b. August 26, 1966 in Edinburgh, UK.

Starting out on the piano at age 7, she joined her boyfriend's band (Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie) at 16 as the keyboardist and on backup vocals, remaining with the band for a decade until it split up in 1992. She hopped through other bands for a while, then landed a position as the vocalist and face for Garbage in 1994.

Fun fact: her orange Fender Stratocaster is named 'Rita'.