Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw (born 26 April 1981), formerly known as Caro Emerald and lately part of the music project The Jordan, is a Dutch pop and jazz singer who mainly performs in English. Active since 2007, she rose to prominence in 2009 with debut single, " Back It Up". Follow-up single " A Night Like This" topped charts in several countries, including her native Netherlands. The debut Caro Emerald album, '' Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor,'' was released on 29 January 2010. By August 2010, the album had spent its 30th week at number one in the Dutch album charts, setting an all-time record and beating

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's ''Thriller'' by one week. On 3 October 2010, Emerald was awarded the Dutch music prize

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

for Best Female Artist. In 2013 a second studio album was released titled '' The Shocking Miss Emerald''. The album entered at number one in the Dutch and

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album charts.

Early and personal life

Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw was born on 26 April 1981 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

to a Dutch father and an

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n mother. She started singing lessons at age 12 with James Gilloffo in Amsterdam and joined a girl vocal group, Les Elles, under his guidance. Following high school, she trained as a jazz vocalist at the Amsterdam Conservatory, graduating in 2005. In March 2014, Van der Leeuw gave birth to her first daughter. She gave birth to a second daughter in August 2017.

Career

2007–2008: Career beginnings

In early 2007, Dutch producer Jan van Wieringen invited Van der Leeuw to sing the vocal on a track he was producing with producer/songwriter David Schreurs. The song, " Back It Up", had been written by Schreurs and Canadian songwriter Vince Degiorgio and was based around a

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

beat created by Robin Veldman and Jan van Wieringen. Van der Leeuw's jazzy vocal was considered a "perfect match" for the new song. The demo was pitched to various publishers and labels but without result. The demo then reached public notice around the world online and radio stations started playing the song. Degiorgio, Schreurs, van Wieringen and Van der Leeuw realised their sound had potential and started working on a conceptual studio album with Van der Leeuw as "starring artist". Writing began in the summer of 2008 using the mix of "Back It Up", 1940s to 1950s jazz,

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, orchestral Latin, combined with infectious beats as a model. Adopting a sample based approach but with live instrumentation, the writing sessions drew from a wide range of influences including jazz organist Jackie Davis, exotica composer

Martin Denny Martin Denny (April 10, 1911 – March 2, 2005) was an American pianist, composer, and arranger. Known as the "father of exotica," he was a multi-instrumentalist and could play a number of percussion instruments. In a long career that saw him per ...

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king Perez Prado, 1920s to 1930s jazz, and Van der Leeuw's own vocal inspirations of

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Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

and

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

. Their usual method would be for Schreurs to create the ideas and backing tracks, and then get together with top line writer and lyricist Degiorgio to write the songs. Van der Leeuw co-wrote several songs on the album, and van Wieringen co-created the tracks for "The Other Woman" and "Dr Wanna Do". Schreurs and Degiorgio are credited as "Creative Directors".

2009–2012: ''Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor''

After record labels either refused or failed to sign the project, Schreurs set up their own label, Grandmono. "Back It Up" was released as debut single on 6 July 2009. The song gained airplay and popularity overnight and listed in the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...

for 12 weeks, peaking at No. 12. It became the most played song on 3FM in 2009. Emerald's debut album, '' Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor,'' was released on 28 January 2010 in The Netherlands by Grandmono. It entered at #1 in the Album Charts and stayed there for weeks. By August 2010, the album had been #1 for 27 weeks, beating

's chart record for '' Thriller'' (26 weeks #1 in 1983). The album returned to #1, spending a total of 30 non-consecutive weeks on top spot of the Dutch Albums Chart. The album reached double platinum (>100,000 copies) status in the Netherlands on 5 July 2010. It reached triple platinum in August 2010, four times platinum (200,000) in November 2010, and sextuple platinum (>300,000 copies) in December 2011. ''Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor'' was removed from the Dutch charts after 104 weeks due to a rule providing albums can't spend >2 years on the charts. Upon re-entry, the album climbed back to #8. The album's second single, " A Night Like This", was released in December 2009. It was listed in the Dutch Charts for 26 weeks peaking at #1 in January 2010. It was the most played song in The Netherlands in 2010. In 2011, ''Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor'' was released throughout Europe with great commercial success. It became a hit in the UK (1× platinum with sales exceeding 360,000, 8 weeks top 10 peaking at No. 4), Germany (1× platinum with sales exceeding 280,000, peaking at No. 5 and Platinum single for "A Night Like This" with sales exceeding 340,000), Poland (6× platinum with sales exceeding 60,000), Italy (Gold Single for "Back it Up"), and Austria (No. 1 with "A Night Like This"). In the UK, all six singles and the entire album were A-listed by BBC Radio 2. Over 1,400,000 albums have been sold in Europe. The cinematic sound of the project resulted in frequent use in TV series, movies and advertising. Selected credits include '' The Playboy Club'', a brand campaign by Martini, '' 2 Days in New York'', '' The Secret Circle'', Wind Mobile, ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' Agent Carter'', Nestlé, Ferrero Rocher, Wrigley and Disney Nature film ''

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''. Due to its exceptional success, the album was included in an episode of the Dutch version of '' Classic Albums'' in April 2012. On New Year's Eve 2011, Caro appeared on Jools Holland's ''

Hootenanny A hootenanny is a freewheeling, improvisatory musical event in the United States, often incorporating audience members in performances. It is particularly associated with folk music. Etymology Meanings Hootenanny is an Appalachian colloquialism ...

.'' In January 2011, Emerald won the Popprijs 2010 for Best Dutch Pop Act of 2010. In early 2012, Emerald won a

Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show was usually held in early February in Hamburg, but also took place in Berlin on occasion. It has been paused ...

for Best Musik International and an

Echo Award Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and was set up to honor ...

for Best Newcomer International.

2013–2014: ''The Shocking Miss Emerald''

In April 2013, the second Caro Emerald studio album '' The Shocking Miss Emerald'' was released. It included the singles " Tangled Up" and " Liquid Lunch". The album went to #1 in the UK album chart. She performed in the UK at The BBC Radio Theatre; it was broadcast on

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and

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. On 29 June 2014, she played the opening music set on the pyramid stage at the Glastonbury Festival 2014.

2015–2020: ''Emerald Island''

In April 2015, Emerald released a single, "

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". In March 2017, Emerald released an

exotica Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957 Mart ...

inspired EP, ''Emerald Island''. It was released to accompany the Emerald Island Tour. In June 2020, Emerald released "Wake Up Romeo," her first single in three years.

2022–present: The Jordan

On 23 August 2022, Van der Leeuw was revealed as the voice behind new act "The Jordan". Her debut album, ''Nowhere Near the Sky'', was released on February 10, 2023 via Cooking Vinyl. The first three singles from the album are "You Don't Even Know Me", "Dancing Naked in the Sun", and "The Room". According to the official Caro Emerald website, "As of 2022, the Caro Emerald project and live act are dormant and no longer active."

Awards

* 11 April 2010: 3FM Serious Talent Award * 15 April 2010: * 26 April 2010: De Eerste Prijs * 3 October 2010:

, Best Female Singer * MTV Europe Music Award, Best Dutch and Belgian Act * 12 January 2011: European Border Breakers Award 2011 * 15 January 2011: 3FM Mega Award 2010 * 15 January 2011: Popprijs 2010 * 3 March 2011: Zilveren Harp 2010 * 3 March 2011: Het Beste Nederlandse lied 2010 (Best Song of the Year 2010) * 14 March 2011: NPO 3FM, Best Album and Best Female Singer * 12 June 2011: TMF Award for Best Female Singer * 4 February 2012:

2012, Best Music International * March 2012: Echo Music Prize, Best International Newcomer

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

* (Caro Emerald) * (The Jordan)
Official Uvumi Profile

o
This is Vintage Now
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerald, Caro 1981 births Living people 21st-century Dutch singers Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni Dutch jazz singers Dutch women jazz singers Dutch pop singers Dutch people of Aruban descent Electro swing musicians English-language singers from the Netherlands Singers from Amsterdam 21st-century Dutch women singers MTV Europe Music Award winners