Norah Jones enjoys listening to relaxing music when she needs a momentary rest from life’s stresses, yet finds inspiration through silence as well. Join us this week as Norah discusses her new album Visions!
Norah Jones first entered the music world with her platinum debut album Come Away With Me released in 2002, produced by Arif Mardin (famously associated with Aretha Franklin, KD Lang and Dusty Springfield albums).
She is the daughter of Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar
Jones made her debut album, Come Away With Me, known for displaying a quiet yet soothing vocal performance against intimate jazz-influenced acoustics. For her second release Feels Like Home she delivered equally engaging and emotive tracks which debuted at number one on Billboard chart and went double platinum within months of its release.
Jones was born in New York to nurse Sue Jones and sitar player Ravi Shankar; however, their marriage broke apart soon thereafter and Jones spent most of her childhood living solely with her mother in Grapevine, Texas, singing in church choirs and taking piano lessons.
After leaving Wax Poetic in 1999, Jones moved into a sublet in Greenwich Village. She quickly fell under the spell of New York’s music scene and assembled a band, recording demo songs. Later that same year she signed an exclusive record deal with Blue Note Records.
She has a half-sister Anoushka Shankar
Norah Jones Shankar was born in Manhattan, New York as Geethali Norah Jones Shankar to sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and concert producer Sue Jones, raising in Grapevine Texas where she attended Colleyville Middle School and Grapevine High School before later moving onto Booker T Washington High School for Performing Arts and Visual Arts in Dallas.
Anoushka Shankar, Norah Jones’ half-sister and internationally acclaimed musician and composer. A pioneer of fusion music, she has received multiple awards for her efforts. Growing up with diverse cultural experiences in London and Delhi was key in shaping her talents as an artist.
Kristen Wiig starred alongside Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, and Seth MacFarlane from Family Guy on several songs such as the track “Two Sleepy People”. Currently she resides in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.
She has a private life
Jones prefers living an inconspicuous life. She lives in Brooklyn with her two children and refuses to name their father – or share any information regarding potential partners – even during intimate situations such as pregnancy.
Jones is an extremely diverse artist, adept at performing various genres and styles. Her debut album Come Away With Me showcased jazz, folk, and pop music styles; winning her Grammy awards for both album and song of the year at such a young age made her an industry veteran.
As well as her solo work, Anoushka Shankar has collaborated with artists like Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club member Peter Hayes. Additionally, she has performed alongside Herbie Hancock, Willie Nelson, Q-Tip and Herbie Hancock; recorded an Everly Brothers tribute album alongside Anoushka Shankar’s sitar playing half sister Anoushka Shankar and made country albums with The Little Willies band.
She has two children
Norah Jones is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-pianist-actress. Additionally, she holds two children. Norah makes time for both family life and music in her busy schedule – playing numerous venues while collaborating with various artists over time.
After her parents separated, Norah Jones moved with her mother to Texas where she began singing church choir harmonies and taking piano and voice lessons. Additionally, Norah provided backup vocals for her mother onstage performances and recordings before attending University of North Texas where she majored in jazz piano major and sang with the UNT Jazz Singers ensembles.
Come Away With Me was an enormously successful debut album and won five Grammys, while Feels Like Home continued in this vein by mixing classic singer/songwriter style tracks from the 1970s with country, blues and her signature brand of piano jazz; eventually going on to sell over 1 Million copies worldwide.