From Birth To Stardom

"Intelligent songs full of an inner strength, a powerful voice projected with knowing confidence." That's how England's Melody Maker describes the music of newcomer Natalie Imbruglia.

Natalie Imbruglia's meteoric rise to fame has taken the music industry and the world by surprise. However, it is probably not a surprise to those who knew her in her early days. She was born on February 4 1975, in a small town two hours from Sydney, Australia.

She took tap and ballet lessons as a child and demonstrated her strong will and determination at an early age. She believed in herself and felt she could do anything she set her mind to. Imbruglia credits these years as the source of her strength and perseverance as a woman.

"It taught me discipline and steadfastness", she said in an US magazine interview. "I wasn't that good but I was so determined that I used to put planks of wood down in the garage, and practice and practice. I'd lie in bed at night and work my ankle exercises."

Much to her parent's dismay, Imbruglia then turned her focus to acting and ventured to Sydney to find acting work. She landed several television commercials for Coke, Bubblicious gum, and a snack called Twisties. The more jobs she landed, the more her parents supported her dreams of acting. They soon let her quit the school for performing arts to concentrate on her acting pursuits.

She got a temporary role on the popular Australian soap opera Neighbors, and became an instant success. She was so well received by audiences that the producers decided to make her character permanent.

Her joy, however, was short lived, as she grew tired of the show and eventually left to find more satisfying work. "I was like, what have I done? I'm not saying it was a nasty, terrible job; it just wasn't for me".

She moved to London where she lived in relative obscurity for two years. She did little acting work and became enamored with the London club scene. She refused to use her Neighbors fame to get her ahead in London.

She soon encountered financial difficulty and began writing songs to earn some money. She showed her work to Mark Fox, former Haircut 100 percussionist and current creative director for BMG publishing. Fox, in turn, contacted Phil Thornally, the former bassist for Cure.

The trio proceeded to record "Torn" and got in touch with a high-profile manager named Anne Barrett. She instantly came aboard the Imbruglia train and took "Torn" to its next destination; RCA executive Jeremy Marsh's desk. Marsh was so impressed that he signed Imbruglia immediately.

Torn hit radio waves as an import on an L.A. station and went on to receive widespread airplay. Next came the video to the song, as well as a much publicized appearance on Saturday Night Live. When the full album, Left of the Middle, was finally released in spring of 1998, it debuted at No.10.

It earned her a host of awards, including MTV Music Video Awards, the Australian Record Industry Awards, the MTV Europe Video Music Awards, and the Billboard Music Awards, three 1999 Grammy nominations (Best New Artist, Best Pop Album, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance), and two Brit Awards for Best International Female and Best International Newcomer.

Imbruglia takes her rise to fame with a grain of salt. "I think it's just [a matter of] trying to concentrate on your little goal in life and not focus on the big picture too much. That's what I try and do". It's also rumored that she dated David Schwimmer of Friends and singer Lenny Kravitz.