By Antonia Simigis

Playboy.com: You got a taste of the rock star lifestyle overseas when you were really young. Did you ever have any rabid international fans?

Nikka Costa: Yeah, as a kid I did. It was very bizarre. As a little girl I couldn't walk down the street -- if I went into a store they had to actually close the store because it was just mayhem outside. People would camp out outside my hotel -- crazy stuff like that.

PB: What was it like opening for the Police at the age of eight?

NC: That was cool! That was a trip. I was excited, because I really liked their record and I got to meet them afterward.

PB: Did you get stage fright? You were playing in a stadium.

NC: Well, I was kind of nervous because there were a lot of people there, but I just did my one song and hung out backstage. They couldn't really depend on me to do a whole show because I was only little. It was so long ago, it's like I was a different person anyway.

PB: What's been your craziest moment onstage?

NC: Um.... I ripped my pants once.

PB: How did that happen?

NC: I was doing a gig in Australia. I had these tight pants on, and my back was facing the audience. I was dancing and gyrating around, and suddenly my pants completely split open! I had to quickly jump around face forward because I only had a thong on. It was very funny, and I figured no one noticed, but afterward this guy came up to me as we were leaving and said [imitates Australian accent] "Aye, I saw ya split your pants!" I was like, "Aw, shit, they saw!" That was humiliating, but I just had to laugh it off.

PB: You gave a repeat performance at Sundance, when your pants slipped down far below the equator.

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WHO IS SHE?:

A fiery redhead with a fantastic voice, Nikka Costa is injecting her groove-filled blend of classic rock, funk and soul straight into the arm of Top 40 radio. It's a long time coming, too, because music's in her blood: Her father, Don Costa, produced Sixties legends and Rat Pack heavies including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr. and Paul Anka. And her godfather is Ol' Blue Eyes himself.

WHAT HAS SHE DONE?:

Nikka was a child star overseas long before she struck gold in the U.S. At five she recorded a duet with Don Ho; at eight she opened for the Police in Chile in front of a stadium crowd. American audiences took notice of a grown-up Nikka last summer when she lent Tommy Hilfiger her music for a commercial; the spot was so hot that it went into heavy rotation on MTV. A song on the Blow soundtrack followed, and Nikka's U.S. debut, Everybody Got Their Something, landed her the opening slot on Beck's European tour this summer.

WHY DO WE CARE?: