Katrina Leskanich was born in Topeka, Kansas. Her father was a Colonel in the US Air Force and as a child she moved extensively round the world before settling in England in 1976.
In 1978, Katrina and her then-boyfriend Vince De La Cruz formed the cover band ‘Mama’s Cooking’, and in 1981 after some line-up changes, re-named themselves ‘The Waves’. The band had several international hits, including, most notably “Walking On Sunshine†in 1985. Other releases include “Sun Streetâ€, “Do You Want Cryingâ€, “Que te Quiero†and “That’s The Way†which reached No.16 in the USA.
In 1997, the band won the Eurovision Song Contest with “Love Shine A Lightâ€. The song went to No 3 and Katrina and the Waves performed an unprecedented four weeks running on the BBC1 TV show ‘Top Of The Pops’. Now a firm favourite on anything to do with Eurovision, Katrina is still touring and recording to this day.
