Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple Bio

Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart, known professionally as Fiona Apple, is an American singer-songwriter born on September 13, 1977, in New York City. She first drew widespread attention with her 1996 debut album Tidal and has built a reputation for emotionally direct lyrics set against piano-driven, jazz-influenced arrangements. All five of her studio albums have reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200, and as of 2021 she had sold over 15 million records worldwide.

Apple’s work has been classified as art pop, chamber pop, and alternative rock, and several of her records have been named among the greatest albums of all time. She has earned three Grammy Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and additional honors from Billboard and California music critics. Her catalog includes the studio albums Tidal, When the Pawn…, Extraordinary Machine, The Idler Wheel…, and Fetch the Bolt Cutters.

Early Life and Background

Fiona Apple was born Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart on September 13, 1977, in New York City. Her mother is singer Diane McAfee and her father is actor Brandon Maggart; the two met while performing in the Broadway musical Applause. Through her father, who is from Tennessee, Apple has Melungeon ancestry. Her maternal grandparents were dancer Millicent Green and big band vocalist Johnny McAfee, and her older sister Amber performs cabaret under the name Maude Maggart. Actor Garett Maggart is her half brother.

Apple spent her early years in Morningside Gardens in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, splitting time between her mother in New York and her father in Los Angeles. She attended the private Episcopal school St. Hilda’s and St. Hugh’s School and later enrolled at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, with periods of homeschooling in between. At home she studied piano and often transcribed guitar tablature into standard notation, later teaching herself jazz standards by artists such as Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, who became early influences.

Since childhood, Apple has spoken publicly about living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and anxiety, and she has been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder. At age twelve she was raped outside her family’s Harlem apartment, an experience she has discussed in interviews and that shaped her teenage years. The trauma contributed to an eating disorder and to her decision to relocate to Los Angeles during high school to live with her father.

Path to Music

Apple began writing songs when she was eight years old, drawing on the piano training she had received as a child. She composed material steadily through her early teens, building a catalog of original songs that would later form the basis of her debut record. Her parents’ careers in music and theater exposed her to professional performance from a young age, and she grew up around rehearsals, recordings, and stage work.

Apple was introduced to the music industry in 1994, when she gave a demo tape containing the songs “Never Is a Promise,” “Not One of Those Times,” and “He Takes a Taxi” to a friend who babysat for music publicist Kathryn Schenker. Schenker passed the recording to Sony Music executive Andy Slater, whose attention it quickly caught. Slater signed her to a record deal, launching her professional recording career at age sixteen.

Her first major single, “Criminal,” arrived in 1996 and brought her widespread notice after its controversial music video received heavy rotation on MTV. The success of that single and the album Tidal established her as a singular new voice in alternative pop, and it set the stage for a longer recording career that has continued across five studio albums.

Fiona Apple Career

Early Career (1994-2001)

Apple’s debut album, Tidal, was released in 1996 on Work Records and Columbia Records and drew largely on songs she had written during her teenage years. The record sold 2.7 million copies in the United States and was certified three times platinum by the RIAA. Its third single, “Criminal,” reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the Mark Romanek-directed music video became one of the most-played clips on MTV.

At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, Apple accepted the Best New Artist in a Video award for “Sleep to Dream” and used the moment to urge young viewers to resist peer pressure. She later canceled the final dates of her Tidal tour due to personal family matters. In 1997 she met film director Paul Thomas Anderson on a photoshoot, beginning a relationship that lasted until 2002.

Her second album, When the Pawn…, followed in 1999 and was produced by Jon Brion. The record, with its unusually long title poem, earned a spot in the Guinness Book of Records and was certified platinum after selling one million copies in the United States. The lead single “Fast as You Can” reached the top twenty on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart and became her first Top 40 hit in the United Kingdom.

Breakthrough (2002-2020)

For her third album, Extraordinary Machine, Apple initially collaborated again with Jon Brion beginning in 2002, recording at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville and the Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles. After the sessions were submitted, leaked versions spread online and a fan-led campaign pushed for an official release. Apple opted to re-record the album with producer Mike Elizondo, and the finished record was released in October 2005, debuting at number seven on the Billboard 200 and eventually earning gold certification.

Apple’s fourth studio album, The Idler Wheel…, arrived in June 2012 and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, her highest chart position at the time. Critics praised the record’s stark, percussion-driven sound, and it earned a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. While promoting the album, Apple discussed her marriage to French photographer Lionel Deluy, her struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and her decision to stop drinking.

In April 2020, Apple released her self-produced fifth studio album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, a thirteen-track collection recorded with a small band. The album was met with widespread critical acclaim and won Best Alternative Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, while its lead single “Shameika” won Best Rock Performance. Three of Apple’s albums appear on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

Notable Works and Milestones

Apple’s most celebrated releases include Tidal, which won the Grammy for Best Female Rock Performance and an MTV Video Music Award; When the Pawn…, which earned platinum certification; and Fetch the Bolt Cutters, which brought her two more Grammy Awards. Her songwriting, often written entirely on her own, has been recognized for its literary intensity and emotional candor, and her live performances remain a focal point of her career.

Fiona Apple Award Nominations

Across her career, Fiona Apple has received several major award nominations in recognition of her songwriting and recordings. Her work has been nominated at the Grammy Awards in categories spanning Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Performance, and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for her duet with Johnny Cash on “Bridge over Troubled Water.” Her albums and singles have also been cited by year-end critics’ lists and recognized by organizations including the Recording Industry Association of America.

Fiona Apple Awards Won

Apple has collected multiple competitive awards for her music and videos. Her debut single “Criminal” earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video for “Sleep to Dream.” For her second album, she won Outstanding Female Vocalist at the California Music Awards, and she later received an Esky Music Award for Best Songbird. Her fifth album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, won two Grammy Awards in 2021, for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Performance for “Shameika.”

Fiona Apple Family

Fiona Apple was raised in a creative family split between New York and Los Angeles. Her mother, Diane McAfee, is a singer, and her father, Brandon Maggart, is an actor whose stage work on Broadway included the musical Applause. Her older sister, Amber Maggart, performs cabaret under the stage name Maude Maggart, and her half-brother, Garett Maggart, is also an actor. Through her father, who is from Tennessee, she has Melungeon ancestry, and her maternal grandparents included dancer Millicent Green and big band vocalist Johnny McAfee.

Personal Life

Apple was in a relationship with film director Paul Thomas Anderson from 1997 to 2002. She later had a relationship with writer and television creator Jonathan Ames, and she was briefly married to French photographer Lionel Deluy. Apple has spoken openly about her struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and anxiety, and she has discussed how those experiences have shaped her music and her daily life. As of 2020 she resided in Los Angeles, California, and she has been active in social causes, including volunteering as a court watcher and supporting immigrant rights organizations through donations tied to her song catalog.