Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson (born October 27, 1978 in Singapore, currently lives in United Kingdom), known on stage as Vanessa-Mae (in Chinese: 陳美, Chén Měi) is an internationally known British pop and classical musician, especially noted for her violin skills. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion" as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style. Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore to a Thai father (Varaprong Vanakorn) and a Chinese mother (Pamela Tan). After her parents separated, her mother married Englishman Graham Nicholson, and the family moved to England when Vanessa-Mae was four years old. ...show more

Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson (born October 27, 1978 in Singapore, currently lives in United Kingdom), known on stage as Vanessa-Mae (in Chinese: 陳美, Chén Měi) is an internationally known British pop and classical musician, especially noted for her violin skills. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion" as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style. Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore to a Thai father (Varaprong Vanakorn) and a Chinese mother (Pamela Tan). After her parents separated, her mother married Englishman Graham Nicholson, and the family moved to England when Vanessa-Mae was four years old.

She grew up in London and is a British citizen. Vanessa-Mae began playing piano at the age of three and violin at five. She was relatively famous in the United Kingdom throughout her childhood making regular appearances on television (for example on "Blue Peter") mostly involving classical music and conservative style. According to Guinness World Records, she is the youngest soloist to record both the Ludwig van Beethoven and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky violin concertos, a feat she accomplished at the age of thirteen.

During this time she attended the Francis Holland School in central London. Vanessa-Mae made her international professional debut at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany in 1988, and also during 1988 made her concerto debut on stage with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. On entering adolescence Vanessa-Mae broke away from her traditional classical influences and became known for her flashy, sexy style appearing in music videos in stylish outfits. She appeared on the Janet Jackson album The Velvet Rope playing a violin solo on the song "Velvet Rope". ...show less