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Imogen Heap
Biography
As a rule, group efforts are something that come before a solo career--not after a solo career is in full swing. First, the artist makes a name for himself/herself as part of a group, then the artist leaves the group to become a full-time solo artist. That's usually how it works, but with Imogen Heap, it was the other way around; the British singer/songwriter (who is also a classically trained pianist) had been an established solo artist for a few years when she became half of the London-based duo Frou Frou. Although Heap now lives in London, she isn't a native of England's largest city. Born in the late ‘70s, Heap lived in Essex, England as a pre-teen--and it was in Essex that she first studied European classical piano. Heap didn't really get into rock until she went off to boarding school as a teenager; eventually, she decided against being a full-time classical instrumentalist and realized that alternative pop-rock, Euro-pop and electronica would her main focus. In 1997--when Heap was in her late teens--she signed with Almo Sounds as a solo artist. I Megaphone, Heap's debut album, was released by Almo in 1998; the album's influences ranged from Kate Bush (a frequent comparison) to Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics to former Sugarcubes vocalist Björk.