Caroline van der Leeuw

Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw (born 26 April 1981), formerly known as Caro Emerald and lately part of the music project The Jordan, is a Dutch pop and jazz singer who mainly performs in English. Active since 2007, she rose to prominence in 2009 with debut single, "Back It Up". Follow-up single "A Night Like This" topped charts in several countries, including her native Netherlands.

Her debut album, Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor, was released on 29 January 2010. By August 2010, the album had spent its 30th week at number one in the Dutch album charts, setting an all-time record and beating Michael Jackson's Thriller by one week. On 3 October 2010, Emerald was awarded the Dutch music prize Edison Award for Best Female Artist. In 2013 a second studio album was released titled The Shocking Miss Emerald. The album entered at number one in the Dutch and United Kingdom album charts.

Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw was born on 26 April 1981 in Amsterdam to a Dutch father and an Aruban mother. She started singing lessons at age 12 with James Gilloffo in Amsterdam and joined a girl vocal group, Les Elles, under his guidance. Following high school, she trained as a jazz vocalist at the Amsterdam Conservatory, graduating in 2005.

In March 2014, Van der Leeuw gave birth to her first daughter. She gave birth to a second daughter in August 2017.

In early 2007, Dutch producer Jan van Wieringen invited Van der Leeuw to sing the vocal on a track he was producing with producer/songwriter David Schreurs. The song, "Back It Up", had been written by Schreurs and Canadian songwriter Vince Degiorgio and was based around a hip-hop beat created by Robin Veldman and Jan van Wieringen. Van der Leeuw's jazzy vocal was considered a "perfect match" for the new song.

The demo was pitched to various publishers and labels but without result. The demo then reached public notice around the world online and radio stations started playing the song.^{[citation needed]}

Degiorgio, Schreurs, van Wieringen and Van der Leeuw realised their sound had potential and started working on a conceptual studio album with Van der Leeuw as "starring artist". Writing began in the summer of 2008 using the mix of "Back It Up", 1940s to 1950s jazz, easy listening, orchestral Latin, combined with infectious beats as a model. Adopting a sample based approach but with live instrumentation, the writing sessions drew from a wide range of influences including jazz organist Jackie Davis, exotica composer Martin Denny, mambo king Perez Prado, 1920s to 1930s jazz, and Van der Leeuw's own vocal inspirations of The Andrews Sisters, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. Their usual method would be for Schreurs to create the ideas and backing tracks, and then get together with top line writer and lyricist Degiorgio to write the songs. Van der Leeuw co-wrote several songs on the album, and van Wieringen co-created the tracks for "The Other Woman" and "Dr Wanna Do". Schreurs and Degiorgio are credited as "Creative Directors".

After record labels either refused or failed to sign the project, Schreurs set up their own label, Grandmono. "Back It Up" was released as debut single on 6 July 2009. The song gained airplay and popularity overnight and listed in the Dutch Top 40 for 12 weeks, peaking at No. 12. It became the most played song on 3FM in 2009.