Naess was born in New York City and raised in London. She is the daughter of Filippa Kumlin D'Orey, a Swedish-Brazilian interior designer and Arne Næss, Jr., a Norwegian mountaineer and business magnate. She has an older brother, Chris, and a sister, Katinka, from that marriage. Naess was 7 years old when her parents divorced in 1982. She attended school in the Chelsea neighbourhood of London Read more...

At the age of 18, Naess moved to New York City to study music at New York University, she later switched her major, receiving a degree in anthropology. A resident of Greenwich Village, she began performing with her guitar at open mikes and was soon performing regularly in coffeehouses, bars and clubs like The Bitter End around Lower Manhattan, even busking at times. A friend, who was an intern at Read more...

Naess lives in New York City and frequently travels back to London. She was engaged to singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, the engagement ended in 2003.