Charlene picked up her first guitar at the age of five. She played her first Open Mic night at the age of eight, and was a regular on the Open Mic circuit by the age of ten. Completely self-taught, she won admission to the legendary BRIT School of Performing Arts despite failing to have the minimum requirement of a GCSE in Music. Once at the BRIT School she stopped performing acoustically and started playing in a band called Retrospect. She restarted her solo performances in 2008.