BIOGRAPHY
Polly Jean Harvey was born on October 9, 1969, and grew up on a sheep farm in Yeovil, England, where she learned guitar and saxophone as a child. She began performing professionally in 1988 with local band Automatic Dlamini, whose frontman John Parish became a long-term collaborator. In 1991 she formed the trio PJ Harvey, releasing Dry (1992) and Rid of Me (1993) before continuing as a solo artist. Her 1995 album To Bring You My Love was widely hailed as a masterpiece, and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000) became a major commercial success, earning her the first Mercury Prize given to a woman. She won the Mercury Prize again for Let England Shake (2011), making her the only two-time winner, and received an MBE for services to music in 2013. She has collaborated with artists including Thom Yorke, Nick Cave, Tricky and Josh Homme, and worked repeatedly with producer Flood.