La Roux

The daughter of actress Trudie Goodwin (June in the ITV show The Bill), Elly Jackson was surprisingly raised on folk music, but her tastes changed once she'd discovered music after becoming hooked into the rave scene. Her meeting with house musician fellow Londoner Ben Langmaid, an old schoolfriend of Rollo Armstrong of Faithless, changed her direction as they teamed up to write and perform together under the name Automan in 2006. After adopting the name La Roux, they embraced the influence and imagery of 1980s synth-pop and released the debut single Quicksand in 2008. Linked with Florence & the Machine and Little Boots as part of a resurgence of Brit pop girl power, they toured the UK supporting Lily Allen, had a hit with second single In For The Kill and went to Number 1 with their third, Bullet Proof. The success of their self-titled debut album, full of memorable tunes, confirmed their arrival as major players and won them a Grammy Award in 2011.