Jasmine van den Bogaerde, more commonly known as Birdy, is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She rose to stardom in 2011 for her cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love.”

Born in a small town in Hampshire, England, on May 15, 1996, Jasmine came from a musical family. Her mother is a concert pianist, which caused her to develop interest in the piano at a young age. By the age of seven, she had learned to play it, and a year later, she had begun writing her own songs.

In 2008, she entered the Open Mic UK contest. Performing her own song, entitled, “So Be Free,” she won, at the age of twelve. In 2011, she released her cover of Bon Iver’s, “Skinny Love.” The song charted well in the UK, and it shot her to stardom, at the age of 14. She later released a self-titled album of covers, including, “People Help the People,” by Cherry Ghost, “Shelter,” by The xx, “The A Team,” by Ed Sheeran, and her first hit, “Skinny Love.” All have since received millions of hits on YouTube.

In 2013, she released an album of original songs, entitled “Fire Within,” alluding to her passion for music. The album has 11 songs, including Wings, Words as Weapons, Light Me Up, and Heart of Gold, all of which have received a large amount of views on YouTube. She has contributed musical pieces to films such as The Hunger Games and The Fault in Our Stars.

On New Year’s Day of 2016, Jasmine released her first single from her third album, Beautiful Lies. The song was called, “Keeping Your Head Up,” and was a display of musical evolution for Jasmine. Both audibly and lyrically more upbeat, it took an inspirational route as opposed to the darker piano ballads she’s known for. “It’s about finding a light in the dark and having the strength to hold on to it and overcome the times when we feel completely lost,” she said. The album was released on March 25th, 2016.