Qveen Herby

Following a seven-year run with the pop duo Karmin, vocalist Amy Noonan launched a solo career as Qveen Herby in 2017, embracing a rap-influenced R&B sound without abandoning her pop roots. Born in Seward, Nebraska, on April 29, 1986, she attended Berklee College of Music and formed Karmin with her future husband, Nick Noonan, following the pair's graduation. Karmin built a large following on YouTube, where the band posted unique covers of songs by Lil Wayne and Drake, then rose to national prominence with 2012's "Brokenhearted," a platinum-selling American single that peaked inside the Top 10 in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. Hits like "Hello" and "Acapella" followed. After releasing the sophomore album Leo Rising in 2016, the group took an indefinite hiatus and shifted its focus to Amy Noonan's solo career. She adopted the Qveen Herby stage name — a moniker that nodded to her longtime nickname, "Queen," as well as the "Herbie Husker" mascot of her hometown collegiate sports team, Nebraska Cornhuskers — and made her solo debut with 2017's EP 1. Featuring Nick Noonan's co-writing assistance on every track, the EP climbed to Number 31 on the Hip-Hop Albums chart. Qveen Herby continued releasing numbered EPs throughout the following three years. One month after issuing EP 9 in September 2020, she compiled a number of the previous records' individual tracks into a full-length vinyl album, Qveen Essentials.