Joan Armatrading

The British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading was born on the Caribbean Island of Saint Kitts and was raised by her grandmother on Antigua until she joined the rest of her family in Birmingham, England, at age 7.

Armatrading dropped out of school at 15 in favor of going to work to help support her family. Her first job at a tool manufacturing company didn't last long - she was fired for playing the guitar on her breaks.

The singer has successfully tried her hand at many different genres, including pop, rock, and folk rock, making her a fixture on the UK charts since her debut in the 1970s. But it was her foray into the blues that garnered her attention stateside when her 2007 album Into the Blues debuted at #1 on the US Blues chart.