Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and actress. Her 2002 debut single "A Thousand Miles" spent 41 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and received three Grammy nominations, becoming her best-known song. It preceded her debut album "Be Not Nobody", released by A&M Records the same year, which reached number five on the Billboard 200. The album also produced the singles "Ordinary Day" and "Pretty Baby". Her second album, "Harmonium" (2004), also charted on the Billboard 200. Production issues during the album’s development contributed to her departure from A&M Records in 2005.
Carlton released her third album, "Heroes & Thieves" (2007), which had limited commercial performance but received positive critical reception. She independently produced her next two albums, "Rabbits on the Run" (2011) and "Liberman" (2015), both noted for their personal lyrical themes and a shift in musical style. Her sixth studio album, "Love Is an Art", was released in 2020. In 2025, Billboard ranked Carlton among the best female artists of the 21st century. She released her most recent album, "Veils", in 2026.
Outside of music, Carlton made her Broadway debut in a leading role in the Carole King musical "Beautiful" in 2019.
Carlton was born on August 16, 1980, in Milford, Pennsylvania, the first of three children of Edmund "Ed" Carlton, a private jet pilot, and Heidi Lee, a pianist and school music teacher who taught her piano from an early age. She has a sister, Gwen, and a brother, Edmund.
Her mother comes from a Jewish family in Queens, New York. Her maternal grandfather’s surname was originally "Liberman" before it was changed to "Lee" after World War II due to antisemitism. He worked as a painter and shopkeeper in New York.
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