Paula Cole, 45, is an American singer-songwriter. Her single “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, and the following year she won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Cole was raised in Rockport, Massachusetts; her mother was an elementary school art teacher, and her father was a professor of biology and ecology at Salem State College and a polka musician. She attended Rockport High School, where she was president of her senior class and performed in school theatrical productions such as South Pacific. Cole then attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied jazz singing and improvisation. Cole got her first big professional break when she was invited to perform on Peter Gabriel‘s 1993-1994 Secret World Live tour.