Canadian-born songstress, songwriter, and pianist Chantal Kreviazuk is internationally recognized and known as an accomplished contemporary musician - for her mega-successful international hit “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” for her soundtrack projects and collaborations, and for her recent “catfight” with fellow Canadian crooner Avril Lavigne.

Kreviazuk was born in Canada’s Prairies—Winnipeg, Manitoba, specifically—on May 18, 1973, and grew up learning and loving music, becoming trained in classical piano. She released her debut album—Under These Rocks and Stones—in 1996 (Canada) and 1997 (U.S.), which became a fairly major success, going double platinum and selling more than 200,000 copies in Canada alone. Under These Rocks and Stones generated such hits as “Surrounded,” “Believer,” and “God Made Me,” and garnered her a Juno Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1997.

Her follow-up album, Colour Moving and Still, came two years later, but this was after the release of her major single sensation, “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” a cover of John Denver’s original, which was featured on the soundtrack to the film Armageddon—starring Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Bruce Willis, and Billy Bob Thornton, as well as Steve Buscemi and Owen Wilson—and soon became an international hit.

Colour Moving and Still, featuring the singles “Before You,” “Dear Life,” and “Far Away,” was a collaborative effort with Our Lady Peace’s Raine Maida, who also happened to be Kreviazuk’s new hubby.  The dynamic duo met at a Pearl Jam concert and married in late 1999. The album won Kreviazuk two Junos that year: one for Best Adult/Pop Album, and another for Best Female Artist. In 2002, Kreviazuk released her third album, What If it All Means Something, with singles such as “In This Life,” “Time,” and “Julia.” Her latest album to date—Ghost Stories—was released in 2006, and is unique in that there is no guitar for any of the tracks, which include the hit “All I Can Do.”

Of course, as with most singers these days, the transition (or attempted transition, in most cases) into acting is inevitable. Kreviazuk made hers in 2001 with the role of Mary in the independent flick Century Hotel, in which Maida, Mia Kirshner, and Sandrine Holt also appeared. Later, in 2006, she starred in another indie film, Pretty Broken, which she also helped write and produce.

Kreviazuk has made quite a name for herself writing and performing songs for a plethora of soundtracks. Some of her most notable work includes a cover of Randy Newman’s “Feels Like Home” for Dawson’s Creek, a cover of The Beatles’ “In My Life” for the series Providence, and songs for films The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (starring Alexis Bledel and America Ferrera) and Just My Luck (Lindsay Lohan), among others. She has also collaborated in songwriting with a number of high-profile artists, such as Cheyenne Kimball, Marion Raven, Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, and – infamously – Avril Lavigne.