2010 In 2003, May released
No Turning Back. In 2007 she signed a recording contract with Ambassador Records, and recorded her second album,
Love Tattoo, which reached No.1 in Ireland and received wide critical acclaim. She caught the attention of
Jools Holland, whom she later supported on tour, which led him to request she appear on his music show
Later... with Jools Holland. She won Female Artist of the Year at the
2009 Meteor Awards. On 31 January 2010, she performed at the
52nd Grammy Awards with
Jeff Beck in tribute to
Les Paul and
Mary Ford. She released her third studio album,
Mayhem, in Ireland on 3 September 2010, again reaching No. 1 in the Irish Album Charts, and in the United Kingdom on 4 October 2010, and earned her a nomination for the
Choice Music Prize. May soon after appeared on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,
Conan and
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. In 2016, May performed at
RTÉ's Centenary Concert to mark the 100th anniversary of the
1916 Rising. In the UK May appeared on
Never Mind the Buzzcocks with the late
Terry Wogan and
Graham Norton Show and sang live on
Strictly Come Dancing. May worked with BIMM music college in Dublin to provide a scholarship (which they named after her) for up-and-coming artists. May's fifth album,
Life Love Flesh Blood, was released on 7 April 2017. She collaborated with American musician
T Bone Burnett on the record, who produced the album. Throughout the creative process, May received guidance from
U2 vocalist
Bono.
Life Love Flesh Blood won critical acclaim and reached no. 4 in the UK charts. On 18 May 2017 May performed
Life Love Flesh Blood at a special concert in the prestigious
London Palladium. In Ireland, she also had her own music TV show,
The Imelda May Show, showcasing the best of Irish and international talent. May performed the Irish national anthem on 26 August 2017 at the
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, prior to the
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight. In June 2020, she released the original composition ''You Don't Get To Be Racist And Irish'' which was used by the Irish government for the nationwide billboard campaign Rethink Ireland. May hosted a
Sky Arts Original two-part series, 'Voices Of Ireland' which explores the rich history of literary talent, inspired by the natural beauty of Ireland's land. In 2020 she also published a new album,
Slip of the Tongue, whose style shifts from rock to
spoken word. Her second solo album apart from her former husband,
11 Past the Hour was released on 16 April 2021 on the
Decca label. Also in 2021, May contributed a cover of the Metallica song "
The God That Failed" to the charity tribute album
The Metallica Blacklist.
Performances with other artists at the
Beacon Theatre, 28 March 2011 May has recorded and performed with a variety of artists. She has worked with producers
Mike Crossey,
Tony Visconti,
Peter Asher and
T Bone Burnett. In 2010 she (and others)
performed with Jeff Beck to honour the late guitarist
Les Paul at
Iridium Jazz Club in
New York City, where the session was recorded for DVD and
HBO and subsequently toured the US with Jeff Beck for five weeks. In December 2011 she sold out two nights at
O2 Dublin, with
Bono making a surprise appearance as her guest. May was the surprise guest in Dublin for U2's homecoming show on the band's 2015 Innocence + Experience tour: Bono called her "the other queen of Ireland" as she came on stage to perform "Desire", streamed live online to millions of viewers. In 2017, she performed at
Indigo O2, a tribute concert for
Bill Wyman's 80th birthday, a live recorded concert during the
London Blues Festival, alongside
Robert Plant,
Mark Knopfler,
Bob Geldof, and
Mick Hucknall. In 2020, May was part of an Irish collective of female singers and musicians called
Irish Women in Harmony that recorded a version of "
Dreams" in aid of the charity SafeIreland, which deals with
domestic abuse, which had reportedly risen significantly during the
COVID-19 lockdown. In 2021, she dueted with
Noel Gallagher and
Ronnie Wood of
the Rolling Stones in the single "Just One Kiss" from the album
11 Past the Hour, and, together with
The Waterboys and the Joanna Eden Band, she joined the line-up for
Van Morrison's outdoor show at
Audley End House and Gardens expected for 14 August 2021 in
Saffron Walden. In 2023, she was one of the performing artists at the "Tribute for Jeff Beck Concert" at the Royal Albert Hall. She joined the stage with
Eric Clapton,
Rod Stewart,
Ronnie Wood,
Johnny Depp,
Doyle Bramhall,
Gary Clark jr,
Billy Gibbons,
John McLaughlin,
Joss Stone,
Susan Tedeschi,
Dereck Trucks,
Olivia Safe, Robert Randolph and the
Jeff Beck Band. She performed "
Remember (Walking in the Sand)" and "
Train Kept A-Rollin'".
Acting May made her acting debut in the 2022 film ''
Fisherman's Friends: One and All''. ==Personal life==