Vanessa Carlton

by itemvn  |  May 16, 2010 [Edit]

Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is best known for the single "A Thousand Miles" from her debut album, Be Not Nobody.

Carlton met her friend Peter Zizzo at a singer-songwriter circle. A few months later, Zizzo invited Carlton to his studio to record a demo. Three months after recording the demo, Carlton was signed by Jimmy Iovine and began to record the album, Rinse. It was never released, but a few tracks were reworked for Be Not Nobody.

With her previous unsuccessful recording efforts, Carlton felt there was a lack of direction at her label. However, A&M president Ron Fair upon hearing her demo to "A Thousand Miles," began organizing recording sessions for the song, producing and arranging the song himself. It became a hit, peaking inside the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to become the sixth-most-played song of the year, as well as garnering Grammy Award nominations for "Record of the Year," "Song of the Year," and "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)."

Fair would produce the rest of the album. Be Not Nobody was subsequently released in April 2002 and debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 102,000 units sold. It went on to sell more than two million copies worldwide. Two more singles, "Ordinary Day" and "Pretty Baby" were released. Carlton began touring in support of her debut album, opening for the Goo Goo Dolls and Third Eye Blind, before headlining her own tour at the end of 2002. She later toured Europe in 2003.

Carlton began recording her second album, Harmonium, at Skywalker Ranch near San Francisco. It was produced by Stephan Jenkins from Third Eye Blind, and included darker themes than those on her debut. Carlton stated that the album contained more of her own aesthetic as opposed to Be Not Nobody which was more influenced by Ron Fair. Harmonium debuted at number thirty-three on the Billboard 200 and has sold 179,000 copies as of February 2006.

Heroes & Thieves was released and greeted with generally positive reviews. It debuted at number forty-four on the U.S. Billboard 200, with "Nolita Fairytale" as the first single. As of December 2007, the album had sold 41,000 copies in the U.S. To promote the album, Carlton embarked the Haunted Club Tour, from November 2 to November 24, 2007. Second single, "Hands on Me", was sent out to radios on February 19, 2008. Carlton later went on a summer U.S. tour with Joshua Radin and Alexa Wilkinson in 2008.

In an interview in April 2009, Vanessa stated that she was half way done with a new album. On May 9, 2010, Vanessa updated that the title of her upcoming record would be called Rabbits On The Run. According to her, she chose the title for the symbolism often depicted by rabbits - 'time slipping, mind floating' - which is something she has been relating to for the past few years. She also mentioned that the record is under the process of layering the songs with strings. Vanessa later announced on her Twitter account two new songs titled "Moneymaker" and "I Don't Want to Be a Bride."