Pixie Lott

According to 19-year-old Pixie Lott, her journey to “overnight” success has been a long, arduous slog. “I’ve been trying to get into the music business since I was 13,” says the British-born singer, a stockbrocker’s daughter from Essex. Her persistence, however, has clearly paid off: In the last year alone, Lott scored two U.K. number one singles, was nominated for three Brit Awards, and became bona fide gossip fodder. (Last year, the U.K. press widely broadcast Lott’s predilection for white underpants, which she flashed to the cameras while getting out of a car.) On her debut album, Turn It Up (Mercury), which was released in England last fall, Lott worked with the studio masterminds behind hits for Lady Gaga and Kylie Minogue to create state-of-the-art smashes which split the difference between Auto-Tune and show tune. (Lott, in fact, appeared in a 2003 stage production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.) But it wasn’t her musical-theater background that led Lott to her big break: At 14, she answered an ad in the U.K.’s The Stage newspaper seeking the “next hot diva.” Shortly thereafter, she met with record exec L.A. Reid in Los Angeles. “That moment changed everything,” she recalls. “I’d get to bunk off school to record demos in L.A. and New York!” Recently, Lott headlined the biannual Fendi O party in Paris—a platform for emerging artists. For the most part, Lott has had little trouble acclimating to her new life. “The paparazzi stuff is a little weird,” she admits. “I used to leave the house in my pajamas. I can’t do that anymore, but I’m not complaining!”

Photo: Pixie Lott in London, January 2010. All clothing: Fendi Spring/Summer 2010 collection. Hair Products: L’Oréal Professionnel, including Infinium 2. Styling: Beth Fenton/smiletoo. Hair: Samantha Hillerby/Streeters. Makeup: Hannah Murray/Julian Watson Agency. Manicure: Mike Pocock/Streeters. Retouching: Digital Light LTD. Special Thanks: Big Sky London and Gerard Naprous/The Devil’s Horsemen.