Norah Jones Biography

Musician and performer Norah Jones was born in 1979 to Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar and concert producer Sue Jones. Her early life was steeped in music, but her parents' divorce prompted her to relocate with her mother to Grapevine, Texas. It was there that Norah honed her artistry at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, where she sang in the choir and played the saxophone in the school band. Her formative years were marked by an early love of jazz, with the legendary Billie Holiday serving as one of her major influences.

Norah pursued her passion for music further by attending the University of North Texas, where she majored in jazz piano. In 1999, she moved to New York City, where she formed a band with fellow musicians Dan Riser, Jesse Harris, and Lee Alexander. Although their initial demos did not lead to a record deal for the band as a whole, the experience proved pivotal in helping Norah earn her contract with Blue Note Records in 2001.

In 2002, Jones launched her solo career with the release of her debut album, *Come Away with Me*, a groundbreaking fusion of jazz, country, blues, folk, and pop. The album catapulted her to international fame, selling over twenty-six million copies and ultimately earning her five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. This achievement made her the first person of South Asian descent to win such accolades. She followed this remarkable debut with the albums *Feels Like Home* (2004), *Not Too Late* (2007), and *The Fall* (2009), all of which achieved platinum status and were praised by critics.

In 2007, Norah expanded her artistic repertoire by making her feature film debut in *My Blueberry Nights*, directed by Wong Kar-Wai. She continued to innovate in her music career, releasing *Little Broken Hearts* in 2012, which was followed by a world tour that included performances across North America, Europe, South America, Australia, and Asia.

Over the years, Norah Jones has solidified her status as one of the top jazz recording artists of her generation, with total album sales exceeding fifty million. Her band, featuring Peter Remm, Jason Roberts, Josh Lattanzi, and Greg Wieczorek, joins her as she remains active in writing, recording, and touring. In 2016, she released her album *Day Breaks*, accompanied by an extensive tour that ran well into 2017.

In more recent years, Jones released her seventh studio album, *Pick Me Up Off the Floor*, in June 2020, and her eighth album, *I Dream of Christmas*, in 2021, with an expanded version following in 2022. In 2023, she collaborated with rapper Logic on the track "Paradise II" from his independent album *College Park*. March 2024 saw the release of her ninth studio album, *Visions*, produced by Leon Michels. The album, described by *The Los Angeles Times* as a "funky, gently psychedelic garage-soul record," went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 67th Grammy Awards in 2025, marking Norah?? tenth Grammy win and further solidifying her esteemed place in the music industry.