Norah Jones (born Geetali Norah Jones Shankar on March 30, 1979; she changed her name officially to Norah Jones at age 16) is an American multi- Grammy Award winning pianist and singer-songwriter whose career was launched with her successful 2002 debut album Come Away with Me, a contemporary pop album with a soul/ folk tinge, that sold 20 million copies worldwide and received eight Grammy awards.
Jones was born in New York City, the daughter of Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar, but she spent her childhood with her mother, Sue Jones, who moved to Dallas, Texas, when Norah was four. She always liked the music of Bill Evans and Billie Holiday, and she found it intriguing and relieving. Jones attended the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the University of North Texas, where she majored in jazz piano, and won Beat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist (twice, in 1996 and 1997) and Best Original Composition (1996). In 1999, two years into the program, Norah left for New York City, where she performed with the band Wax Poetic.
Jones performed quite frequently with guitarist Charlie Hunter in 2001 and appeared on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album in a duet with André 3000 in 2003. Her music is often compared to that of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.
In early 2002, she released a debut album, Come Away With Me, mellow, acoustic pop with soul and country. It hit #1 on Billboard 200, with single "Don't Know Why" hitting #1 on Top 40 Adult Recurrents in 2003.