grant of £3,000,000.
Wolfe, herself, invested over £1,000,000 of her own earnings to show she had faith in the record label performing well.
It is now the biggest of the "big four" record labels, as of October 2012. The label has over 30 roster acts & revenue of over $1 billion in 2011.

Acting Career

Movies

In June 2012, Wolfe announced that she had been approached with scripts to star in a remake of the 1988 romantic comedy 'Working Girl'. At the time, Twentieth Century Fox confirmed that a remake of the movie was in the works but with Hailey Klass as the lead character. Wolfe shrugged off the offers and played down stories that she was about to star in the movie. However, on January 13, 2013, Wolfe confirmed that she had reached an agreement to star in a remake of the movie in collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox. A script had been written but Wolfe called for a full rewrite and the script was completely rewritten around her character Katharine Parker, who had been a minor character in the original movie. Hailey Klass was confirmed to have a supporting role.

It was directed by Garry Marshall, who had directed huge romantic comedies such as 'Pretty Woman' & 'New Years Eve'. Wolfe hand-picked the director and personally reached out to him. The movie was released worldwide on April 10, 2013 to fan & critical acclaim and was a smash hit at the box office, topping the UK & US box office for 4 consecutive weeks.

In March 2014, in a shocking movie, Wolfe was honoured with the Academy award for Best Actress & the movie won Best Picture. The movie received blacklash from critics who had initially given the movie good reviews but stated that it didn't deserve to win Best Picture. It was the first romantic comedy of the 2000's to win best picture and the first since 1998's 'Shakespeare In Love'.

Television

Wolfe made her first television appearance with a recurring role on Joss Whedon's science fiction thriller 'Dollhouse' which aired on Fox in the US from 2009-2010. She appeared for 8 episodes in the first season as a 'doll' called Delta. She didn't return for the shows second season as she chose to focus on her music career.
on December 9, 2014 Wolfe was confirmed to be joining NBC's hit show 'Law & Order: SVU' as a detective in the shows sixteenth season. She will join the main cast.

Endorsements & Modeling

TIGI

Due to her rising profile, haircare company TIGI chose Wolfe to become the new face of their brand. Syd became creatively involved with the brand, creating her own range of styling products to go on sale.

Several promotional shots of Syd and products from her range,"Catwalk", were released to the public in late February 2009.

On March 5th 2009, the full "Catwalk" commercial was leaked onto the internet. The advert showed Syd deciding the only way to get to the other side of a party was through the pool. It depicts Syd getting into the pool fully clothed, whilst holding her hair, and strutting through the pool. Before reaching the other side, getting out and posing for photographers. There is no mention of the hair products until the end of the commercial, though Syd plays with her hair throughout. The song playing in the ad is "Hot Stuff" which is the b-side to Syd's second single "Boyfriend".

Despite the "Catwalk" range being a huge success for TIGI, Wolfe ended her involvement with the brand in February 2010 at the end of her contract.

Virgin Media

Virgin Media signed Syd to be the face of their V+ box on April 15th 2009. It was announced she would appear in a television commercial and on billboards.

It was later revealed Syd would be working on a cover of "Angel Of The Morning". The first and only commercial premiered on TV on May 10th 2009. Syd left Virgin Media in January 2010.
Virgin Media approached Wolfe again in 2011 to star in the commercials for their TiVo box. She declined stating she was too busy.

The Ramone Agency

Syd signed a deal with Sophie Ramone's modeling agency to become a 'Top Priority' model on May 14th 2009. She became the 151st model on the books.

Sophie Ramone revealed in late 2009 that Syd had become the most booked model of the year. As with all of her previous endorsements from 2009, she left the agency in May 2010.

Giorgio Armani

The world famous fashion house Giorgio Armani revealed in the fourth quarter of 2009 that Syd was to replace Izzy as the female face/body of Armani.

In 2010, to celebrate Syd's billboards being erected and put into print, Armani agreed to hire out the o2 Arena in London while Syd put on a free show for her fans to celebrate with her.

The event, 'SydWolfeLive', gave fans the opportunity to apply for 3 tickets and attend the show for absolutely free. Due to the disaster in Haiti, Armani & Syd re-arranged the show to make it a benefit for Haitian charities. The show kept it's original name.

Elizabeth Arden

Wolfe signed a three-fragrance deal with Elizabeth Arden in 2012. She released the first scent 'Enchantment' in March 2012, it became the fastest selling fragrance of 2012 in the UK and remains on the best-seller list. In November 2014, Wolfe announced a second fragrance titled 'Flawless' in a 3 week exclusivity deal with Selfridges before being released to general retailers. It sold out within minutes and extra orders had to be placed to keep up with demand. It's the best selling fragrance of the fourth quarter of 2014 in the UK.

Personal Life

Syd has an adopted son named Max (aged 9), whom she took legal custody of in 2007 when her best friend (Max's biological mother) died in a car accident in Texas. In 2009, she began a long-term relationship with alternative rock singer Luke Ramada. The relationship ended (on bad terms) in 2010. On September 8, 2011, after 18 months of dating, Syd married her former bodyguard Ryan Green, keeping her family name. The married couple sold their wedding photos to URAPS Mag and it became the magazines best selling issue. Wolfe divorced Green on December 28, 2011, just over 3 months after marrying, citing unreasonable behaviour.. Wolfe was pictured meeting Green in August 2012 sparking rumours they were reconciling, but Wolfe denied reports and the two haven't been spotted together since.

Public Breakdown

Just months into her British career, Syd Wolfe began to attract a lot of negativity, believed by most to be due to her overnight success. Within months Syd had had a UK number one single and a platinum selling album and this did not bode well with many existing recording artists. The understandably worn down singer revealed to OK Magazine in October 2009 that she wasn't affected by the hate she was receiving. This, of course, was untrue and the singer had a minor, but public breakdown. In this time she jokingly wished Jack Stevens dead and had a disastrous performance on BBC's 'Strictly Come Dancing', with The Sun newspaper calling her performance "car crash TV" as she stumbled over her lyrics and tripped on stage. In the early hours of 18th October 2009, emergency services were called to The Ritz Hotel in London as staff at the hotel had found an unconscious Syd in her room. CCTV footage showed a male-like figure enter her room hours before she was found and she was believed to have been poisoned. The case was dropped soon after.

On January 6, 2010, just two days after releasing her sophomore album "Cry Wolfe", Syd was checked into a private rehabilitation clinic in Europe for three weeks due to "severe nervous exhaustion". Reports stated that Wolfe hadn't slept or eaten very little for 'weeks'. Wolfe doesn't speak of her time in rehab and refuses to answer questions regarding her public breakdown.

Discography

Main article: Syd Wolfe Discography

Albums

• 2009: Big Bad Wolfe
• 2010: Cry Wolfe
• 2011: Monsters
• 2013: The Scientist
• 2015: Adore
• 2017: Sydney
• 2020: Nu:Supreme
• 2021: Future Nights

Compilation Albums

• 2014: The Greatest Hits

Singles

As a lead artist

• 2009: "Smoke & Mirrors"
• 2009: "Boyfriend" (with Loretta Lambert)
• 2009: "Highway"
• 2009: "To The Floor"
• 2009: "Easy"/"Good Ol' "
• 2009: "Better Man"
• 2010: "Ridiculous"
• 2010: "Give Me The Night"
• 2010: "Gypsy Shot Me Down" (with China)
• 2011: "The Mud"
• 2011: "Diamond Skies"
• 2011: "Monsters"
• 2011: "Whatever Bitch"
• 2011: "Try Sleeping With The Enemy"
• 2011: "Glow" (with Beastette)
• 2012: "Red Blooded Man"
• 2012: "Picasso"
• 2013: "The Scientist"
• 2013: "Romancing Strangers"
• 2013: "Destroying Diamonds"
• 2013: "Loveee & Retribution" / "Forget About Christmas"
• 2014: "Afterglow"
• 2014: "Broken Hearts of Yesterday" (with Kleo)
• 2014: "High" (Apollo 54 Remix)
• 2014: "Cellophane"
• 2014: "Glitter" (with Ashley!)
• 2014: "Night Time" (with Aurora Reed)
• 2015: "Glory"
• 2015: "I Must Not Chase the Boys"
• 2015: "Hostages"
• 2016: "Over & Above (Reflex)"
• 2017: "Giants" (with Aurora Reed)
• 2017: "Fire Awake" (with JUSTYCE)
• 2018: "Forever Song"
• 2020: "Ex-Talk"
• 2020: "Just My Style"
• 2020: "Weekend in Paris" (with Paul)
• 2021: "Future Nights"

Tours and concerts

Headlining Tours

• 2009: Big Bad Wolfe Tour
• 2010: Scream Live
• 2011: Monsters Tour
• 2012: Monsters Intimately Tour
• 2013: The Scientist World Tour
• 2015: The Greatest Hits Live

Notable Shows

• 2014: The Afterglow Experience

Awards & Honors

Urapopstar Awards

Ceremony	Recipient	Award	Result
21 (2012)	Syd Wolfe	Best Female	Won
		Best Promotion
	"Glow"	Best Collaboration (With Beastette)
	Monsters Tour Merchandise	Best Miscellaneous Artwork
22 (2012)	Syd Wolfe	Best Female
23 (2013)	Syd Wolfe	Best Pop
		Global Superstar
	"Picasso"	Best Banner
24 (2013)	Syd Wolfe	Best Pop
		International Superstar
	"The Scientist"	Best Single
		Best Female Video
	"The Scientist"	Best Pop/Dance Album
25 (2014)	Syd Wolfe	Best Pop
	"Destroying Diamonds"	Best Single

Honors

Year	Achievement
2009	Biggest jump to number one in album chart for "Big Bad Wolfe 2.0"	Record holder