China Forbes

China Forbes (born April 29, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Pink Martini.

Forbes was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father is American of French/Scottish descent, and her mother is African American. She attended Phillips Exeter Academy ('88), then studied visual arts at Harvard University, where she met fellow student Thomas Lauderdale, a classically-trained pianist. They became friends and met regularly to play music together.

After graduating from Harvard in 1992, where she won the Jonathan Levy Prize for acting, Forbes worked as an actress for several years, performing off-Broadway in New York. She then became a musician, forming a band and recording a solo album. She sang the title song ("Ordinary Girl") for the late 1990s television series Clueless and the version of "Que Sera Sera" used over the opening and closing credits of Jane Campion's 2003 film In the Cut.

Lauderdale, who by then was living in Portland, Oregon, asked her to sing with Pink Martini, a band he had assembled to play at political fundraisers in Portland. After three years, she moved to Portland in 1998 to work full-time with the band.

Apart from her efforts with Pink Martini, Forbes has released two solo albums:

• Love Handle (1995)
• 78 (2008, Heinz Records)

China is featured on Michael Feinstein's album The Sinatra Project, singing a duet of “How Will It Last?”

It was announced at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, CA, on New Year's Eve 2008, that China was expecting her first child. Her child, named Cameron, was born soon after.

On June 21, 2011 Pink Martini announced that China was taking an extended leave of absence from performing for at least one year to undergo surgery on her vocal cords. Guest vocalists were scheduled to fill in for China during her absence. Forbes is thanked in the liner notes to 1969, the band's collaboration with Japanese vocalist Saori Yuki.

Currently Forbes is sharing Pink Martini responsibilities with Storm Large, who was a guest vocalist during her leave of absence, each doing about half the tour schedule.

China Forbes is a cousin of Democratic U.S. Senator, John Kerry.