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Harper Hart is a Canadian recording artist and singer-songwriter. Born in Ottawa she began performing at various events in Canada from the age of 12, at the age of 15 she was signed to RCA Records after being spotted at a karaoke contest.

1984-1998: Early life
Harper Marie Belle Hart was born on November 11, 1984 to parents Shain and Marie Hart in Ottawa, Canada. Hart was the second of two children with an older brother named Michael. She began attending a local Catholic elementary school where her tutors noted that she was excelling at music and performing. Encouraged by her drive for music Hart's parents encouraged her to learn to the play the piano, something that she excelled at and she began taking grade exams from the age of eight. When she was nine Hart performed at a local karaoke event in Ottawa during which she sang the Etta James song "I'd Rather Go Blind" to a standing ovation, that same night she was offered the opportunity to become a regular performer at the venue to which she agreed. Her mother restricted her to performing once a week as she didn't want to exploit her daughter, Hart's mother Marie later said "we were a small town family and we weren't looking for any kind of attention and so I really wanted to discourage her from taking the stage at such an early age but I didn't want to discourage her from pursuing her talent, it was tricky I was caught in the middle of trying to nourish talent and keep my daughter's interests at heart".

Hart's performances at the venue garnered huge public attention, she was interviewed by the Ottawa Citizen and appeared on the Canadian morning show cMornings where she performed another Etta James song "Something's Got a Hold on Me". She continued performing at the venue until she was 11 in 1996 she moved to a major venue in Canada titled Metropolis where she performed as part of a prestigious Jazz night. During this time Hart stated that she was approached by several record companies saying "my parents and I were getting approached by companies and record deals but they said I was too young, and I definitely was so I'm glad we didn't sign". When Hart was 13 in 1998 the Jazz group she had become part of titled "The Jazz Metropolis" went on tour, she visited locations from New York City to Seattle for four months.

When she returned she noted a hostility from her classmates and severe bullying then led her to be removed from school and she was at first home-schooled and then she was put into private school, Hart later discussed the bullying in an interview with MTV saying "I really didn't understand it, I kept myself to myself, I didn't bother people. I was never popular but when I went on tour with this Jazz band for a couple of months I returned and suddenly I was this big target. People started to hate my voice and I felt very demotivated to continue performing". It was at this time that she began writing music and composing on the piano. Hart would write poetry and then she would use this poetry for her music, most of her lyrics were autobiographical and she started recording them on a tape recorder.

1999-2001: Debut album and career beginnings
After numerous offers from record companies that Hart and her family had persistently rejected, they eventually met with an executive at RCA Records, they met with producers including Max Martin who all discussed the career opportunities for Hart. Aged 15 Hart was signed to RCA on a demo contract where she would recording semi-finished songs to see if she would be commercially viable. After matching her with dance producer Xenomania Hart moved to London in the United Kingdom where the majority of her debut album would be recorded. After they had spent around six weeks in the studio, Xenomania (real name Brian Higgins) suggested that RCA sign Hart to an album deal. Hart officially signed to the main list of RCA recording artists in July 1999. RCA were eager to release a single that would rival acts Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. They had decided to market Hart as a pop-country mix and had abandoned her recordings with Higgins for a debut single in favour of a song titled "Red" which was written by Hart and Robert John "Mutt" Lange who had become famed for his success with country singer Shania Twain.

"Red" was released as Hart's debut single on February 21, 2000. It was promoted through various internet conventions which were fairly modern for its time, and at the time Hart began a promotional tour across the United States which saw her perform on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Live with Kelly and Regis. The song quickly found success on US radio, performing well on mainstream, pop and country music stations. "Red" debuted at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 but a month later it topped the chart for four consecutive weeks. The song went on to become the 12th bestselling song of the year on the Billboard charts.