Music Throughout the Ages

Women express themselves in many ways from the clothes they wear to animated conversations, by eye contact and variations within their voice ranging from low to high pitch screams. They may give you a playful punch in the arm if they like you or a soft kiss if they love you. But some women are fortunate enough to have a special way of communicating: those who are talented songwriters and vocalists. These women get to express themselves through music and share their emotions with the rest of the world.

Share Their World

Mary J. Blige

In 1988, Mary J. Blige recorded an impromptu cover of Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture” at a recording booth in a local mall. Her mother’s boyfriend at the time later played the cassette for Jeff Redd, a recording artist and A&R runner for Uptown Records. Redd then sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Andre Harrell. Harrell met with Blige and, in 1989, she was signed to the label; becoming the company’s youngest and first female artist.

Production for Blige’s debut album began in 1991, with Sean “Puffy” Combs (at the time a fledgling A&R executive at Uptown) largely overseeing the project. On July 28, 1992, Uptown Records released What’s the 411?. “You Remind Me”, the album’s lead-off single, peaked at 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the R&B singles chart that summer. The second single, “Real Love”, was released in the fall. It too topped the R&B singles chart, and became Blige’s first top ten Hot 100 single, peaking at number seven. Both singles were also certified Gold. Singles followed into 1993, including “Reminisce”, a cover of Rufus’s “Sweet Thing”, and “Love No Limit”. By the end of the year, What’s the 411? had sold three million copies.

On November 29, 1994, Uptown Records released Blige’s second album, My Life. Darker, moodier, and slightly less uptempo than its predecessor — the set was again overseen by Combs (despite his having recently left the label), who co-produced all but one of the albums tracks, and took over as Blige’s manager. Unlike What’s the 411?, Blige co-wrote a large body of the material, basing it on her personal life. In early 1995, she covered Rose Royce’s 1976 hit “I’m Going Down”, which became her first top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 12.

Also in 1995, Blige involved herself in several outside projects; recording a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” for the soundtrack to the FOX series New York Undercover, and “Everyday It Rains” (co-written by R&B singer Faith Evans) for the soundtrack to the hip hop biopic, The Show. That summer she dueted with rapper Method Man on his song, “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By” (which sampled Marvin Gaye’s “You’re All I Need to Get By,” and for which she won a Grammy award.) Later in the year, she also recorded the Babyface-penned and produced “Not Gon’ Cry”, for the soundtrack to motion picture Waiting to Exhale. The platinum-selling single rose to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in early 1996, and became her biggest commercial hit at the time. Blige won her first Grammy Award – ‘Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group’ for her collaboration with Method Man.

In spite of its success and her growing fame, Blige later admitted that she was simultaneously dealing with long time bouts of drug addiction, alcoholism, and depression, as well as an abusive relationship with then-boyfriend K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci.

On April 22, 1997, MCA Records (parent company to Uptown Records, which was in the process of being dismantled) released Blige’s third album, Share My World. By now, she and Combs had dissolved their working relationship. Share My World debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart and spawned five hit singles: “Love Is All We Need” (featuring Nas), “I Can Love You” (featuring Lil’ Kim), “Everything”, “Missing You” (UK only) and “Seven Days.” The album became Blige’s most commercially successful; certified quadruple platinum in the United States and selling over five million worldwide. In early 1998, Blige won an American Music Award for “Favorite Soul/R&B Album.” That summer she embarked on the Share My World Tour, which resulted in a Gold-certified live album released later that year, simply titled The Tour. The album spawned one single, “Misty Blue.”

On August 17, 1999, Blige’s fourth album, titled Mary was released. It marked a departure from her more familiar hip hop-oriented sound; this set featured a more earthy, whimsical, and adult contemporary-tinged collection of songs, reminiscent of 1970s to early 1980s soul. Also featured on the album were high-profile guests, including: Aretha Franklin (who duetted with her on “Don’t Waste Your Time”), Elton John (who played keys on “Deep Inside” (which featured a sample of his ’70s-era hit “Bennie and the Jets”), Eric Clapton (who played guitar on “Give Me You”), and Lauryn Hill (who wrote, produced, and sang background on “All That I Can Say.”) Blige also recorded a cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1976 hit “As” with George Michael, which is featured on the UK release of Mary, and also on the Australian release of his greatest hits album Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael.

On August 28, 2001, MCA released Blige’s fifth studio album, No More Drama. The album’s first single, “Family Affair” (produced by Dr. Dre) became her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for six consecutive weeks. It was followed two further hit singles, the European only single “Dance for Me” featuring Common and the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced title track (originally recorded for the Mary album), which sampled “Nadia’s Theme”, the piano-driven theme song to the daytime drama The Young and the Restless.

The album was re-released on January 29, 2002. The No More Drama re-release featured a new album cover, deleted three of the songs from the original track listing, while adding two brand-new songs—one of which was the fourth single and top twenty Hot 100 hit “Rainy Dayz”, (featuring Ja Rule), plus two remixes; one of the title track, serviced by Puff Daddy and the single version of “Dance for Me” featuring Common. The album sold another million-plus units in the U.S. and five million worldwide. Blige won a Grammy for ‘Best Female R&B Vocal Performance’ for the song “He Think I Don’t Know.”

On August 26, 2003, Blige’s sixth album Love & Life was released on Geffen Records (which had absorbed MCA Records.) Blige heavily collaborated with her one-time producer Sean Combs. Although the album was certified platinum, it became Blige’s lowest-selling and biggest commercial disappointment to date. Blige and Combs reportedly struggled and clashed during the making of this album, and again parted ways upon the completion of it.

Blige’s seventh studio album, The Breakthrough, was released in December 2005. It debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Selling 727,000 copies in its first week, it became the biggest first-week sales for an R&B solo female artist in SoundScan history, the fifth largest first-week sales for a female artist, and the fourth largest debut of 2005. Since its release, The Breakthrough has sold over three million copies in the U.S and over seven million copies worldwide, becoming one of the five best-selling albums of 2006.

The lead-off single, “Be Without You”, peaked at number three on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, while peaking at number one on the R&B chart for a record-setting fifteen consecutive weeks; it remained on the chart for over sixteen months.  It became Blige’s longest charting single on the UK Singles Chart until “One” was released and remains her second longest charting single to date. The album produced three more singles including two more top five R&B hits—”Enough Cryin’”, which features Blige’s alter ego Brook-Lynn (as whom she appeared on the remix to Busta Rhymes’s “Touch It” in 2006), and “Take Me as I Am”, which samples Lonnie Liston Smith’s “A Garden of Peace”.

Blige’s duet with U2 on the cover of their 1992 hit, “One” gave Blige her biggest hit to date in the UK, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart eventually being certified one of the forty highest-selling singles of 2006. The success of The Breakthrough won Blige nine Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, two BET Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Soul Train Award. She also received eight Grammy Award nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards, the most of any artist that year. “Be Without You” was nominated for both “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year”. Blige won three: “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance”, “Best R&B Song” (both for “Be Without You”), and “Best R&B Album” for The Breakthrough. Blige completed a season sweep of the “big three” major music awards, having won the American Music Awards in November 2006, the Billboard Music Awards in December 2006, and the Grammy Awards in February 2007.

Blige’s eighth studio album, Growing Pains, was released on December 18, 2007, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It sold 629,000 copies in its first week, marking the third time since Nielsen SoundScan began collecting data in 1991 that two albums sold more than 600,000 copies in a week in the United States. In its second week, the album climbed to number one, making it Blige’s fourth number-one album.

In 2000, Blige began a relationship with record industry executive Martin Kendu Isaacs (known simply as “Kendu”), who is now her manager. Blige has also credited Isaacs for helping her overcome her addictions to drugs and alcohol. The two were married on December 7, 2003 in a small private ceremony at Blige’s home attended by 50 guests (none of whom were media).

Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Noel Hill is a Grammy Award-winning American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, producer, and film actress. Early in her career, she established her reputation in the hip-hop world as the lone female member of The Fugees. In 1998, Hill released the critically and commercially successful The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which sold over 423,000 copies in its first week and topped the Billboard R&B Album chart for 6 weeks.

The first single off the album was the rap song “Lost Ones” (US #27), released in Spring 1998. The second was “Doo Wop (That Thing)”; it debuted at number one in the United States in the summer of 1998; Other singles were “Ex-factor” (US #21) and “Everything Is Everything” (US #35), and the ballad “To Zion” dedicated to her then 1yr old son. At the 1999 Grammy Awards, Hill was nominated ten times and won five awards: Album of the Year (beating Madonna’s critically acclaimed album Ray of Light), Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. Lauryn Hill set a new records for ladies in the industry as she became the first lady to win 5 grammys in one night.

On July 21, 2001, Lauryn unveiled her highly-anticipated new material to a small crowd, for a taping of an MTV Unplugged special. The 2002 released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 album exhibited a new Hill, as she focused on the lyrics and the message she was spreading rather than the musical arrangements. “Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need”, she said during the concert. “I’ve just retired from the fantasy part.” Most of the songs featured only an acoustic guitar and her voice, somewhat raspy from rehearsal on the day before the recording. Hill used the set as an opportunity to give information on why she had been absent from the public for a period of time and what she had found while away. Critical reception was mixed, but the album received platinum status.

Despite Hill’s intentional departure from the media and celebrity, she continued to create commercially and critically successful music. Her song “Mystery of Iniquity” was nominated for a Grammy without promotion or radio airplay and used as an interpolation by hip-hop mega-producer Kanye West for his single “All Falls Down” (eventually recorded by Syleena Johnson).

Alanis Morissette

Alanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. MCA Records released Morissette’s debut album, Alanis, in Canada only in 1991, and Morissette co-wrote every track on the album with its producer, Leslie Howe. The dance-pop album went platinum, and its first single, “Too Hot”, reached the top twenty on the RPM singles chart. In 1992, she released her second album, Now Is the Time, a ballad-driven record that featured less glitzy production than Alanis and contained more thoughtful lyrics. With her two-album deal with MCA Canada complete, Morissette was left without a major label contract.

In 1993, after graduating from high school, Morissette moved from Ottawa to Toronto. Living alone for the first time in her life, she met with a number of songwriters, but the results frustrated her. A visit to Nashville a few months later also proved fruitless. In the hopes of meeting a collaborator, Morissette began making trips to Los Angeles and working with as many musicians as possible. During this time, she met producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, and within ten minutes of meeting each other, they had begun experimenting creatively. According to Morissette, Ballard was the first collaborator who encouraged her to express her emotions. The two wrote and recorded Morissette’s third album, Jagged Little Pill, and by the spring of 1995, she had signed a deal with Maverick Records.

Maverick Records released Jagged Little Pill internationally in 1995. The album was expected only to sell enough for Morissette to make a follow-up, but the situation changed quickly when a DJ from KROQ, an influential Los Angeles radio station began playing “You Oughta Know,” the album’s first single. The song instantly garnered attention for its scathing, explicit lyrics, and a subsequent music video went into heavy rotation on MTV and MuchMusic.

“All I Really Want” and “Hand In My Pocket” followed, but the fourth U.S. single, “Ironic”, became Morissette’s biggest hit. “You Learn” and “Head over Feet”, the fifth and sixth singles, respectively, kept Jagged Little Pill in the top twenty on the Billboard 200 albums chart for more than a year. According to the RIAA, Jagged Little Pill is the best-selling international debut album by a female artist, with more than fourteen million copies sold in the U.S.; it sold thirty million worldwide, making it the third biggest selling album by a female artist, and the biggest selling debut album of all time, even though it was actually her third album.

Morissette and the album won six Juno Awards in 1996: Album of the Year, Single of the Year (”You Oughta Know”), Female Vocalist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Best Rock Album. At the 1996 Grammy Awards, she won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song (both for “You Oughta Know”), Best Rock Album and Album of the Year. The video Jagged Little Pill, Live, which was co-directed by Morissette and chronicled the bulk of her tour, won a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Long Form.

She recorded the song “Uninvited” for the soundtrack to the 1998 film City of Angels. Although the track was never commercially released as a single, it received widespread radio airplay in the U.S. At the 1999 Grammy Awards, it won in the categories of Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and was nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Later in 1998, Morissette released her fourth album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which she wrote and produced with Glen Ballard. Most of the tracks, including “Would Not Come” and “Unsent”, challenged traditional song formulas: they included one-chord drone melodies and Morissette singing over letter-like prose texts; some songs lacked choruses or took a long time to reach them. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 469,000 copies—a record, at the time, for the highest first-week sales of an album by a female artist.

The album received positive reviews, including a four-star review from Rolling Stone. In Canada, it won the Juno Award for Best Album and was certified four times platinum. “Thank U”, the album’s only major international hit single, was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Morissette herself directed the videos for “Unsent” and “So Pure”, which won, respectively, the MuchMusic Video Award for Best Director and the Juno Award for Video of the Year. The “So Pure” video features actor Dash Mihok, with whom Morissette was in a relationship at the time.

Under Rug Swept debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually going platinum in Canada and selling one million copies in the U.S. It produced the hit single “Hands Clean,” which topped the Canadian Singles Chart and received substantial radio play; for her work on “Hands Clean” and “So Unsexy,” Morissette won a Juno Award for Producer of the Year. A second single, “Precious Illusions,” was released, but it did not garner significant success outside Canada or U.S. hot AC radio.

Morissette released her sixth studio album, So-Called Chaos, in May 2004. She wrote the songs on her own again, and co-produced the album with Tim Thorney and pop music producer John Shanks. Morissette released the greatest hits album Alanis Morissette: The Collection in late 2005. The lead single and only new track, a cover of Seal’s “Crazy,” was a U.S. adult top 40 and dance hit, but it achieved only minimal chart success elsewhere, as did the album.

A limited edition of The Collection features a DVD including a documentary with videos of two unreleased songs from Morissette’s 1996 Can’t Not Tour: “King of Intimation” and “Can’t Not.” (A reworked version of “Can’t Not” had also appeared on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.) The DVD also includes a ninety-second clip of the unreleased video for the single “Joining You.” Morissette contributed the song “Wunderkind” to the soundtrack of the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Morissette’s seventh studio album, Flavors of Entanglement, which was produced by Guy Sigsworth, was released in mid 2008. She has stated that in late 2008, she would embark on a North American headlining tour, but in the meantime she would be promoting the album internationally by performing at shows and festivals and making television and radio appearances. The album’s first single was “Underneath”, a video for which was submitted to the 2007 Elevate Film Festival, the purpose of which festival was to create documentaries, music videos, narratives and shorts regarding subjects to raise the level of human consciousness on the earth.

As of May 2008, Morissette was halfway through writing a memoir that will focus on women’s issues. It will have chapters on sexuality, beauty, relationships and work and was partially inspired by young women who regularly come up to her and tell her their stories of personal pain.

Sarah McLachlan

Sarah McLachlan was born on January 28, 1968, and adopted in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As a child, she took voice lessons, along with studies in classical piano and guitar. When she was 17 years old, and still a student at Queen Elizabeth High School, she fronted a short-lived rock band called The October Game.

The signing prompted McLachlan to move to Vancouver, British Columbia. There she recorded the first of her albums, Touch, in 1988, which received both critical and commercial success and included the hit song “Vox”. During this period she also contributed to an album by Moev, and embarked on her first national concert tour as an opening act for The Grapes of Wrath. Her 1991 album, Solace, was her mainstream breakthrough in Canada, spawning the hit singles “The Path of Thorns (Terms)” and “Into the Fire”. Solace also marked the beginning of her partnership with Pierre Marchand. Marchand and McLachlan have been collaborators ever since, with Marchand producing all of McLachlan’s albums and occasionally co-writing songs.

1994’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was an immediate smash hit in Canada. From her Nettwerk connection, her piano version of the song “Possession” was included on the first Due South soundtrack in 1996. Over the next two years, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy quietly became McLachlan’s international breakthrough as well, scaling the charts in a number of countries. Following the success from Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, McLachlan returned in 1997 with Surfacing, her best selling album to date. Earning her two Grammy awards and four Junos, the album has since sold over 11 million copies worldwide and brought her much international success. Still in the spotlight from the album, McLachlan launched the highly popular Lilith Fair tour which showcased female musicians in the late 1990s. Her song “Angel”– which was inspired by the fatal overdose of Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin– made sales skyrocket.

On July 29, a press release announced McLachlan would be releasing a new album October 17 titled Wintersong on Arista Records. Wintersong debuted at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 album chart the week ending November 4, 2006. It has peaked at #7 and has sold 759,162 copies in the US to date. For the week of December 5, 2006, it was the #1 album on iTunes. Worldwide the album has sold 1.1 million copies to date. It has been certified Platinum in the U.S and 2x Platinum in Canada. Wintersong was nominated for both a Grammy Award, in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category, as well as for a Juno Award, for Pop Album of the Year.

Through her career, she has also received many awards, primarily in recognition of her efforts in launching Lilith Fair. She was awarded the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Visionary Award in 1998 for advancing the careers of women in music. In 1999, she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada by then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in recognition of her successful recording career, her role in Lilith Fair, and the charitable donations she made to womens shelters across Canada. In 2001, she was inducted to the Order of British Columbia. As of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.