Marié Christina Digby (pronounced /mɑːriˈeɪ ˈdɪɡbi/ mah-ree-AY DIG-bee; born April 16, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist. She is perhaps 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. Since then, Digby has released three studio albums, including one Japanese cover album. These albums have spawned seven singles overall.

1983-2004: Early life

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.

2004-present: Music career

After performing at numerous night clubs, Digby signed a publishing deal with Rondor Music, a subsidiary of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group in early 2005. By the end of 2005, Digby had signed with Disney's Hollywood Records and her first album of original songs was completed by the end of 2006. Also in 2006, her song "Fool" was included on the Disney compilation album Girl Next. In early 2007, she began to post simple videos of herself singing cover songs of other artists on YouTube in order to gain visibility. Hollywood Records then released a high-quality studio recording of her rendition of "Umbrella" to iTunes and radio stations. She is often seen performing using a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar.
Marié Digby at The Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles

Digby's first official single, "Say It Again", was released to radio stations on January 18, 2008. Her debut album, Unfold, which was completed over a year before, was released on April 8, 2008. The design of the cover for the album was mostly based on the sketches she drew during her downtime while recording the album. She worked with some of Hollywood's best including Tom Rothrock (Producer), Charlie Paxson (drums) and Matt Chait (guitar). Many different editions of the album exist, including a Japanese edition with different cover artwork and an alternate tracklisting. The album's second single, "Stupid For You", was released in September, 2008.

Digby released a collection of Japanese cover songs on March 4, 2009. The album, titled "Second Home," was recorded completely in Japanese and received a limited release only in Japan. One critic in Japan said Marié's voice, "delivers the wind of the spring."

Digby's sophomore English release was originally slated for release in May 2009, but she asked the label to push the release date back until she finds a manager at Hollywood Records. According to Amazon.com, Breathing Underwater will now be released on September 8, 2009. The album in its entirety was leaked to the internet on April 8, 2009, well before the release date.

YouTube fame

Digby is recognized on YouTube for her simple popular music covers, which include Linkin Park, The Game, Rihanna, Maroon 5, and Nelly Furtado, as well as her original compositions. She has over 170,000 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 an 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".