July 22, 1980

Belgian-born singer/songwriter Kate Ryan was a multi-instrumentalist by the age of eight and a full-fledged performer by the time she was in her mid-teens. Approached by a manager at the age of 16, she joined the soft rock/pop group Melt. She spent two years with the band, eventually leaving to pursue a career as a solo artist. Her first single, a cover of Mylene Farmer's "Desenchantee'," went platinum in Belgium and topped the European charts for months, a feat that was doubled upon the release of her debut record, Different, which went on to sell 250,000 copies. Her latest is the dance-pop-heavy Stronger. ~ James Christopher Monger