Nov. 8: Singer Rickie Lee Jones is 56 today.

Rickie Lee Jones was born in Chicago in 1954. Rickie is a vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.

Jones would spend her early teen years running away, living as an adult in the "hippy" world of California, developing a taste for drugs that poverty kept at bay.

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Jones started playing in public at the age of 21, with Easy Money — a 9-piece country rock band based in Los Angeles. She had a brief job with a Top 40 band, and a gig at Art Leboe's on Sunset Strip with Little Caesar and the Romans.

Warner Borthers signed her, winning a bidding war over two other labels. Her showcases in front of the labels were 30 minutes long, including "Easy Money," "The Moon Is Made of Gold," "Chuck E's in Love," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as well as a few cover tunes.

Rickie Lee Jones was released in March 1979 and became a hit, buoyed by the success of the jazz-flavored single "Chuck E.'s in Love" (#4 Billboard Hot 100, 1979) and its accompanying video.

The album, which included guest appearances by Dr. John, Randy Newman, and Michael McDonald, went to US #3 on the Billboard 200 and produced another US Top 40 hit with "Young Blood" (#40) in late 1979.

Jones secured five nominations at the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female, Song of the Year ("Chuck E.'s in Love"), and Best New Artist, which she won at the January 1980 ceremony. She was also voted Best Jazz Singer by Playboy magazine's critic and reader polls.

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