Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Norah Jones (born Geetali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is a daughter of sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar and Sue Jones. She is Anoushka Shankar's half-sister.



In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away with Me, a fusion of country music and pop with elements of jazz which was certified diamond album, selling over 26 million copies. The record earned Jones five Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Her subsequent studio albums Feels Like Home, released in 2004; Not Too Late, released in 2007, the same year she made her film debut in My Blueberry Nights; and 2009's The Fall all gained Platinum status, selling over a million copies each and were generally well received by critics. Jones' fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts, was released on April 27, 2012.



Jones has won nine Grammy Awards and was 60th on Billboard magazine's artists of the 2000-2009 decade chart. Throughout her career, Jones has won numerous awards and has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000-2009 decade.



After her parents' separation in 1986, Jones spent her childhood with her mother in Grapevine, Texas. She attended Colleyville Middle School and Grapevine High School before transferring to Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas. While in high school, Jones sang in the school choir, participated in band and played the alto saxophone. At the age of sixteen, with her parents' consent, she officially changed her name to Norah Jones.



Jones began singing in church and also took piano and voice lessons as a child. She still attends church. She considers herself spiritual and appreciates the rituals of her church but does not consider herself deeply religious.



She attended Interlochen Center for the Arts during the summers. While at high school, she won the DownBeat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist (twice, in 1996 and 1997) and Best Original Composition (1996).



Jones attended the University of North Texas (UNT), where she majored in jazz piano and sang with the UNT Jazz Singers. During this time, she had a chance meeting with future collaborator Jesse Harris. She gave a ride to a band playing at the university whose members happened to be friends of Harris. He was on a cross-country road-trip with friend and future Little Willies member, Richard Julian, and stopped to see the band play. After meeting Jones, Harris started sending her lead sheets of his songs. In 1999, she left for New York City. Less than a year later, she founded a band with Harris which would prove to be the starting gun to her career.



With a successful solo career in full swing, Jones formed The Little Willies in 2003 alongside Richard Julian on vocals, Jim Campilongo on guitar, Lee Alexander on bass, and Dan Rieser on drums. The alternative country band released its eponymous first album in 2006 and For the Good Times in 2012.



In 2008 Jones formed another alternative country band with fellow friends and Brooklynites, Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper. Their debut full-length album, No Fools, No Fun, was released on July 15, 2014, by Blue Note Records.



Jones' solo albums include Come Away with Me (2002), Stay With Me (2003), Feels Like Home (2004), NotToo Late (2007), The Fall (2009), Little Broken Hearts (2012), and Foreverly with Billie Joe Armstrong (2013).



As of 2015, Norah Jones remains well-grounded in spite of her extraordinary success, and her humble, down-to-earth nature, combined with her brilliant musicianship continue to endear her to millions of fans around the world.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Steven Jonathan Hendriks

Spouse (1)

? (? - present) ( 2 children)

Trivia (17)



Daughter of legendary Indian musician Ravi Shankar and Sue Jones.

Studied at the University of North Texas where she majored in jazz piano but left before her 3rd year.



Her debut album, "Come Away with Me," has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, making it the highest-selling album in the history of Blue Note Records.





Dated her bassist, Lee Alexander . They split in January 2008.



Shared with Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill the record for most Grammys won in one year by a woman, with five. Beyoncé broke this record in 2010 with six.



In the latter part of 2003, rumours emerged that veteran Indian filmmaker Dev Anand was planning to make the film "Song of Life," inspired by Norah Jones 's troubled relationship with her father, 'Ravi Shankar'. Both Jones and Shankar were enraged by the rumors and Jones's comments were, "He [Anand] has no idea of our story, and he's not going to represent it in a truthful way, I'm sure. It's sad because it's personal stuff and nobody's business but ours."

Has sold more records this century than any other female recording artist in America (as of 2007).



Performed with her father, sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, in New Delhi in 1998.



Has an older half-brother named Shubhendra Shankar, who is 37 years her senior.



Embarking on tour with The Handsome Band to promote her new album, "Not Too Late" (2007). [April 2007]





Half sister-in-law of British filmmaker Joe Wright

In February 2014, she gave birth to a son. Child's father is her husband.



In July 2016, she gave birth to her second child. Child's father is her husband.





First cousin of Mamata Shankar

Appeared at the 50th anniversary of the Monterey Pop Festival in 2017. Of course, her father performed at the original incarnation of the festival in 1967.



Personal Quotes (12)

I don't always know where to put my hands; sometimes it is endearing, sometimes not.





[asked by Katie Couric how she felt after sweeping the 2003 Grammy Awards] I felt like I went to somebody else's birthday party and I ate all their cake without anybody else getting a piece.

[on the effects her success has had on her life] I just do the same stuff I always did. I have a bigger apartment--that's the main change.



I'm not melancholy; I'm a happy-go-lucky person, kind of silly. I like funny things. I have a lot of energy. I tend to like music that's mellow, though.



Without a piano I don't know how to stand, don't know what to do with my hands.



That's been the coolest thing about all this - I get to meet people that I worship!



I don't try to sound like anyone but me anymore. If something is out of my element, I try to avoid it.





[on her role in My Blueberry Nights (2007)] I was asked by [director] Kar-Wai Wong to be in his new film. It didn't seem like I would be the most obvious person for him to ask, but for some reason he did, and for some reason I dove in head first before I knew anything about the project. I watched several of his films and thought they were beautiful, so I just trusted him.

Recently I've started to drive again. Living in New York City you don't really need a car, and I had let my license lapse. I've really found it liberating to drive again. I don't think it is good for me to drive too much in New York City, though, because I am prone to road rage. Plus I drive like a granny and everyone in New York drives with impatience.



because I felt like people were staring at me and I didn't have any clothes on or something. Now, people aren't really staring at me, so I'm able to be more comfortable with myself.

With the first record I was very overwhelmed - a scared little chickenclothes on or something. Now, people aren't really staring at me, so I'm able to be more comfortable with myself.



[on being approached by director Kar-Wai Wong to star in My Blueberry Nights (2007)] I thought maybe he wanted some music for a movie, and he asked if I wanted to be in a movie. And I said, "Well, I don't know if I can act -- have you seen my music videos?" I'm pretty uncomfortable in front of the camera, and he said, "No, you're natural, I like that".

I've never wanted to portray some theatrical character or role. I'm just me, take it or leave it.

