Marié Christina Digby (pronounced /mæriˈeɪ ˈdɪɡbi/ marry-AY DIG-bee; born April 16, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist. She is best known for her acoustic cover version of Rihanna's No. 1 hit "Umbrella", which attracted attention on YouTube in 2007. The song was subsequently played on the radio station STAR 98.7, was featured on the third season opening episode of the MTV show The Hills, and peaked at #10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Digby performed the song on the late night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly on August 2, 2007.
Digby, whose mother is Japanese and father is Irish American, is the eldest of three siblings. Her two sisters are Naomi (born December 12, 1985) and Erina (born August 8, 1987). She began writing songs during high school in Los Angeles, California. After completing her sophomore year as a philosophy major at the University of California, Berkeley, she came out into the public eye when she won the 2004 Pantene Pro-Voice competition with her song Miss Invisible. The grand prize for the concert included working with a professional producer on an album, $5,000 and performing on stage with other top performers.
Digby is recognized on YouTube for her simple popular music covers, which include Linkin Park, Rihanna, Maroon 5, and Nelly Furtado, as well as her original compositions. She has over 156,000 subscribers and her channel has been viewed over 4 million times. As of May 2009, she is the 11th most subscribed musician on YouTube, ahead of names like Chris Brown, Taylor Swift and Tay Zonday.
She also held a Autographed Guitar Giveaway Contest on YouTube. Contestants were asked to create an original video including her hit single "Say it Again" in any way. She once recorded a video of hers in the bathroom because "The bathroom has the best acoustics in the house".
On April 8, 2009, "Breathing Underwater" was leaked onto the internet, months prior to the new June release date.
On April 9, 2009, Digby responded on her MySpace page to those concerned about the leak:
"Yesterday, my album advance was sent only to the folks at my record label, radio DJ's and music supervisors. It is just inevitable that one of those people are going to try and make a buck or put up the music just for their own personal satisfaction. It's sad but it's just a part of life. But the truth is, I love this album so much. I am so proud of it and I am almost excited that now people who really want to, can listen to all the hard work that I've done over the last few months. If you feel the need to buy the album off of ebay or to download the whole thing for free just remember one thing please. I live and breathe music. It is all that I do in life and all that I want to do for the rest of my life. Please know that the one way you can help me continue doing it is by supporting my album. If you can't afford 8 dollars for an album, then you can always support your favorite artists by even just purchasing a song or two! If an artist I love had made a new album and it was on the internet, I would probably want it too !! But I would undoubtedly go and buy the album with pride on the date of release as well.. but that's just me :)"
courtesy : facebook photos