Who

Jones is a multiple Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter of jazz-lite, country and soul-tinged tunes. Don't understand why she's so famous? Try asking your mom.

Backstory

The daughter of sitar guru and Beatles buddy Ravi Shankar, Geethali Norah Jones Shankar was estranged from her father as a child (they reunited in the late '90s), and grew up with her mother in Texas. She was studying jazz piano at the University of North Texas when she moved to New York for the summer in 1999. Jones never returned to Texas (or college), paying the bills playing jazz covers in Italian restaurants and theater district boites. She soon struck up a partnership with musician Jesse Harris, who wrote her hit "Don't Know Why" and played with Jones on her first demo. An audition for Blue Note label head Bruce Lundvall led to a 2001 record deal, and a stealth marketing campaign launched the former waitress to superstardom. In 2002 Jones became a household name and coffee shop background music mainstay with her debut album Come Away with Me.

Of note

Jones's debut album was a commercial goldmine, selling over 20 million copies worldwide. It also went over well with the critics, landing Jones all four of the most-coveted Grammy awards in 2003—Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Although Jones's star isn't quite as white-hot as it was during her 2002-03 heyday, the middle-aged listening public seems to still be smitten with Jones' breathy, piano-centric tunes: 2004's Feels Like Home sold 12 million copies (and won her three Grammys), and 2007's Not Too Late debuted at number one.

On the side

Jones indulges her inner hipster by playing tiny, not-so-secret gigs with her country band the Little Willies and her rock outfit El Madmo.

On screen

She made her feature film debut in the 2007 Wong Kar-Wai flick My Blueberry Nights, sharing the screen with Jude Law and Natalie Portman. Unfortunately, the singer got outshined by the real pros—one critic called her performance "forced and false" and commented on her "unfortunate speaking voice."

Personal

Jones' producer and bassist, Lee Alexander, was her longtime boyfriend until the couple split up in early 2008. She lives in a 4,100-square-foot townhouse on Amity Street in Cobble Hill. She abandoned Williamsburg after the Post printed her address on the front page of the paper. She also owns a home in the Catskill Mountains.