India.Arie (India Arie Simpson) was born on October 3, 1975, is an American soul, R&B, and neo soul singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and flautist.

Arie was born in Denver, Colorado. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents. Her mother Joyce is a former singer and is now her stylist. Her father is former ABA and NBA basketball player Ralph Simpson.

She has an older brother named J'On. After her parents divorced, Arie's mother moved the family to Georgia.

Arie had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing.

Sidestepping all the devices of flavor-of-the-month record-making, Acoustic Soul acquainted listeners with a brave and eloquent new voice.

The album drew an uncommonly broad swath of listeners from lovers of hip hop, neo soul, blues, folk, and classic troubadour-style singer/songwriter, all at once.

Acoustic Soul was released on March 27, 2001 and debuted at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months, without the concentrated radio airplay that typically powers pop and rap albums, Acoustic Soul was certified double Platinum.

As a capstone to the album's success, Arie had the distinction of having the most total Grammy Award nominations of any single artist that year. Fans and peers alike were stunned when she was not awarded a Grammy Award in any of the nominated categories.