Fiona Apple Maggart was born September 13, 1977, in New York City, and is the offspring of actors Brandon Maggart and Diane McAfee. Fiona and her older sister Amber had to endure the divorce of their parents, who split up when Fiona was four years old. The Maggart daughters have more stepsiblings, which their parents had from previous relationships.
Raised by her mother in New York, Fiona began taking piano lessons at the age of eight. Preferring to improvise (something that would explain Fiona's off-beat statements), a musically inclined Fiona dropped her lessons and taught herself the keyboard.
Fiona's sometimes disturbing image manifested itself at an early age, when an 11-year old Fiona confessed to a friend that she was going to kill herself and her sister. This prompted several therapy sessions which ultimately led her to believe that must actually be something wrong with her if she required therapy.
Anyone would require therapy after what happened to Fiona next. She was raped when she was 12 years old, in a New York apartment building. She subtly shares her experience with the public in the song "Sullen Girl", but has candidly broached the topic of the tragic incident in interviews. Seeing the cup half full, Fiona admits that the experience has actually helped her find her artistic self.
On a brighter note, she was discovered after Fiona's friend gave a demo tape of hers to Kathryn Schenker, a music-industry publicist the friend had babysat for. The world is small indeed, as Schenker's list of clients includes Aerosmith and Sting. Schenker was impressed with Fiona's music and style, and introduced her to Andrew Slater, a producer-artist manager. Fiona was signed to WORK, Sony's affiliate label and the rest is history.
Her debut album, Tidal was released in 1995 and made a splash in the music industry. The album spawned hit singles such as "Shadowboxer", "Sleep to Dream" and "Criminal", and fans really took to her piano-rich, introspective, edgy sound.
If people had not yet heard Fiona's music, they were sure to hear about her after her acceptance speech for winning the Best New Artist award at the 1997 MTV Video Awards. There she was, a waify "bad girl", clad in fashionable clothes and shoes, pleading with fans not to follow the images projected to them in the media and to be their own person. Ironic, coming from a girl who looks like the product of the industry she was blasting.
Although her "go with yourself" speech practically became her claim to fame, it did not overshadow her success as she had won nominations for Best New Artist, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song (both for "Criminal").
Already having a multi-platinum album under her belt -- thanks to the success of Tidal -- she released her sophomore album, When the Pawn....
Contrary to the dark, sad, woman portrayed in the media, Fiona is smiling on the cover of When the Pawn....
Fiona's romantic history includes magician David Blaine and Magnolia director and screenwriter, Paul Thomas Anderson (who directed Fiona's video for Criminal).