Biography
Shelby Starner emerged as a teen pop prodigy after being born and raised in East Stroudsburg, PA. At age eleven she began composing her earliest songs, and two years later her demo reached Warner Bros., which promptly offered a recording contract in 1997. Her moody, sensitive debut LP From In the Shadows arrived in 1999. Although critics greeted the album favorably, From the Shadows failed to register commercially, so Starner headed into the studio with Red Hot Chili Peppers members to craft a more rock-oriented follow-up whose recordings ultimately went unreleased. Growing agitated with Warner, she sought to terminate the deal in 2000 and secure another label. Around the same period her mother received a breast cancer diagnosis, leading Starner to withdraw from music and center her attention on family. She soon entered treatment for bulimia and continued that care for the next two years until her body finally succumbed to the long-term effects of the condition, resulting in her death on June 22, 2003, only two months before she was scheduled to begin freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh.
Albums
