Biography of Natalie ImbrugliaNatalie Jane Imbruglia (IPA: [ɪm'bɹʉːlɪə]) (born February 4, 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress.
In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Willis in the popular Australian soap Neighbours (also responsible for launching pop singers Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan). Two years after leaving the program, she launched a highly successful singing career with the international hit, "Torn". The subsequent debut album Left of the Middle (1998) sold 6 million copies worldwide. While following releases, White Lilies Island (2001) and Counting Down the Days (2005), have been unable to match the commercial success of her debut, the latter became her first UK #1, and all are critically acclaimed. To date she has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide.
On New Years Eve 2003, Imbruglia and her boyfriend of three and a half years, Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns, were married in a beach ceremony in Australia. She currently lives with Johns in Old Windsor, Berkshire, UK, and Newcastle, Australia.
Born as second of the four daughters to an Italian (Sicilian) father and an Australian mother, Imbruglia grew up on the Central Coast, north of Sydney. Imbruglia studied ballet, tap, and highland dancing as a child, hoping to make a career out of it. She also sang in shopping malls and in school performances. At 14 her dance instructor encouraged her to sing with an all girl group but once at the audition, the managers saw that the strikingly pretty youngster with a beautiful voice could make it on her own. They wanted to sign her as a solo act but she refused. "They were like 'we're going to make you a star...' Even at that age you couldn't talk to me like that. I was like 'see you later..'"
Later, she started auditioning for Australian TV commercials and appeared in spots for Coke and the popular Australian snack Twisties. By age 16, she left high school to start a career in acting. She soon obtained the chance to play a regular role on the Australian soap opera, Neighbours at the age of 16 1/2. Neighbours has also launched the careers of many other successful Australian female artists such as Kylie Minogue, Holly Valance, Delta Goodrem and Natalie Bassingthwaite. However, by the end of her second year, she left the show to move to London, immersing herself in the city's club scene.
There she was refused a work permit (on the grounds that too many "Neighbours" stars were trying to find work in the UK)[citation needed] and within a year or so of partying became bankrupt. This forced her to go back to her passion of singing, something which she had been putting off because she thought everyone would laugh at her because she'd been on "Neighbours". Her effort paid off and she was signed to BMG Publishing. She came up with a demo of the song "Torn" which greatly impressed RCA Records and got her a record contract.
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