Bright lights, big city was always the way with Audrianna Giovelli. She was born and raised in a small town outside of Florence, Italy, and had somehow found her way to England, only to be scooped up by agents within four months of arrival and thrown on a runway within six. She was quickly transformed into the picture perfect media pet and given everything she’d ever need: riches and friends and enemies and then some. Somewhere along the way, she met Marcus Ortiz, the fresh-faced Spaniard manager of Teller Talent, an on-the-rise agency located in the heart of London. The two came together and instantly made tabloid history with wild nights and ritzy dinners, the bills for which were enough to make the London locals’ head spin. Their whirlwind romance was doomed from the start, so everyone seemed to think, but the two stuck together somehow and developed a bit of an empire. And two little heirs, to boot.

After a son was born in 1985, along came Valentina. Though labor was difficult and birth caused problems that left Audrianna swearing up and down she’d never get pregnant again, the struggles of October 22, 1988 were well worth it when Valentina Sofia Ortiz came into the world. Daddy’s little princess from the get go, Valentina developed her father’s Latin fire and her mother’s beauty, using both to her advantage as often as she possibly could. By the time she was four or five, she’d had her face plastered all over every magazine and been in countless photoshoots at her mother’s side. The UK knew her face and who she was, while she herself was just starting to learn.

Valentina was eight when her parents finally gave in to her countless requests for vocal lessons. She came out singing, so she was told, and the urge to further her interest in music only grew as she went through school and found no desire to play sports or work on crafts with the other kids. She was classically trained, finding a peculiar interest in opera developing, which was an expensive taste to acquire but one that, luckily, her family afforded her. Though her tastes were well-defined and she was mystified with the experience of attending opera performances, she quieted and went to her room to write tunes of her own, less-classic variety when she was only a small girl with a mind full of tweenage worries and silly thoughts.

Somehow, that writing became something of an outlet for her. And somehow, she got pretty damn good at it. With lessons still backing her up and her writing staying mainly to the side, she shared her words and her music with only a select few until a friend of hers suggested that she give a taste of her talents to the world. The suggestion was written off as a crazy one but eventually spawned the creation of The Family Jewels. It was an album she was proud of, one that she didn’t take too seriously but felt, through and through. If they like it, they like it, and if not, not sweat. And yeah, they definitely liked it.

Valentina started her cycle of shows around the London area shortly before the official release of her first album in early 2010. Taking a nod from what she’d been trained to love, Val made it her mission to give her fans the kind of pomp and circumstance show that she found in the opera, on a more accessible and relatable scale. And thus, with her quirky nature and theatric dance, Valentina & the Heartbreakers became the persona that she lived, and lived fully.