Singer-songwriter and pianist Nellie McKay was born on Dec. 13, 1984, in London...

Singer-songwriter and pianist Nellie McKay was born on Dec. 13, 1984, in London to an actress mother and a writer/director father. McKay's parents split when she was 2 years old, and she and her mother came to New York, where they lived in Harlem. There, McKay absorbed the R&B, hip-hop, jazz and Latin music of her diverse neighborhood. She also began taking piano lessons.

After a brief period on the West Coast, McKay and her mother moved back east, to the Poconos in Pennsylvania, where she attended high school and even took lessons with a fellow Delaware Water Gap resident, saxophonist Phil Woods. In 2000, McKay briefly attended the Manhattan School of Music, but dropped out to pursue her career as a performer. She did stand-up comedy before returning to singing and playing the piano, and her wit served her well in building a devoted following in New York.

In 2003, her opening set for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players spurred a record-label bidding war that led to her first album, Get Away From Me. McKay's sarcastic and clever tunes, straddling influences from hip-hop to cabaret, bewildered and enchanted critics. Her second album, Pretty Little Head, was released in 2006 after months of conflict over creative control. That year, McKay also made her Broadway debut as Polly Peachum in the The Threepenny Opera; the role earned her a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance.
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