Marshall studied music extensively during her childhood, including at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. While performing on the Queen Street West bar scene in her teens, she met guitarist Jeff Healey, who was struck by her powerful voice and took her on tour. She was offered a record deal by Columbia Records in 1991, but chose to wait a few years before releasing her debut album.
She grew up in Toronto in a biracial family to a Caucasian father and a Black mother. In several of her songs, Marshall has reflected on her racial identity "as a woman who looks white but is also half-black".
From Wikipedia
