Polly Jean Harvey was born in England on October 9th 1969. The daughter of a quarryman father and an artist mother, Polly Jean, or PJ as she is more commonly known, was raised on a sheep farm in Yeovil, Somerset. She learned to play a number of instruments as a child (including guitar, saxophone, and violin) and as a teenager played in several bands. After much procrastination and self-doubt regarding her future profession (she was torn for quite a while between her passion for music and her desire to become either a nurse or a vet) she eventually, at age 21, formed the band dubbed "PJ Harvey" with bassist Steve Vaughn and drummer Robert Ellis. The newly formed trio recorded their debut EP 'Dress' for very little money, but the demos were good enough to get them signed to British indie label Too Pure who released the EP in late 1991 (to enormous acclaim from the British music press.) PJ's first full-length record was released the following Spring, again to lavish praise from the music press. The album was released on the highly credible Island label in the US that same year.

Shortly after touring in support of the record PJ suffered what was very nearly a total nervous breakdown (due to the pressure of her new found acclaim, success, and the strains of touring.) Nevertheless, she recorded her second album 'Rid Of Me' with notorious alternative producer Steve Albini later that year. The record was released in 1993 and was her biggest success to date. After the tour for the album Polly Jean parted ways with the two other members of the band and ventured out alone for her next album, 1995's 'To Bring You My Love'. Yet another critical success upon its February 1995 release, Polly toured the album for the next year, then took 1996 off. She recorded her next album 'Is This Desire?' in late 1997. Its release in 1998 prompted speculation in the music press about her mental state, the album being a deeply disturbing, dark, and confusing work. Ever stoical about her private life, PJ refused (for the most part) to comment. Two years later, after living in New York City for much of 1999, she reunited with her former bandmates and recorded her fifth album 'Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea'. The record was released in 2000 and recieved, as per usual, much acclaim. It was a slightly more mainstream effort than her previous "difficult" works, but nevertheless was well recieved by both old fans and newcomers to her distinctive musical sound. She toured the album for most of 2001 and received the Mercury Music Prize (one of the highest honours in the British music industry) for it on September 12th. She accepted the award by telephone from Washington DC (where she was on tour at the time) and called recieving the award "a very strange end to a very strange 24 hours." (in reference to the terrorist attacks of the previous morning in Washington and New York.) In December 2001 PJ was named the Number 1 female rock star in history by Q magazine.
Singer Won the 2001 Mercury Music Prize for her album 'Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea'. Is friends with 'Captain Beefheart'. She says she phones him up when she needs advice. Recorded and released her first album ('Dry') at age 21. Wanted to be a vet growing up and was passionate about horses. Was voted No.1 female rock star in history in a readers poll in British rock magazine Q in 2001. Madonna came in at number 2. In addition to music Polly Jean Harvey also enjoys writing poetry, sculpting, and acting. She has said that if she ever stops making music she would like to try her hand at acting as a profession. Ranked #55 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll On June 8, 2004, she released her sixth album of all-original material, titled "Uh Huh Her." Holds a degree in sculpture and had her work exhibited in several galleries in the UK Favourite song is 'Tainted Love' by Soft Cell. Wrote a song for the late Jeff Buckley called 'Memphis'. It appears as a b-side on the 'Good Fortune' single. [Nov. 2000] Created a minor, indie scene style rumpus when she appeared topless on the front the NME - a set up parodied a few weeks later when Silverfish appeared, similarly misattired. Her song "The Desperate Kingdom of Love" -off her 2004 album "Uh Huh Her"- was used as title for an episode of One Tree Hill. Recorded an album with John Parish entitled "Dance Hall at Louse Point" [1996]