Fiona Apple, now 19, was born out of wedlock to the former singer Diane McAfee and actor Brandon Maggart. Fiona began psychotherapy at age 11 in Manhattan because her teachers believed her to be anti-social. Fiona was sexually assualted at age 12 and uses her experiences through her life to writer her songs.

Fiona decided to do a demo tape when she went to Los Angeles to spend time with her father and finish high school. She was going to distribute the tapes widely and see what happened, but as it turned out, Fiona didn't have to. She brought a few copies of the demo tape with her to New York City when she went home for Christmas. One fell into the hands of a friend who sometimes baby-sat for a music industry executive. Fiona's friend gave the three song demo to the executive who then played it for producer, Andrew Slater. He immediately called Fiona and asked to meet her.

Not having enough songs for an album, Fiona pressured herself to write, write, write. Once satisfied, she started to record. Many of the songs on Fiona's album, "Tidal," were in one take.

"My album is called Tidal partly because all this has hit me like a tidal wave but also because 'tidal' refers to ebbing and flowing, and that's really what life is, a constant ebb and flow," Fiona says.

Now with "Tidal" out in stores and videos rotating on MTV, Fiona has been touring all year, hopefully writing new songs for an upcoming album that will without-a-doubt be as excellent and emotional as her debut.