India.Arie

Talk about a full-circle case of family matters. Much like her mother — an early Motown prospect who once supported Al Green and Stevie Wonder — India.Arie proved to be a natural-born singer the second she picked up a guitar and seized the second stage of Lilith Fair in 1998. One major-label bidding war later, Arie signed to Motown, like Mom almost did, and spent the next two years handcrafting the slow-burning songs of Acoustic Soul, including the snappy, star-gazing groove of "Video," the creeping beats of "Brown Skin," and the fragile but graceful "Ready for Love." She hasn't let up since, critically or commercially, from the twin GRAMMY® wins of Voyage to India to the chart-topping debut of Testimony: Vol. 1 Life & Relationship, Motown's first #1 album by a female solo artist since Diana Ross' Lady Sings the Blues (1972). Not bad, right? And if the moth-to-a-flame R&B of her new single ("Beautiful Flower") is any indication, Arie's just getting started.