Emm Gryner was born on June 8, 1975, in Sarnia, Ontario, and is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She began learning piano at age four and later took up bass and guitar. After graduating from Fanshawe College's Music Industry Arts program in 1995, she won a nationwide songwriting contest with "Wisdom Bus" and used the prize money to record her debut album, The Original Leap Year. This attracted Mercury Records, who signed her for the release of Public (1998), which included the Canadian hit "Summerlong". Gryner was nominated for Best New Solo Artist at the 1999 Juno Awards. She joined David Bowie's band as a backup singer and keyboard player in 1999, performing with him at major venues including Glastonbury Festival and Saturday Night Live. In May 2013, she arranged and performed piano on astronaut Chris Hadfield's cover of "Space Oddity", filmed in space.
