Imogen Heap

Imogen Jennifer Heap was born in London Borough of Havering, London. She began playing music from an early age, becoming classically trained in several instruments including Piano, cello and clarinet by the age of 13. She attended Friends School, a private boarding school where she did not get along with her music teacher and gradually taught herself sequencing, music engineering, sampling and production. In the mid-1990s she attended the famed BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon, South London. After being introduced to Nik Kershaw by his manager Mickey Modern, Heap and Kershaw recorded four demos that Mickey Modern took to Rondor Music. Consequently, a few months later she signed her first record contract at 18 to independent record label Almo Sounds. Her debut album, "I Megaphone", was released in 1998 to strong reviews that compared her to Tori Amos, PJ Harvey and Kate Bush. The album, however, had little commercial success and she eventually found herself without a record deal. She began writing with Guy Sigsworth in 2001 for her second album and remained in contact with him until they formed Frou Frou and released their first album, "Details", in August 2002 to strong critical reaction. Over the next year they released several singles and tour extensively until they too were dropped by their record label due to poor sales. In 2004, Heap set about producing her long awaited second studio album. She re-mortgaged her flat to fund the album which was eventually titled "Speak for Yourself" and released in 2005. It became a slow burning success with early pressing selling out fast. Her popularity increased when several of her tracks were featured in hit TV shows like "The OC" and "Six Feet Under" and "Grey's Anatomy." Friend Zach Braff also included the Frou Frou track 'Let Go' in his film "Garden State" and on its accompanying hit soundtrack. In 2006, she was nominated for two Grammy awards for Best New Artist and for her song "Can't Take It In" which was featured in "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". "Speak for Yourself" has sold over 430, 000 copies in the US and has been certified gold in Canada. She released the follow up, "Ellipse", in 2009 to generally strong reviews. The album marked a career high for Heap when it entered at #5 on the U.S. Billboard 200. It won her a Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in 2010.