Luciana

After several false starts, electro pop-punk vocalist Luciana finally broke through to the mainstream, thanks to an array of guest appearances on some of the biggest dance singles of the mid-noughties. Born Luciana Caporoso in London, in 1977, she first came to attention in 1994 thanks to an appearance on TV crime drama Anna Lee, where she also provided the theme tune, "Sister Sister." Aged 18, she signed a deal with Chrysalis Records but after the disappointing sales of her first three singles, "Get It Up for Love," "One More River," and "If You Want," she was dropped. Replacing original member Jayni Hoy, she became one half of pop duo Crush with former co-star Donna Air, and the pair enjoyed brief success in the Far East with their self-titled album. After appearing on singles by Definitive and Tomoki Hirata, she fronted the bands Shooter, whose "Life's a Bitch" ended up on the Dawson's Creek soundtrack, and Portobella, who split after their debut single, "Covered in Punk," failed to chart. Finally achieving mainstream recognition, she provided vocals for Bodyrox on its breakthrough number two single "Yeah Yeah," and followed that up with guest vocals on hits by Super Mal ("Bigger Than Big"), Taio Cruz ("Come On Girl") and Lethal Bizzle ("Go Go Go"). In 2008, she released her debut album, Featuring Luciana, a compilation of her collaborations, which also included tracks with Michael Gray and Kurtis Mantronik. Luciana also co-penned "Cupid Boy" for Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite album, is a keen photographer, artist, and fashion designer, and is due to release her second solo album in 2011. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi