Norah Jones Biography

She’s likely one of the most popular and successful jazz singers of her time, and for good reason. Norah Jones is a fresh, highly talented, and award-winning musician, pianist, singer, songwriter, and performer who has collected an impressive number of Grammy Awards for her first two albums.

The sultry and breathy-voiced songstress—whose voice is often compared to that of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone—is also an occasional actress, although music is her first love and true talent.

Norah Jones was born in New York City, on March 30, 1979, as “Geethali Norah Jones Shankar,” the daughter of Sue Jones and Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar maestro. Jones’s half-sister is musician Anoushka Shankar.

Jones spent much of her growing-up years in Dallas, Texas, with her mother. She cites Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, and Willie Nelson as her idols, inspiration, and role models. She got started in music as a child with piano lessons and singing in church choir. After high school Jones studied jazz piano at the University of North Texas, where she won two Best Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist as well as a Best Original Composition award.

However, Jones left partway through the program to head back to New York City. She was first a lounge singer, playing and collaborating with a number of bands and musicians, including Wax Poetic, as well as guitarist Charlie Hunter. Jones also appeared at a number of renowned jazz festivals.

Jones hit massive success as soon as she released her debut album, Come Away with Me, in 2002, after which her music career really took off. Come Away with Me sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and won eight Grammys. After the release of the album, Jones made a cameo appearance in the 2002 romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice, starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock, performing her song “Nearness of You.” She also embarked on a tour, appearing on stage around the world with her group the Handsome Band.

Two years later she released her highly anticipated follow-up album Feels Like Home, which had a bit more country and a little less jazz than Come Away with Me, and actually included a country duet with Dolly Parton. Even with the different sound, Feels Like Home was also a major success, selling more than a million copies in the first week alone, and eventually became Blue Note Records’ highest-selling album in its entire history.

Album number three, Not Too Late, was released in early 2007, and hit the #1 spot on the charts almost immediately. In a televised interview with Katie Couric, Jones said this album was different because she wrote all the songs herself, and the songs were also “darker” in nature.

After winning the Four awards at the 2003 Grammy Awards for Come Away with Me (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist), Jones became the second person—after Christopher Cross in 1979, the year Jones was born—to ever accomplish such a feat.

Jones has received many other nominations and awards for her musical work. She has also collaborated with several big league musicians such as Ray Charles, Amos Lee, the Foo Fighters, The Little Willies, and Peeping Tom.

Jones's first movie in which she stars, My Blueberry Nights, is set for release on June 1, 2007. Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman, and David Strathairn will also appear in the film.

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