Imogen Heap

Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, and audio engineer. Born in the London Borough of Havering, Heap became classically trained in piano, cello, and clarinet at a young age. She began writing songs at the age of 13 and, while attending boarding school, taught herself both guitar and drums, as well as music production on Atari computers.

Heap signed to independent record label Almo Sounds at the age of 18 and later began working with experimental pop band Acacia alongside Guy Sigsworth as a frequent guest vocalist. However, as funding for Almo Sounds began to decline, Heap was dropped from the label. In the following period, while without a label, she performed multiple songs for the film G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time, released two singles, appeared on the Urban Species song "Blanket" in 1999, and was featured on guitarist Jeff Beck's 2001 album You Had It Coming. In early 2002, Heap and Sigsworth formed the electronic duo Frou Frou and released their only album to date, Details (2002). The duo broke up in late 2003, reuniting temporarily to record a cover of the Bonnie Tyler song "Holding Out for a Hero" as part of the Shrek 2 soundtrack in 2004.

Heap released two singles in late 2004, "Just for Now" and "Goodnight and Go", the latter of which became her highest charting single on the UK Singles Chart. Heap's second studio album, Speak for Yourself, was released in 2005 on her vanity label, Megaphonic Records, and was certified gold in the United States and Canada.

"Hide and Seek", her most commercially successful single to date, was certified gold by the RIAA on 3 April 2009. As of 2009 the song has sold 647,000 copies in the United States. It was heavily sampled in Jason Derulo's debut single "Whatcha Say".

"Whatcha Say" was available for digital download on May 5, 2009, and released as a single on August 4, 2009. "Whatcha Say" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one week. It went on to receive a large number of certifications, including certified 5x platinum by the RIAA on June 13, 2019. By June 2014, the single has sold over 4 million digital copies in the US. Regarding the heavy sampling of "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap, Derulo called Heap "an incredible talent" and stated that she was "in love with Whatcha Say". He also stated that it was really refreshing to see someone like Imogen Heap getting commercial success now, and that he would love to perform the song with her, suggesting the Grammys as an option.

Heap's third studio album, Ellipse (2009), was released to mostly positive reviews. This was followed by her fourth studio album, Sparks (2014). In 2017, she reunited with Sigsworth as part of Frou Frou.

Heap developed the Mi.Mu Gloves, a line of musical gloves, as well as a blockchain-based music-sharing program, Mycelia. She also composed the music for the West End/Broadway play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. She has received two Grammy Awards, one Ivor Novello Award, and one Drama Desk Award. In July 2019, Heap was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.

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