Born in 1980 to a New Zealander father and a Scottish mother, Lucie Silverman spent her childhood years between her parents' native countries as well as England (where she had been born). Always interested in music, she had started playing the piano by age five and had written her first song by age ten. Years later, Silverman dropped out of high school to work as a background singer for ex-Take That singer Gary Barlow, and in 2000 she signed to then-EMI imprint Chrysalis Records. Her debut single, "It's Too Late," failed to make a significant showing on the British charts, however, and Lucie (who was now going by the name Lucie Silvas) was dropped from the label before an album ever came out.