First as a soloist and then part of a musical duo, Brit Imogen Heap has demonstrated the ability to move with ease through the Euro pop world and expand the boundaries of the alt-pop and electronica genres. Heap was born on December 9, 1977 in London. She played music from an early age, and was classically trained in many instruments, including the piano (her first instrument), cello and clarinet. She later taught herself to play the guitar, drums, and the array mbira and had begun to write songs by the time of her thirteenth birthday. After playing a series of hig
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h profile gigs in the London area, including a slot sandwiched between
Eric Clapton and
The Who at 1996's Trust Concert in Hyde Park, Heap was signed to the
Almo Sounds label in 1997 while still a teen. I Megaphone, Heap's debut album, was released by Almo in 1998 to rave reviews, with critics comparing Heap to everyone from
Kate Bush to
Annie Lennox and the Eurhythmics to former Sugarcubes vocalist Björk. While recording I Megaphone, Heap worked with three different producers: David Kahne,
Dave Stewart (of Eurhythmics fame) and Guy Sigsworth (who has worked with major artists like
Madonna, Björk and Seal).
Almo Sounds was subsequently disbanded, but that didn’t keep Heap down for long. She teamed with producer Sigsworth to form a duo called Frou Frou, which went on to record 2002’s Details, an 11 track album featuring the popular single “Let Go.” Again, despite critical acclaim, the album was not a commercial success and their new label Island Records announced it would not be picking up their option for a second release. Frou Frou, however, was far from dead. They received a major boost in the United States in 2004 when
Zach Braff selected “
Let Go” for his film Garden State. Heap followed up the success of “Let Go” with the 2005 release of Speak for Yourself, her second solo album. The record became an immediate success in the U.S. thanks to the singles "
Goodnight And Go" and "Hide And Seek," both of which were featured on season two of the hit television show The O.C. The exposure led to two Grammy nominations for Heap in 2006 and further film and television work, cementing her status as a word-of-mouth phenomenon that has followed her own offbeat path to singular success.
