Natalie Jane Appleton was born on May 14, 1973, in Mississauga, near Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She grew up with her elder sisters, Lori and Lee, and her younger sister, Nicole, in Toronto and New York before moving to Camden in London, England.

When she was 20, she was briefly married to male stripper Karl Robinson, with whom she had a daughter, Rachel. To make ends meet, Natalie sang in bars and worked as an aerobics instructor.

While she was attending the Sylvia Young Theatre School, Natalie met Melanie Blatt, who was forming a group, All Saints, along with leader Shaznay Lewis. Blatt invited Natalie to join, and Natalie, in turn, recruited her sister Nicole as well. 

However, the decision to join the band was not made lightly. Natalie was concerned about her daughter. In the end, her parents agreed to take care of Rachel while All Saints was establishing itself and, along the way, they reconciled their own troubled marriage.

Natalie's all saints era

In 1998, All Saints debuted with a self-titled album, which introduced the group as a smarter alternative to rival band the Spice Girls. 

All Saints won Brit Awards that same year for their single "Never Ever" and its accompanying video. However, a good beginning quickly fizzled when Melanie Blatt became pregnant, tour dates were canceled, and talk of the band breaking up loomed.

Nevertheless, All Saints returned in 2000 with a follow-up album called Saints and Sinners, after a few delays and title changes, and contributed the song "Pure Shores" to the movie The Beach (2000). 

Natalie appeared with her sister Nicole and Melanie Blatt in Honest, an All Saints vehicle, but the film was panned. The group's days were numbered; by the spring of 2001, the group had broken up, this time for good. 

Still, a compilation album, All Hits, was later released. It was at this time that Natalie decided to move on to other projects.

Appleton records fantasy

Immediately after the demise of All Saints, Natalie teamed up with her sister and bandmate Nicole. They formed a new group, calling themselves Appleton. Appleton recorded a single, "Fantasy" -- which peaked at No. 2 -- and was all set to release its debut album, Everything's Eventual. 

However, controversy struck again, this time with the release of the Appleton sisters' tell-all autobiography, and the public relations fallout forced Appleton's record company, Polydor, to push back the album's release. 

The aptly-named Everything's Eventual was finally released in early 2003, and it appeared in North America even later.

Natalie marries prodigy's liam howett

On the personal side, Natalie has had fewer setbacks. In June 2002, she remarried, this time to Prodigy's Liam Howlett. Her second shot at family life seems to be more successful, and in March 2004, Natalie gave birth to a second child, a son named Ace.

Credit: askmen.com