Born April 27, 1976, in Glasgow, Scotland, Campbell studied classical cello as an adolescent. At the age of 19, she met aspiring singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch at a New Year's party, and although their romance proved brief, she nevertheless agreed to participate in a planned recording session sponsored by Stow College's Music Business Administration curriculum. Dubbed Belle & Sebastian in honor of a beloved children's book and attendant animated series, the group issued just 1,000 copies of its 1996 debut LP, Tigermilk. Its shimmering, literate folk-pop immediately earned a worldwide cult following that further expanded with the release of If You're Feeling Sinister later that same year.

On 1998's The Boy with the Arab Strap, Campbell delivered her first lead vocal, "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" With her ethereal voice and striking, Jean Seberg-inspired looks, it was inevitable that she earned much attention from fans and media alike, and in the spring of 1999 she released her first full-length solo project, the Gentle Waves' The Green Fields of Foreverland.... A second and final Gentle Waves release, Swansong for You, followed a year later, but Campbell nevertheless remained a full-time member of Belle & Sebastian through mid-2002, co-writing the Top 20 U.K. hit "Legal Man" before finally exiting just prior to the release of Ghost of Yesterday, a collection of Billie Holiday covers recorded in collaboration with jazz musician Bill Wells.

After 2003's Amorino, Campbell kept a low profile for several years, finally resurfacing in the spring of 2006 with Ballad of the Broken Seas, a collection of duets with former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan. The two again collaborated on 2008's Sunday at Devil Dirt and 2010's Hawk. ~ Jason Ankeny