Singer Nicole Scherzinger was born in Hawaii in 1978. She first made a name for herself as a contestant on the WB reality series Popstars, which propelled the young singer to lead vocals for the all-girls band Eden's Crush. In 2003,she stepped as the front-woman for the group the Pussycat Dolls. Since leaving the band in 2009, Scherzinger has enjoyed continued success, in the recording studio and as a judge on The X Factor.
Nicole Scherzinger was born Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 29, 1978. Scherzinger, whose parents separated when she was an infant, moved with her mother, Rosemary, and her stepfather, George Scherzinger, to Louisville, Kentucky, when she was 6 years old. She would spend the rest of her childhood there.
As she later recalled, Scherzinger's life took a dramatic turn not long after moving, when she was given a cassette tape of Whitney Houston. After listening to the songs, Scherzinger says she knew immediately she wanted to be a singer. "My parents had no money, but they got me this player and Whitney's album," she recalled. "That was it for me. From that moment on I wanted to sing. Her voice was so powerful; every note she sang just felt like the truth."
After that, Scherzinger made performance a focus of her life. She eventually attended a performing arts high school and later enrolled at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, where she studied theater and dance.
