50 Fun Facts About Norah Jones

Norah Jones is the daughter of which Indian sitar master?

She was born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar in Manhattan; her mother, Sue Jones, was a concert producer.

After her parents separated, Jones grew up mainly in Grapevine, a suburb in which state?

She sang in the local Methodist church and later transferred to Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas.

What was the title of Jones's 2002 debut album?

It debuted at No. 139, climbed to No. 1, and was eventually certified diamond for ten million US sales.

Which single from her debut won Jones the Grammy for Record of the Year in 2003?

Its writer, Jesse Harris, took Song of the Year the same night.

How many Grammys did Jones win at the 2003 ceremony, tying the record for a female artist in one night?

She had been nominated for eight, and became the first person of South Asian descent to win five at a single show.

Jones signed to which storied jazz label, then owned by EMI, after moving to New York?

Her three-track demo reached label president Bruce Lundvall via the wife of the bandleader she was singing for.

Jones's debut has sold over 27 million copies, making it which best-selling album of the 21st century?

Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000s decade and ranked the album its No. 1 jazz album of the decade.

Jones won Record of the Year again in 2005 for 'Here We Go Again', a duet with which legend?

The same night 'Sunrise' won her Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Jones majored in jazz piano at which school?

A chance meeting there with Jesse Harris, who started mailing her lead sheets, shaped her debut album.

At what age did Jones officially change her name from Geethali Norah Jones Shankar?

Both parents consented; she had already been singing solos at church for years.

Jones's 2007 album Not Too Late was the first on which she did what?

It was made at her home studio without a deadline; label executives reportedly did not know she was recording an album.

Which producer, who died in 2006, worked on Jones's first two albums and won Producer of the Year for one?

Not Too Late was her first record without him.

Jones made her feature-film acting debut in 2007 in which Wong Kar-wai movie?

It opened the Cannes Film Festival that year and she wrote the song 'The Story' for it.

What breed of dog is Ben, pictured on the cover of Jones's 2009 album The Fall?

The Fall was her first album not to reach No. 1 in the US, but its lead single 'Chasing Pirates' still charted.

Which producer collaborated with Jones on her 2012 album Little Broken Hearts?

They had first worked together on the Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi album Rome.

What is Jones's alt-country band, formed in 2003 with Richard Julian and Jim Campilongo, called?

They released a self-titled album in 2006 and For the Good Times in 2012.

Under the alias 'Maddie' and wearing a blond wig, Jones sang and played guitar in which rock band?

The trio with Daru Oda and Richard Julian released a self-titled album in 2007.

Jones's all-female country trio with Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper is named what?

Their album No Fools, No Fun came out in 2014.

Jones's 2013 duets album Foreverly, with Billie Joe Armstrong, covered an album by which act?

It reworked Songs Our Daddy Taught Us in full.

Jones sang on 'Take Off Your Cool' from which group's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below?

She was not credited on that Grammy; her guest spot with Q-Tip came later, on his Renaissance LP.

Jones played piano and sang on 'Virginia Moon', a 2005 track by which rock band?

The In Your Honor track earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Jones's 2006 vocal on 'Sucker', for Mike Patton's Peeping Tom project, drew attention for what novelty?

Patton is best known as the frontman of Faith No More.

Jones's ninth Grammy came as a featured artist on which Herbie Hancock album, the 2008 Album of the Year?

She sang the opening track, 'Court and Spark'.

Jones's 2024 record Visions won her tenth Grammy in which category?

Producer Leon Michels handled drums and bass while Jones played guitar herself; the LA Times called it 'gently psychedelic garage-soul'.

Jones co-wrote 'Everybody Needs a Best Friend', an Oscar-nominated song, for which 2012 film?

Seth MacFarlane's comedy also gave her a cameo; she had sung 'Two Sleepy People' on his debut album.

Jones's cameo in Two Weeks Notice, the 2002 Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock comedy, shows her doing what?

She appears briefly as herself.

Jones's 2019 release Begin Again was what kind of record?

It gathered singles from 2018 to 2019, including collaborations with Jeff Tweedy and Thomas Bartlett.

Where did Jones's 2020 album Pick Me Up Off the Floor debut on the Billboard 200?

Her next studio release was the Christmas album I Dream of Christmas.

Jones's half-sister, with whom she sang on the 2013 album Traces of You, is which musician?

Anoushka has also appeared as a guest on Jones's podcast.

Jones played a three-song tribute in October 2011 at which company's campus, for its late co-founder?

She closed with Bob Dylan's 'Forever Young' because Steve Jobs liked Dylan.

Jones's 2017 cover of 'Unchained Melody' was made for the soundtrack of which Amazon TV series?

The Resistance Radio album was produced by the same man behind Little Broken Hearts.

Jones sang 'American Anthem' for The War, a documentary by which filmmaker?

The 2007 project coincided with her Not Too Late album.

Jones's 2016 album Day Breaks marked her return to which instrument?

Her aim was to record everything live, arguing that overdubs 'strip the soul out of the music'.

Which two Rolling Stones-related duets has Jones recorded with Keith Richards?

'Love Hurts' was for a Gram Parsons tribute concert; 'Illusions' appears on Richards's 2015 album Crosseyed Heart.

Jones lived in which US city with her mother at age eleven?

She otherwise grew up in the Dallas suburbs and spent summers at Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Jones sang lead on Free Country, a 2003 album of jazz takes on country songs by which guitarist?

Before her debut she had also gigged with Charlie Hunter, Wax Poetic and Peter Malick.

Her 2022 podcast, featuring improvised songs with guests such as Dave Grohl, is called what?

Guests have included her half-sister and Marc Rebillet.

Jones has been married since 2014 to Pete Remm, a musician who plays what?

The couple have two children; earlier she was in a long relationship with bassist Lee Alexander.

Jones sang 'Dreamgirl' on Incredibad, the 2009 album by which comedy trio?

Andy Samberg's group had made its name with SNL Digital Shorts.

Jones's 2023 Christmas collaborations, including 'Better Than Snow', were with which Icelandic musician?

They also recorded a cover of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'.

In which New York City borough was Norah Jones born in 1979?

Her mother, Sue Jones, was a concert producer. She returned to the city in 1999 and was a lounge singer before her recording career took off.

Jones's eighth studio release, in 2021, was what kind of record?

I Dream of Christmas got an expanded edition in 2022, and she has also cut holiday duets with Cyndi Lauper and Laufey.

CDs of Jones's debut album were sold for $9.99 at which coffee chain?

The album spent 165 weeks on the Billboard 200 and sold another 600,000 copies in the week right after her 2003 Grammy sweep.

Which Feels Like Home song won Jones the 2005 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance?

The album debuted at No. 1 in at least 16 countries, and Time named Jones one of the most influential people of 2004.

Which songwriter, met by chance at college, won Song of the Year for her breakthrough single?

He started mailing her lead sheets after they met in Texas. One of his songs was on the three-track demo that got her signed.

What was the lead single from Jones's 2009 album The Fall?

It reached No. 13 on Hot Adult Contemporary. The Fall was her first album to miss No. 1 in the US, debuting at No. 3.

Besides singing in the choir, which instrument did Jones play in her high school band?

She won Down Beat student awards for Best Jazz Vocalist in 1996 and 1997 while at Booker T. Washington arts high school in Dallas.

Jones's 2008 duet 'Life Is Better' was with the frontman of which hip-hop group?

Q-Tip put it on his album The Renaissance. Jones later gathered such guest spots on the 2010 compilation ...Featuring.

Jones's debut album entered the Billboard 200 at which lowly position before climbing to No. 1?

It sold just 10,000 copies in its first week and took almost a year to reach the top, in January 2003.

Who produced Jones's 2024 album Visions, handling percussion and bass himself?

Jones played guitar herself on the sessions, which the Los Angeles Times called 'a funky, gently psychedelic garage-soul record'.