Róisín Marie Murphy. Born in Ireland, raised in the UK. She stayed in London after her parents went back home, and thought about attending art school.
That would have been a tremendous loss for all of us.
Initially ashamed of the type of voice she had, Ró immersed herself in punk circles. Luckily, she met a man by the name of Mark Brydon, and they formed Moloko. The trip-hop duo would gather acclaim, and had a 'hit' with the single Sing It Back.
Eventually Mark and Ró broke up, and Moloko ... separated. So she went solo! Her first album, Ruby Blue, was released in 2005. Perhaps the "biggest" single released from it was the second offering, Sow Into You.
The album didn't do any business commercially, but it did well enough for a sophomore release. This album, 2007's Overpowered, would make Ms. Murphy a LEGEND.
To cool internet gays.
Credit it, first single - the title track. (and also one of Pitchfork's top 100 tracks of the year!)
If you didn't know, Ró pretty much created art plus pop. Joanne was inspired by many, but her biggest inspiration was Ms. Murphy.
No bother! Ró finished out the year with her biggest hit, Let Me Know, which reached number twenty-eight in the UK.
Fair warning - Let Me Know is the best single in this rate. #youhearditherefirst
India Arie Simpson - India. Arie to you and me. Born in Denver, Colorado, to a former Motown signee and former basketball player, young India always had support in her creative inklings. After her parents divorce, India's mother packed up and moved the clan to Atlanta, Georgia - where India flourished. While attending university at the Savannah College of Art and Design, India fell in love with the guitar - thank goodness for us! She co-founded an indie music collective, and started recording; one song on her demo led to her playing the small stage at the Lilith Fair fest. (You guys probably have no idea what that is!)
A year later, she was signed to Motown Records. Her debut album, Acoustic Soul, was released in March 2001. The first single from the record was a statement piece - Video. It was a slow burner, and radio didn't really take to it - it peaked at 14 on the R&B charts, and 47 on the Hot 100. It seemed like India was going to be a critics fave ...
... until December 2001. Picture this - the Grammy nominations were announced. Imagine everyone's shock when India received more nominations (seven) than the two breakout stars of the year! (Alicia Keys and this rate's Nelly F, if you didn't know.) Suddenly, everyone was waking themselves up to the beauty of second and third singles Brown Skin and Ready for Love.
Acoustic Soul was nominated for Album of the Year, "Video" for Song and Record of the Year, and India herself for Best New Artist - a Christopher Cross tea.
So, the three were photographed on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, with the title "Grammy Gold." They were expected to be the new generation of female singer-songwriters, and acclaimed for that!
Cut to: Grammy night. Nelly wins one, Alicia wins five (!!!), India ... loses all seven.
This sent her into a depression, tbh.
She had an epiphany one day, and that realization led to the first single from her second album - Little Things.
Funny enough, Little Things also won a Grammy for Urban/Alternative Performance.
India returned in 2006 with a goal - to release black women from the Eurocentric ideals of beauty society imposed on them. To get this across onto airwaves, she collaborated with Akon. The result? I Am Not My Hair.
Let's talk about the spectre of Best New Artist - for every Mariah Carey, there is an equal UOG Jody Watley.
Let's discuss Shelby Lynne. Last name Moorer, Shelby was born in Virginia and raised in Alabama. At eighteen, Shelby suffered one of the most unimaginable tragedies - her father killed her mother and shot himself in front of her and her younger sister, Allison Moorer. A year later, she appeared on TNN's Nashville Now, and signed with Epic Records. Her first album was released in 1989. She had a few small hits, and won the ACM award for Top New Female Vocalist in 1990.
But it never really took. She began under the dominance of Hurricane Reba, and then country changed - it went pop! Shelby was always too downhome to pull that off, and she never really wanted to. A decade later, she left Nashville and moved to Palm Springs. She met producer Bill Bottrell, and ... her life changed.