Smash hit

I ask Duffy for her highlight of the year and she eventually plumps for recording Please Stay, though only after she has pondered the question, passed on it and returned to it 10 minutes later.

“I can’t think of this year in terms of highlights,” she says, shaking her head and closing her eyes, as though recalling her achievements might permit the scale of her success to hit home. “Maybe I’ll look back and know. But getting into the studio, proving I can still make music among all this mayhem, felt so good.”

Ask Duffy for a low, though, and she responds straightaway. “It was an incident with Johnny Rotten. He went for me at an awards ceremony. I walked past him, said ‘Hi, you all right?’, and next thing I was literally slammed against the wall, pinned by his arm at my throat. He called me a c***. The violence was awful. A minute later, I had to go with the winners for a photo call. Then I left, in a right mess. The next day, I had to get on a plane. Some of the crew wanted to have their picture taken with me, but I couldn’t even smile. I’d been crying all night and my face was all swollen up. I looked like I’d been in an accident.

“I blame myself for what happened. Why? I dunno. I was so happy that night, I didn’t think things through. I probably shouldn’t have said hello. I’m an idiot. If I hadn’t opened my mouth, I would have been fine. I woke up every day for a week feeling awful.”

That Duffy displays no trace of a pop-star ego may be endearing, but you wonder if it won’t hinder her progress in America. Although Rockferry peaked at No 4 in the Billboard charts in May, and has sold more than 500,000 copies to date, she is still not a household name. She has done the chat-show circuit, though singing, rather than sitting on sofas, but attempts to associate her with more established stars don’t seem to be going down well with the singer. Last month, she played alongside Mariah Carey, Michael McDonald and Rihanna at a charity concert in LA, but spent most of the time in her dressing room.

“There were superstars everywhere, but I don’t get that stuff,” she sighs. “I don’t like how big American stars consider themselves an exception from humanity. But there are some nice ones. I met Stevie Nicks, a wonderful woman who knows all about Welsh myths. She was educating me with tales about dragons. I’ve met Beyoncé, too, and she was lovely. Some of the others were a bit sad, really. They had entourages, pushing here and pushing there. It was embarrassing.”

The night before the New York show, Duffy was in Cleveland, supporting Coldplay. “I love those boys, but I’m not sure about supporting,” she says. “I only want to be on stage when I’m welcome, and I don’t know if I am in a support slot.

“When we were kids, we went to the pier in Llandudno and there was a band. My sister was egging me on to get up and do a song. I didn’t want to, because it wasn’t my gig. Music is precious and, whether it’s played on a pier in Wales or in an arena in Ohio, I’d hate to impose myself. I prefer people to choose to hear my songs.”

So, how desperately does Duffy want to conquer America? “I don’t even know what that means,” she laughs. “But there’s nothing I really want out of this any more. I got it all when we released Rockferry. I spent three and a half years making that record, and it was hardest thing I ever had to do. I’ve been making music for a decade now, so it’s not as though suddenly someone gave me this great big package and I was struggling down the street with it. I was more prepared for this than for anything I’ve ever done. Of course, it still takes my breath away at times.”

Suddenly, Duffy hoists her 5ft 2in frame from the sofa and points to a decoration in the corner of the bar. “I tell you what this year has been like,” she announces. “That little tree over there. Except it isn’t a tree. I thought it was, but then I went to look and it’s actually five sticks in a vase with a twirly thing round it. It’s like the closer you get, the more the picture changes.”

The deluxe edition of Rockferry is released tomorrow; Duffy’s UK tour begins tomorrow night in Dublin

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