Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter,
pianist and record producer. Classically trained on piano as a child, Apple began composing her own songs when she was eight years old. Her debut album,
Tidal, written when Apple was seventeen, was released in 1996 and received a
Grammy Award for
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the single "
Criminal". She followed with
When the Pawn... (1999), produced by
Jon Brion, which was also critically and commercially successful and went certified platinum.