Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American soft rock/Piano pop singer, songwriter, and pianist. she was born on August 16, 1980.

She developed an interest for ballet at the age of nine and was accepted a the School of American Ballet in New York City at age fourteen while pursuing high school studies at the Professional Children's School.

This led her at age 17, to devote more and more time to piano playing and songwriting. She chose not to become a dancer on graduation. Instead, she attended Columbia University and performed in bars and clubs in Manhattan while working as a waitress.

She is best known for the Billboard top five, Grammy-nominated single "A Thousand Miles" from her debut album, Be Not Nobody which was released April 30, 2002, and certified platinum in the U.S.

Carlton's second album, Harmonium (released November 9, 2004), debuted at number thirty-three on the U.S. Billboard 200 and had sold 179,000 copies as of February 2006, with the single "White Houses, peaking at eighty-six in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. She subsequently parted company from her record label A&M, though she still holds a dedicated fanbase.

Her third album, Heroes and Thieves, was released on October 9, 2007 by the The Inc./Universal Motown record labels. It debuted at number forty-four on the U.S. Billboard 200, with the first single being "Nolita Fairytale". As of December 2007, the album had sold 41,000 copies in the U.S. Her second single Hands on Me was sent out to radios January 19 and the video was released February 15.

www.VanessaCarlton.com