Nellie McKay

Genres:	Pop / Rock • Vocals
Descriptive "tags":	female vocalists • singer-songwriter • jazz • piano • indie • cabaret • pop • alternative
Decades Active:	2000s
Links online:	Official Homepage • Wikipedia

Biography

Eleanora Marie McKay, 13 December 1982, London, England. McKay’s mother, Robin Pappas, an American actress who had studied at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and her father, a British director, separated when Nellie was two years old. Her mother returned to the USA with her daughter and settled in New York City’s Harlem. McKay began piano lessons at the age of eight at the Bloomingdale School of Music. In the mid-90s, her family moved to Olympia, Washington, then to Pennsylvania. At the age of 18 McKay composed her first song, ‘Won't U Please B Nice’, which won an award at an international songwriting competition. In 2000, McKay was back in New York, studying at the Manhattan School of Music but two years later had dropped out. She began performing as a stand-up comic in Greenwich Village gay bars, meantime working as a secretary and other non-musical jobs to support herself until she found sufficient work as a performer. Playing...

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