Sia

Sia (full name Sia Furler) hails from the famously laid-back Australian city of Adelaide. Boasting a powerful, soulful voice, she worked the Adelaide jazz circuit during the '90s as a vocalist for the band Crisp. However, the blonde, blue-eyed antipodean's big break came only after she followed in the footsteps of many other Aussie artists and hopped on a plane to the U.K. While in London, Sia landed a gig as a backup singer for the very popular and extremely hip English outfit Jamiroquai. In early 2000, she released her first solo single, the alternative pop tune "Taken for Granted," which debuted at number ten on the busy U.K. singles chart.

Soon after, a string of big names in the British music scene asked for Sia's services; projects with Massive Attack, Zero 7, and William Orbit ensued. In mid-2001, Sia once again made a splash on the U.K. singles chart with the moody offering "Drink to Get Drunk," a track that would appear on her 2002 full-length debut, Healing Is Difficult. Ironically, it was only after her considerable success abroad that she began to make a real impact down under. Colour the Small One appeared a year later. The track "Breathe Me" from the album gained attention when it was used in the elaborate final scene of the Six Feet Under series that aired in 2005. After a successful 2006 tour, as well as more appearances on Zero 7's album Garden, Sia issued the live album Lady Croissant, which also included the new studio song "Pictures." In 2008 she released Some People Have Real Problems, her fourth studio album.