Leona Naess
| Leona Naess | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Leona Kristina Næss |
| Born | 31 July 1974 |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Outpost, MCA, Geffen, Verve Forecast, Polydor |
| Associated acts | Samuel Dixon, Ethan Johns, Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams |
| Website | www |
Leona Kristina Naess (or Næss) (born 31 July 1974) is a British singer-songwriter. She released her debut album, Comatised, in March 2000, which produced the single "Charm Attack" (Adult Top 40 #29).
Naess was raised in London. She is the daughter of Filippa Kumlin D'Orey, a Swedish interior designer, and Arne Næss Jr., a Norwegian mountaineer and business magnate, who was of Norwegian and German descent. She has an older brother, Christoffer, and a sister, Katinka, from that marriage. Her great-uncle was the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss. Naess was 7 years old when her parents divorced in 1982. She attended school in London's Chelsea area while growing up, and later attended the Purcell School in Hertfordshire, where she studied music composition. Her father married American entertainer Diana Ross in 1986 and had two boys, Ross and Evan. Naess would often travel to their Connecticut home. Naess also has two other half-brothers, Nicklas and Louis, from her father's subsequent marriage to Camilla Astrup.
Naess received her first guitar at the age of 14, a gift from her mother. The first song she learned to play was "The Cross" by Prince from the 1987 album Sign "O" the Times. She soon began writing her own songs and poetry. In addition to Julie Andrews in the musicals Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, her early influences were 1980s British rock: Joy Division, The Cure, New Order, The Specials and Madness. Naess soon found inspiration in the contemporary singer-songwriters Tracy Chapman, Sinéad O'Connor, and Edie Brickell, as well as in Joni Mitchell and Carole King. Her other early musical influences include Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and John Lennon.
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