The Yorkshire teens bringing 1940s music into the 21st Century

Sporting pillbox hats and tea dresses, with their hair teased into victory rolls, musical trio The Duchy Darlings could have stepped straight out of a black and white photograph.

But, despite their vintage appearance, Yorkshire teenagers Siena, Emilia and Lottie, are firmly rooted in the 21st Century.

With nearly four million TikTok likes and over 40,000 followers across Facebook and Instagram, they’ve gone viral for bringing nostalgia back, with renditions of 1940s wartime songs.

And, though the three friends might be generations removed from the music’s origin and heyday, according to 14-year-old Siena the lyrics still strike a chord today.

“I think it’s such an incredible period of history,” she said.

“The music is so wholesome – lots of modern-day songs can be about not-so-nice topics.

“These vintage songs are about returning home to your lovely family, or a young bugler who woke up everyone in the army with a beautiful song.”

The trio frequently cover wartime classics, including songs by The Andrews Sisters, a close harmony group from America who shot to fame during World War Two.

The sisters’ 1941 single Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was The Duchy Darlings’ debut release earlier this year.

“We’ve been amazed at how much we’ve blown up online,” Emilia, 13, said.

“We went busking in York city centre and we had people coming up to us after saying ‘I’ve seen you on TikTok, I’ve seen you on Instagram’ and asking us for a picture.”

They were brought together by music director Helen Leaf, who said she’d always loved the music and vocal harmonies from the time period.

“The thing about these girls, they’re so enthusiastic, they love the medium, they love singing together and it’s been easy to work with them,” she said.

“It’s staggering really, what they’ve achieved in such a short space of time.”

In the six months since their formation, The Duchy Darlings have performed at venues across Yorkshire, including care homes and Remembrance services.

Emilia said it was “exciting” to talk to care home residents and help to “bring back memories and really tell the stories of these songs”.

“It was lovely – to hear how they thought of us, and how we performed was incredible really,” she explained.

Lottie, 12, added that revisiting the era through song had inspired her to look further into the history.

“There are things that happened in the past that I don’t think I understand yet, so I’m going to try and find out more so I can completely understand,” she said.

The outfits are a big draw for the girls too – while it’s important to have historically accurate attire, the 1940s style dresses are “so much fun”, according to Siena.

“There’s so many great dresses and outfits – we love our costumes,” she said.

“Thank you so much to the mums who do our hair,” Emilia chipped in.

The Duchy Darlings have a packed schedule for the rest of 2025, including Christmas shows at Ripon and Bradford Cathedrals.

They’ve also had offers to sing at weddings or as evening entertainment at holiday parks, but would love to visit other care homes in the future, Siena added.

“I’m speaking for all of us, but it brings us so much joy keeping the music alive,” she added.