Emmylou Harris

Blessed with a crystalline voice, a remarkable gift for phrasing, and a restless creative spirit, few artists had as profound an impact on contemporary music as Emmylou Harris. She traveled a singular artistic path, proudly carrying the torch of "cosmic American music" passed down by her mentor, Gram Parsons, which made a profound mark on both country and rock. Beginning as a folk singer in New York City, Harris released her first album in 1970, only to see it disappear with the bankruptcy of her record label. But a year later, she was playing a folk club in Washington D.C. when Chris Hillman saw her perform, and he recommended her to his former bandmate Gram Parsons. Harris would contribute superb vocals to Parsons' solo albums, 1972's G.P. and 1974's Grievous Angel, and he would be her guide in country music until his death in September 1973. Harris moved on to a solo career with albums like 1977's Pieces of the Sky and Elite Hotel, and 1977's Luxury Liner, where she blended an abiding respect for country music's history with a passion and flair informed by rock. While Harris was a superb interpretive vocalist, she would later come into her own as a songwriter with 1985's ambitious concept album The Ballad of Sally Rose, and in 1987 she enjoyed a major critical and commercial success with Trio, a collaboration with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. With 1992's At the Ryman, Harris revitalized her muse with a superb acoustic session, and on 1995's Wrecking Ball, she teamed with producer Daniel Lanois to create a strikingly atmospheric set informed by alternative rock as much as country. Moving into the 2000s, Harris continued to explore her creative boundaries, keeping one foot in country while also finding inspiration in rock and alternative sounds. She also found time for collaborations with Mark Knopfler (2006's All the Roadrunning) and Rodney Crowell (2013's Old Yellow Moon and 2015's The Traveling Kind). With the exception of Neil Young -- not surprisingly an occasional collaborator -- no other mainstream star established a similarly large body of work as consistently iconoclastic, eclectic, or daring; even more than four decades into her career, Harris' latter-day music remained as heartfelt, visionary, and vital as her earliest recordings.

From 🇺🇸 United States