Ledisi, whose career began in the mid-1990s in Oakland, California, is a Grammy-winning American R&B, soul, and jazz singer whose powerhouse vocals, jazz phrasing, and songwriting depth have made her one of the most respected voices in modern soul music. Born Ledisi Anibade Young in New Orleans in 1972 and raised in Oakland, she grew up around music — her mother was a singer — and began performing in the Bay Area club circuit as a teenager before founding her own independent label, LeSun Records, and self-releasing her early work.

Her breakthrough came with her indie debut Soulsinger: The Revival (2000), which introduced her signature blend of contemporary R&B and vintage jazz-soul phrasing to a devoted underground following. After years of building her audience independently, she signed with Verve Forecast in 2007 and released Lost & Found (2007), her major-label debut, which earned her first two Grammy nominations and established her as a rising force in soul.