The honey-voiced Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan has ascended from modest success in the U.S. and her native Nova Scotia to international stardom. Her music is accessible enough for the masses, yet serious enough to strike a strong chord w…

During her early career, the androgynous, smoky-voiced diva was best known as one half of the hugely successful pop duo the Eurythmics. However, after parting ways with her collaborator Dave Stewart in 1991, Lennox emerged as a successful and critica…

Melissa Etheridge made waves in 1988 as one of the few female rockers on the scene; in 1993, she made headlines by coming out as a lesbian. Etheridge's confessional lyrics and raspy voice earned her comparisons to Springsteen and Janis Joplin; she br…

First appearing on the scene in the mid 1980s, the Indigo Girls were the first lesbian alternative folk duo. Their drop-dead-gorgeous harmonies and uncompromising DIY aesthetic garnered many fans who normally wouldn't have been caught dead listening …

When young singer/pianist Norah Jones arrived in New York City from Texas, few expected that within a couple of years she'd be a chart-topping, MTV-friendly, press-besieged sensation. Yet she charmed listeners by the truckload with her 2002 Blue Not…

Singer/guitarist Bonnie Raitt emerged from the Cambridge, MA, coffeehouse scene with a soulful and sexy sound that mixed blues, folk, and rock. After almost two decades in near-obscurity, her impassioned breakthrough into the pop world--1989's NICK O…

Joni Mitchell emerged as a darling of the late 1960s folk scene as a lyrically gifted songwriter and honey-voiced golden girl. In the '70s, she went on to incorporate jazz and confessional pop-rock into her musical vision, ultimately creating a poeti…

With her hook-filled pop tunes, highly developed melodic sensibility, and pin-up girl looks, Sheryl Crow appealed to a wide audience in the 1990s. Garnering platinum albums, hit singles, and even the tacit approval of rock's old guard, Crow proved to…

Grammy-winner Shawn Colvin came up on the East Coast folk scene in the '80s, finally scoring a major label deal toward the end of that decade. Despite consistently strong work centered around her resilient voice and folk-rock songwriting, she didn't …

Rising from the ashes of the amusingly named rock band Y Kant Tori Read, Tori Amos debuted with LITTLE EARTHQUAKES in 1992, a stunning set of brutally honest and emotionally wrought songs that recalled Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush without being slavis…

With her pre-bop piano style, cool but sensual singing, and fortuitously photogenic looks, Diana Krall took the jazz world by storm in the late-'90s. By the turn of the century she was firmly established as one of the biggest sellers in jazz. Her 199…

Getting her start with Canadian bubblegum pop in the early-1990s, Alanis Morissette reinvented herself as an angst-ridden hippie/alternative rocker by the middle of the decade. The makeover paid off splendidly, as Morissette scored one of the best-se…

One of the most unpredictable and controversial artists to roil the 1990s, Irish siren Sinead O'Connor created a bold, emotional, and original style, in the process proving herself a first-rate writer--articulate, perceptive, and penetrating. She is…

This Athens band's initial mix of Velvet Underground strum, Byrds-like Rickenbacker jangle, and charismatically oblique singing, became the sound of the 1980s as legions of bands followed suit. But even as imitators codified R.E.M.'s approach into th…

Taking their cue from various country-music mavericks, jazz legends, and the Velvet Underground, the Cowboy Junkies were one of the pillars of the 1980s alternative rock scene. The Canadian quartet perfected an atmospheric, almost soporific brand of …

With his chiseled features and haunting croon, Chris Isaak appeared in the mid-1980s like a roots-rock Chet Baker. His hushed, romantic singing style perfectly complemented his songwriting, which blended the rockabilly/pop styles of Elvis Presley and…

U2's Bono was one of the few real rock heroes of the 1980s, leading the Irish band to international recognition with a charged, political approach to music. The band's early efforts brought a stadium-size presence to alt-rock, with Bono's expressive …

To some, the Englishman born under the name Gordon Sumner will always be known as the bassist, songwriter, and frontman of the Police. But Sting's mega-successful solo career from the 1980s into the 21st century may even overshadow his former band's …

b. 26 October 1963, Jamestown, New York, USA. Having originally sung in a church choir, Merchant joined the highly regarded 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 while studying at Jamestown Community College in New York. She would eventually leave that band over a …

Making endless shifts in personnel and style, Fleetwood Mac went from being one of the most original British blues bands of the 1960s--under the leadership of Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood--to becoming purveyors of a smooth, masterful L.A. pop aesth…