Michelle Branch (born July 2, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. During the early 2000s, she released two top-selling albums, The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper, as well as singles such as "Everywhere," "All You Wanted," "Goodbye To You," "Are You Happy Now?," "Breathe" and the Grammy-winning collaboration with Santana, "The Game of Love." She was nominated in 2003 for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Following her marriage and subsequent pregnancy in 2004, Branch placed her career on hold. In 2005, she formed the country music duo The Wreckers with friend and fellow musician Jessica Harp, and produced a Grammy-nominated single "Leave the Pieces." Despite that success, the band took a break in 2007 to pursue their solo careers. Her new album Everything Comes and Goes will explore her acoustic/alternative musical roots as well as country music, and will most likely be released in 2010.

Biography

1983–2000: Early life and Broken Bracelet

Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch was born on July 2, 1983 in Sedona Arizona to an Irish father and a mother of Dutch Indonesian ancestry. She was named after the Beatles song Michelle and her surname is of French origin. She went to grade school at St. Mary's Catholic School (now called San Francisco de Asis School) in Flagstaff Arizona where her passion for music was sparked by Sr. Yolanda at the Friday school masses at Nativity Church. Branch received a guitar for her fourteenth birthday from her uncle and she immediately taught herself chords, and she composed her first song within a few days. During high school, she began writing songs extensively. She initially attended Sedona Red Rock High School but was soon continuing her education through home schooling. Branch's career began with the release of Broken Bracelet, an album released on the independent record label Twin Dragon Records on June 1, 2000. Its title was inspired by an occurrence at a Lisa Loeb concert she attended. Before the concert began, musician Steve Poltz gave her a bracelet made by pop singer Jewel; he told Michelle that "when it breaks, you'll be famous." A year later the bracelet snapped and she thought nothing of it.