Brandi Carlile was born on June 1, 1981 in Ravensdale, Washington. She started playing guitar and writing songs since she was fifteen. At the age sixteen, she began performing as a backup singer for an Elvis Presley impersonator. Brandi continued pursuing her career as a singer, performing at Seattle's local clubs such as The Crocodile, Tractor Tavern, and Paragon along with twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth. She also sold her self-released record to those coming to her shows.

In 2003, Brandi's talent was spotted by Dave Matthews when he heard her band performing at Sasquatch! Music Festival. The next year, she was signed to Columbia Records and released self-titled album "Brandi Carlile" in 2005. She had toured as a headliner and supporting act for other artists including Ray LaMontagne, Johnny Lang, Hanson, Indigo Girls, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos and Shawn Colvin by the end of 2006.

Brandi came out with a sophomore set called "The Story" in 2007. Three of the album's singles, "Tragedy", "What Can I Say", and "Throw it All Away", were featured in an episode of "Grey's Anatomy" and it helped boost sales and downloads of the album which sold more than 6,000 copies to date.

Brandi performed in U.K. for the very first time in November 2007. She then served as a special guest on five of Newton Faulkner's U.K. dates and flew to Australia with Maroon 5 and OneRepublic for a tour. Brandi returns with a third studio album 'Give Up the Ghost" on October 6, 2009. She joins forces with Elton John on a song called "Caroline".