Little Boots

Little Boots biography

Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), Her stage name comes from a nickname given to her by a friend, a reference to her unusually small feet. As a musician, Boots sings and plays the piano, keyboards, synthesizer, Stylophone and a Japanese electronic instrument called Tenori-on. After a return to college to focus on her studies, Hesketh along with two of her fellow students formed the electropunk band Dead Disco. The band had limited releases of their four singles but due to increasingly different ideas about the band's musical direction Hesketh left to pursue a solo career. Hesketh has cited as influences The Human League, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears and Jean Michel Jarre.

Hesketh began writing her own songs and posting covers on social networking sites such as YouTube and Myspace. After appearing on several shows including Later... with Jools Holland and Last Call with Carson Daly, Hesketh entered production on her debut album Hands. With increasing media attention regarding her then-yet-to-be-released debut album, Hesketh topped the BBC Sound of 2009 poll and received a Critics' Choice nomination at the 2009 BRIT Awards. With the release of her debut, she was linked to a recent wave of breakthrough female artists in their twenties playing 1980s-influenced music, including Lady Gaga, Ladyhawke, Florence and the Machine and Elly Jackson of La Roux.

Her debut album, Hands, released on 8 June 2009, peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart and at number twenty on the Irish Albums Chart. The first single off the album "New in Town" became a top twenty hit, while the next single "Remedy", produced by RedOne, reached the top ten. She has also released the EP Illuminations in the United States.

Biography

1984-2005: Early life and career beginnings

Hesketh was born in Blackpool, Lancashire to English parents; her father has a car sales business and her mother is a writer. The eldest sibling with three brothers, she was raised in the area of Thornton, between Blackpool and Fleetwood, Lancashire.

From the age of five Hesketh played the piano and began lessons at six, later taking lessons from Arthur Lingings and eventually winning a music scholarship. During this time she was taught how to play the flute, was a member of the school choir and travelled regularly to Manchester to take lessons on her harp. Trained initially in classical singing by Janet Wunderley, by the age of thirteen Hesketh was writing her own songs.

Hesketh attended the Rossall School in Fleetwood, and then Blackpool Sixth Form College; it was around this time that she entered the ITV talent competition search Pop Idol aged sixteen. Reaching the third round, she was eliminated by the producers of the show and did not reach the panel of judges. She stated, "It gave me a thicker skin and it made me realise that it wasn't a short cut to getting where I wanted to be."

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