It was from her very childhood that Gabriella Cilmi showed a great interest for a various panel of musical styles, amongst the artists by whom she was influenced there were great names such as Nina Simone, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, The Sweet, T.Rex and Cat Stevens. At the age of thirteen, Gabriella had already signed her first contract with a major record label, after she succeeded into drawing a musical producer's attention during her live interpretation of the song “Jumpin' Jack Flash” by Rolling Stones. Four year later, right after her debut album's official release - “Lessons To Be Learned” - the single “Sweet About Me” was aired all over the world and impressively climbed almost fifty positions in the UK Singles Chart in a matter of days! Her special voice and her unique way of playing were admired by the fans and critics, drawing her the resemblance with other artists such as Amy Winehouse, Anastacia or Macy Gray. Also, her voice drew other musicians' attention: Sugababes, Nouvelle Vague and James Blunt invited Gabriella to perform aside them in their UK tours. On July 9th, 2008, “Save The Lies”, the second single from her debut album, was exclusively released on the website of the famous British tabloid, The Sun.
At the beginning of 2009, Gabriella Cilmi performed in the opening of the grand finale of Australian Open 2009, and in March she participated alongside Kylie Minogue and Kings of Leon at the charity concert Sound Relief held in Melbourne, Australia, in front of over 80.000 people. After she previously performed at festivals such as T in the Park, V Festival or SXSW Music Conference and Festival, Gabriella Cilmi will also perform at this year B'ESTFEST's edition, on July 3rd.
Official site:
www.gabriellacilmi.com 
