Skyelett Amilia Sweetnam was born on May 5, 1988, in Bolton, Canada, a small town near Toronto. With no movie theaters or malls nearby, Skye grew up entertaining herself -- something she was eager to do. She took vocal and dance lessons, performed in school plays, shot self-portraits, filmed her own stop-action movies, learned guitar and piano, designed clothes, and drew cartoons. At age 9, in the midst of all this creative output, Skye wrote her first song. At 12, Skye inadvertently began on the road that would lead her to pop stardom. Skye's mother, meaning to enroll her daughter in a snowboarding camp, accidentally signed her up for "Popstar" camp. Skye went anyway, and kicked off the experience there with a rendition of Britney Spears' "Stronger." Upon hearing Skye's vocal abilities, the camp director encouraged her to cut a demo, which she did.

Another twist of fate moved Skye even closer to a music career. Her grandmother had her perform for friends in a local hair salon; one of the women in attendance had a brother who worked as an entertainment lawyer. After passing on Skye's demo to him, he in turn gave it to a manager, and it eventually ended up in the hands of James Robertson, a 21-year-old guitarist, bass player and keyboardist fresh out of college. Skye and Robertson became collaborators, jamming together in Robertson's parents' basement.

Skye's first single, "Billy S.," was the fruit of these sessions. The song, a riff on having to study Shakespeare in school (hence the title), became an instant success. It reached No. 1 on The Hit List, a Canadian preteen charts show. Having peaked in Canada, Skye began to make inroads south of the border. She made her American television debut on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn in June of 2003. A month later, "Billy S." could be heard in the Mandy Mooremovie How To Deal.

Skye was also chosen to sing the theme for Radio Free Roscoe, a television show on The N, the nighttime network for teens. She even made her acting debut on the show. In 2004, Skye's profile increased even further when she went on tour as Britney Spears' opening act -- only three years after singing along to Britney's songs at Popstar camp. Skye toured Europe and North America, although her travels were cut short by a bout of the flu in Germany and a cancellation of some of Spears' tour.

Skye made up for the rough patches in her tour by releasing her long-delayed debut album, Noise from the Basement. In addition to "Billy S.," highlights included the songs "Tangled Up in Me" and "Number One." Skye takes pride in the fact that she wrote or co-wrote all but one of Noise from the Basement's songs, and that none are overmixed or otherwise excessively enhanced: "Everything you hear is really just straight from the heart," Skye says, "the energy we were feeling when we were creating a song is exactly what's on there."

After Noise from the Basement was released in September of 2004, Skye went on the road again, this time with singer-songwriter Ryan Cabrera