Florence & The Machine

While performing at clubs and pubs during a stint at art school in London, a chance encounter singing for Mairead Nash in the bathroom during a party led to management and record deals.

And after hooking up with The Machine, which currently includes Robert Ackroyd on guitar, Chris Hayden on drums, Isabella Summers on keys, Mark Saunders on bass and Tom Monger on harp, Welch released Lungs in 2009 and toured the U.K. and Europe in a big way.

Florence & The Machine has played just a handful of U.S. dates until now, and Creative Artists Agency’s Carole Kinzel told Pollstar Welch returns this fall with a string of sellouts on the heels of an explosive MTV Video Music Awards performance.

“Each time that she comes here – each show that she plays, each television appearance that she does – just garners more and more fans and word of mouth,” Kinzel explained. “Her popularity is really growing exponentially.”

Welch heads into the studio early next year and back to the States to support U2 during the 2011 leg of its 360 tour. An accompanying U.S. trek is in the works.

Video for “Dog Days Are Over” has more than 4.8 million YouTube views

Has three sold-out dates in November at The Wiltern in Los Angeles