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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963 in Jamestown, New York, USA) is a versatile professional musician.
Merchant co-founded and fronted the successful band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 (see 1981 in music), but left the band in 1993 (see 1993 in music) commencing a successful solo career. (She has been referred to as "the Poet Laureate of pop", or "the Emily Dickinson of pop".) Her debut solo album Tigerlily (1995) had three top-40 singles: "Carnival", "Jealousy", and "Wonder". In 1997, she first performed "Planctus," a song for voice and piano written for her by Philip Glass. In 1998, Merchant released Ophelia, supported by co-headlining Lilith Fair and the following year released Live in Concert.
In 2001, Merchant released her most critically acclaimed album, Motherland, and went on an extensive tour of North America and Europe. She parted ways with Elektra Records in 2003 and released a folk album of traditional songs called The House Carpenter's Daughter in September of that year on Myth America records; her own label. Merchant plays the piano, has produced and has written almost all of her songs.
Merchant has sung alongside Michael Stipe and David Byrne. She has also collaborated with Billy Bragg a number of times, including the 1998 album Mermaid Avenue. Like Bragg, her work touches on social and political themes and she has been active in raising a number of campaigning issues in both her songs and through the causes to which she lends her name. Her website (that she has kept current) features a links section including one for The Nation, which continues to present some indication of her political relevance.
She is married and has a daughter.
