China Forbes (born April 29, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter who has been the lead singer of the band

Pink Martini Pink Martini is an American band that was founded in 1994 by pianist Thomas Lauderdale in Portland, Oregon. Group members call it a little orchestra that crosses several styles, such as classical, latin, traditional pop, and jazz. The co-lead v ...

since 1995.

Life and career

The daughter of Peggy (née Woodford) and Donald Cameron Forbes, China Forbes was born and raised in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. Her father was of French and Scottish descent, and her mother is African-American. She attended

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

('88), then studied visual arts at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where she met Thomas Lauderdale, a classically trained pianist.Speaking in tongues
an April 2005 article about Forbes and Pink Martini from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' They became friends and met regularly to play music together. At Harvard, she won the Jonathan Levy Prize for acting. After graduating in 1992, Forbes worked as an actress for several years, performing

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in New York City. She then became a musician, forming a band and recording a solo album. She sang the song "Ordinary Girl" for the television series ''

Clueless ''Clueless'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It stars Alicia Silverstone with supporting roles by Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd. It was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert La ...

'' and "

Que Sera Sera "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" is a song written by the team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that was first published in 1955. Doris Day introduced it in the Alfred Hitchcock film '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), singing it as ...

" over the credits for the movie ''

In the Cut ''In the Cut'' is a 1995 thriller novel by American writer Susanna Moore. The plot follows an English teacher at New York University who becomes entangled in a sexual relationship with a detective investigating a series of gruesome murders in her ...

''. While living in Portland, Oregon, Lauderdale asked her to sing with

, a band he had assembled to play at political fundraisers. After three years commuting from New York, she moved to Portland in 1998 to work full-time with the band. Forbes and Lauderdale co-wrote the band's hit "Sympathique (Je ne Veux Pas Travailler)" among many other band originals. Apart from her work with Pink Martini, she has released solo albums, including ''Love Handle'' (November 1995) and ''78'' (

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...

2008) which includes her song "Hey Eugene" in its original version. She is featured on

Michael Feinstein Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for cele ...

's album '' The Sinatra Project'', singing a duet of "How Long Will It Last?". She recorded two songs in French with

Georges Moustaki Georges Moustaki (born Giuseppe Mustacchi; 3 May 1934 – 23 May 2013) was an Egyptian-French singer-songwriter of Jewish Italo-Greek origin. He wrote about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in France, including Édith Piaf, Dalida, ...

for his album ''Solitaire''. She is a cousin of former U.S. Secretary of State

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

and indie-rock musician

Ed Droste Edward Droste (born October 22, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, formerly of the rock band Grizzly Bear. The group began as the solo effort of Droste with the release of 2004's '' Horn of Plenty'', originally released on Kanin ...

Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

. Her sister is

Maya Forbes Maya Forbes (born July 23, 1968) is an American screenwriter and television producer. She made her debut as a film director with '' Infinitely Polar Bear'' (2014). Her other writing credits include the screenplay of '' The Rocker'' (2008) and many ...

, a screenwriter and director.

Discography

* 1995 ''Love Handle'' * 1996 ''Ordinary Girl'' * 2008 ' ''78'' With

* 1997 ''Sympathique'' * 2004 ''Hang on Little Tomato'' * 2007 ''Hey Eugene!'' * 2009 ''Splendor in the Grass'' * 2010 ''Joy to the World'' * 2011 A Retrospective * 2013 ''Get Happy'' * 2016 ''Je Dis Oui!'' With others * 2003 ''Cruising Attitude'',

Dimitri from Paris Dimitri from Paris (born Dimitrios Yerasimos, el, Δημήτριος Γεράσιμος; 27 October 1963) is a French music producer and DJ of Greek descent. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk and disco sounds that spawned contempo ...

* 2008 ''Solitaire'',

* 2008 ''The Sinatra Projec''t,

References

External links

*
Pink Martini
– band members biographical information {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, China 1970 births Living people American women jazz singers American jazz singers African-American women singer-songwriters American stage actresses Harvard College alumni Musicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Pink Martini members

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Jazz musicians from Massachusetts 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts