Eliza Doolittle

As the daughter of '90s Eurovision entrant/musical theater star Francis Rufelle and stage director John Caird -- not to mention the grand-daughter of stage school owner Sylvia Young -- it's no surprise that London born singer/songwriter Eliza Doolittle would go on to forge a career in show biz. Born Eliza Caird in 1988, she was given the moniker Doolittle by her drama teacher, which she gladly adopted due to her love of the musical My Fair Lady. Musicals continued to play a small role in her life as she grew up, and Doolittle briefly appeared alongside her mother in Les Miserables before shifting her focus to songwriting at the age of 12, having already learned to play the piano.

Influenced by artists as diverse as Arctic Monkeys and Stevie Wonder, she began crafting a blend of ska, breezy, summery folk, and retro-modern pop that drew comparisons to the likes of Lily Allen and Kate Nash. Her debut single, "Piano Song," was released in 2008 and attracted attention from several major labels, which eventually resulted in a deal with Parlophone Records. After releasing a self-titled E.P., Doolittle struck gold with her first major single, "Skinny Genes," which reached number 22 in 2010 thanks to support from Radio 2 and its use in a commercial for the fashion website Very. The follow-up single "Pack Up" reached number five, while her self-titled debut album, which she co-wrote with the likes of Craigie Dodds (Sugababes) and the late Jonny Dollar (Massive Attack), entered the charts at number three.