Two months ago she was entertaining punters at the Naked Turtle pub in Richmond, south-west London, where she played the piano and waited on tables for £6 an hour. Those days are long gone now. Victoria Hart has hung up her apron after signing a £1.5 million record deal for her first album, Whatever Happened To Romance?, which was released this week.
The 18-year-old jazz chanteuse took to the makeshift stage in HMV's flagship store in London to perform with her band at the album's launch, marking the latest milestone in her sky-rocketing career. "My life has gone upside-down," she says. "I can't believe it. It's mental really."
Since she was plucked from obscurity to sing for George Clooney and Brad Pitt at a boat party in Cannes her feet have hardly touched the ground. She was barely back on dry land before a bidding war broke out between record companies, and her phone hasn't stopped ring with requests for interviews and TV appearances.
Born in California, as a child Victoria lived with her family in various places in the UK, including Essex, before they finally settled in the south of France. Her parents now live in New York but Victoria returned to the UK, where she started taking singing lessons. "I came here to follow my dream," she says. "I was just trying my luck really."
The gamble paid off. With music pundits praising her original, Forties-inspired style and record executives from the US keen to sign her up, the pretty blonde's luck looks very good indeed.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
