Fiona Apple Biography

Fiona Apple Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is a Grammy award winning American singer-songwriter. She is best known as Fiona Apple.

Apple is a member of a family rich with roots in entertainment. Born in New York City, she is the daughter of singer Diane McAfee and actor Brandon Maggart. Her older sister, Amber Taleullah, sings cabaret under the stage name Maude Maggart. Her brother Spencer is a director and directed the video for her single "Parting Gift". Her half brother Garett Maggart starred in the TV series The Sentinel. In addition, her maternal grandparents were Millicent Green, a dancer with the George White's Scandals, a flapper-era group similar to the Ziegfeld Follies, and Johnny McAfee, a multireedist and vocalist of the big band era; her grandparents met while touring with Johnny Hamp and his Orchestra.

At the age of twelve, Apple was raped upon returning home from school to her mother's apartment. The rape is mentioned subtly in some of her work, but is not necessarily a major theme. While the media latched onto the story of Apple's dark past experience, making her what she referred to as "the poster child for rape", the singer said the only reason she even mentioned the rape to an interviewer was because she didn't want it to seem like something of which she should be ashamed.

As a child, there was concern she had anti-social tendencies, as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder. She underwent therapy as a child after telling a childhood friend that she was going to kill herself as well as her older sister Amber when she was eleven years old. This prompted several therapy sessions which ultimately led her to believe that there must actually be something wrong with her if she required therapy.

Apple's break into the music industry came when a friend, who babysat for a record executive, handed her employer a demo. Apple's mezzo-soprano voice, piano skills and lyrics got the attention of Sony Music executive Andy Slater, who signed her to a record deal.

Apple is a vegan and supporter of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). In 1997 she recorded a message on PETA's hotline expressing her concern for the plight of turkeys on Thanksgiving. In reference to a Butterball Turkey hotline people could call to get tips on cooking their turkeys, she claimed, "There's no proper way to kill and cook these beautiful birds". She continued, "Millions of people are learning that a vegetarian diet is the healthy choice for themselves, the Earth and the animals". This stance would inspire the Saturday Night Live spoof Basted in Blood, written and performed by Sarah McLachlan.

Apple has previously dated magician David Blaine and film director Paul Thomas Anderson.

1997