Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi) (born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the United Kingdom in 2006. She competed under the name Vanessa Vanakorn (Thai: วาเนสซ่า วรรณกร; her father's surname) for Thailand in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was initially banned from skiing because a qualifying race for her benefit was alleged to be corrupt, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport later nullified the ban, citing lack of evidence for her own wrongdoing or any manipulation. The International Ski Federation later had to issue an apology to her.
Vanessa-Mae was born on 27 October 1978 in Singapore, to a Singaporean mother Pamela Soei Luang Tan and Thai father Vorapong Vanakorn. After adoption by a British father, she moved to London at the age of 4 where she began playing the violin, having already started the piano in Singapore. At the age of eight Vanessa-Mae embarked upon an intensive period of study with Professor Lin Yao Ji at the National Conservatoire of Music in Beijing. Vanessa-Mae returned to London and entered London's Royal College of Music.