- Esthero
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Esthero (born Jenny-Bea Englishman, December 23, 1978 in Stratford, Ontario[1]) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who hails originally from Toronto, Ontario, but has recently moved to Los Angeles. The name Esthero, pronounced [ɛsˈtɛroʊ] es-TAIR-oh, refers both to the singer and formerly to the two-person team of herself and producer, Doc. She claims to have gotten the name from an old film character named Esther, whose last line in a movie (The Bell Jar, based on the Sylvia Plath novel of the same name) is, "If I am to be the hero, then I cannot fly from darkness."
Esthero's sound characteristically features her voice over a mix of mellow bass lines, jazzy trumpets, Spanish guitar and hip-hop. She is sometimes compared to artists Björk, Portishead and Sade . Later artists who count Esthero among their influences include Res, Fergie and fellow Canadian Nelly Furtado.
Esthero's brother, Jason Englishman, is also a musician.
At the age of sixteen, Esthero moved from small town Harriston, Ontario on her own to Toronto, where she began singing at open-mic nights while supporting herself by working at various jobs: Future Bakery, the printing house, and telemarketing. She was seen singing at the Free Times Cafe by manager Beau Ovcaric who set up a showcase for his partner Zack Warner. The two managed her on good faith without any legal paperwork until she turned eighteen. They introduced her to EMI Publishing Canada president Michael Mccarty, whom she charmed so well during their first meeting that without hearing her sing a single note he set up and paid for recording sessions with Doc, a guitarist and studio engineer. The young duo quickly began recording together, and 6 demos in were being courted on the presidency level by almost every major label in the US. Thanks to then EMI publishing US president Rick Krem their demo's reached the ears of the heads of WORK GROUP( a subsidiary of Sony), and esthero knew they had found their home. Their debut album, Breath from Another, was released to critical acclaim in 1998.
On April 20, 2004, without Doc's assistance, Esthero released "O.G. Bitch," a standalone EP featuring six different remixes of the title track, plus the b-side "I Love You." The EP led the way to Esthero's 2005 full-length album on the Warner Bros. label, the decidedly jazzy Wikked Lil' Grrrls, seven years following her debut album, to moderate critical acclaim. The album features contributions from Sean Lennon, André 3000, Shakari Nite, Gnarls Barkley, Jemeni, Jelleestone, and Cee-Lo Green of Goodie Mob. It was also chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.
In 2007 Esthero amicably parted ways with Venus management and joined forces with Shmanagement, based in Los Angeles. She continues to have a familial bond with Zack and Beau.
Esthero has appeared on the Chris Rock Show, Video on Trial, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Farmclub with the Black Eyed Peas. She has also contributed songs to the films Go, Love & Basketball, I Think I Love My Wife and Down With Love, as well as the video game 007: Nightfire. Her song "Wikked Lil' Grrrls" has also appeared in the film Miss Congeniality 2 and in commercial spots for Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives, and also on the TV show Las Vegas and its soundtrack.
Recently, on her MySpace profile, she reported that she had left Warner Bros.
In January, 2008, she participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by Will.I.Am called Yes We Can.
In 2008, Esthero provided the voice of J.A.N.E. the spaceship on Kanye West's Glow in the Dark tour.
Esthero provides backing vocals on a track from Dangerous Muse's debut album and also makes her production debut on that track.









