Kd long

kd long (2008)

kd lang OC , AOE (* 2. November 1961 as Kathryn Dawn Lang in Edmonton , Alberta ) is a Canadian singer-songwriter , in the country - and in the Pop is equally at home range.

Life

Lang grew up in the village of Consort in the Canadian province of Alberta . When she was twelve years old, her father left the family; to this day he refuses to contact her. After graduating from high school, Lang moved to Edmonton to study music ; later she lived in Vancouver . She lived in Los Angeles for years before moving to Portland , Oregon in late March 2012 . Aside from her music, she attracted attention in 1990 when she was one of the first musicians of her time to be an openly lesbian , as she had before through her commitment to a vegetarian lifestyle . Lang is a practicing Buddhist .

Career and artistic work

The Canadian songwriter and musician, who lives in the USA, has a powerful alto voice . Reviewer Stephen Holden wrote in the New York Times 2004: "She balances her enthusiasm for the song material with humor, with which she draws a sparkling pleasure from behind it all."

Entry into the musical life in Canada

Lang developed a predilection for country music at an early age , but initially had no concrete ambitions. During her music studies she took part in a theater performance in which the singer Patsy Cline was portrayed. Since she was fascinated by the life story and the music of the country star, who died early, she decided to become a singer. With her musician friend Ben Mink, she founded the group Re-Clines named after her idol. In 1983 they produced a self-financed single. The album Friday Dance Promenade followed in the same year . With her next release, A Truly Western Experience , she had her breakthrough in the Canadian music market. In 1985 she received an award as Most Promising Female Vocalist .

Country music career in the USA

Lang gradually became known in the United States as well. In 1986 she signed a record deal with the Sire label in Nashville . Supervised by producer Dave Edmunds , she recorded the album Angel with a Lariat in the same year . It received good reviews from both the rock and country scenes and became a commercial success, particularly in Canada. The musician Roy Orbison chose her as a duet partner for the new recording of his hit Crying . For her second album Shadowland she persuaded Owen Bradley , the former producer of Patsy Cline, to work. The classic country style album, which featured several prominent guest stars, was awarded gold. One single reached a middle spot in the country charts. Another country album followed in 1989 with Absolute Torch and Twang . That same year she received a Grammy for best country singer. On 29 July 1988 she sang the final song Turn Me Round of the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary .

Career as a singer-songwriter

After a break of more than two years, Lang switched to the pop music camp. From the start, she insisted on using her official stage name in lower case on all releases. In a newspaper interview , she came out as a lesbian. She turned an animal welfare -Werbetrailer with which it is directed against factory farming turned.

In 1992 the album Ingénue was released , which sold over a million times and contained, among other things, their only chart hit in Germany, Constant Craving . She received another Grammy, this time for best pop singer. For the film Until the End of the World by Wim Wenders , she wrote the song Calling All Angels together with Jane Siberry in 1991 . In the same year she wrote the title track for the Percy Adlon film Salmonberries and played one of the two leading roles. In 1993 she contributed most of the songs for the soundtrack of the movie Even Cowgirls Get the Blues .

In 1997 the Rolling Stones took kd lang into the credits of their song together with their co-composer Ben Mink due to the similarity of the chorus of their song Anybody Seen My Baby to Lang's Constant Craving (1992) . The next productions, starting with All You Can Eat in 1995 , didn't sell as well. The title song of the album is an allusion to the unhealthy living and eating habits of contemporaries. With Drag , the artist delivered a concept album in 1997 which, among other things, revolved around tobacco consumption as a metaphor for the waves in life, self-determination and love experiences. Although she is a non-smoker herself, she fought against the foreign control of the way of life, which she does not like in her adopted home USA. It was boycotted by numerous US radio stations .

In the year 2000 she again presented self-written song material with Invincible Summer , this time with cheerful and cheerful tones. Her live album from 2001, Live by Request, showed her experimental side. It is based on a newly arranged recording of a radio program in which Lang played on the call and acclamation of the audience.

In 2004 the contract with Sire Records ran out. She switched to the small imprint label Nonesuch Records , where similar artist personalities such as B. David Byrne or Wilco are represented. There she is given extensive artistic freedom. This ranges from the design of the images on their CD covers to such far-reaching musical decisions as not using drums on the 2004 album. “I didn't want to use drums because they quickly assign a song to a genre.” Instead, she had Eumir Deodato work in string arrangements that gave the cover versions an unfamiliar face.

With the 2004 album Hymns of the 49th Parallel , the title of which alludes to the borderline between Canada and the USA along the 49th parallel , Lang realized a long-cherished idea. She wanted to "anchor a specifically Canadian songbook in the public consciousness". To do this, she selected a number of songs that are important to her and that come from Canadian songwriters such as Joni Mitchell , Neil Young and Leonard Cohen . The album also contains contemporary chansons by Bruce Cockburn , Jane Siberry, Ron Sexsmith , John Cale and pieces by herself. Hymns with a small acoustic ensemble (bass, guitar, piano) of musicians have also been recorded; she has worked with most of them for many years.

The play on words in the title of the 2006 album Reintarnation satirizes contemporaries' preference for big dreams such as reincarnation and tarnation (English for "defilement"). According to her, “reincarnation” means “Coming back to life as a Hillbilly ” (being reborn as Hillbilly).

In Brian De Palma's feature film The Black Dahlia (2006), she had a guest appearance as a singer in a lesbian bar. In the same year appeared in album of Madeleine Peyroux , Half the Perfect World , they are as a duet partner of American chansonniere the Joni Mitchell song "River" a new voice leading. In February 2008 kd released their tenth studio album Watershed .

At the opening ceremony of the XXI. At the 2010 Winter Olympics on February 12, 2010 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, she sang Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. On April 21, 2013, the media announced the induction of kd Lang into the Music Hall of Fame Canada at the celebration of the Juno Awards .

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1988	Shadowland	-	-	-	UK- silver UK	US73 gold (25 weeks)US	First published: April 26, 1988
1989	Absolute torch and twang	-	-	-	UK- silver UK	US69 gold (56 weeks)US	First published: May 23, 1989 with The Reclines
1992	Ingénue	DE91 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK3 platinum (54 weeks)UK	US18th × 2 Double platinum (90 weeks)US	First published: March 17, 1992
1993	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (OST)	-	-	-	UK36 (2 weeks) UK	US82 (14 weeks) US	First published: November 2, 1993
1995	All you can eat	-	-	-	UK7th silver (7 weeks)UK	US37 gold (20 weeks)US	First published: October 10, 1995
1997	Drag	-	-	-	UK19 (4 weeks) UK	US29 gold (16 weeks)US	First published: June 10, 1997
2000	Invincible Summer	-	-	-	UK17 (8 weeks) UK	US58 (11 weeks) US	First published: June 20, 2000
2002	A wonderful world	-	-	-	UK33 (3 weeks) UK	US41 gold (18 weeks)US	First published: November 2, 2002 with Tony Bennett
2004	Hymns of the 49th Parallel	-	-	-	UK91 silver (1 week)UK	US55 (13 weeks) US	First published: July 27, 2004
2008	Watershed	-	-	-	UK35 (4 weeks) UK	US8 (9 weeks) US	First published: February 5, 2008
2011	Sing It Loud	-	-	-	UK34 (3 weeks) UK	US32 (5 weeks) US	First published: April 1st, 2011 with The Siss Boom Bang
2016	case / lang / veirs	-	-	CH66 (1 week) CH	UK28 (1 week) UK	US33 (3 weeks) US	First published: June 17, 2016 with Neko Case & Laura Veirs

Compilations & live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2001	Live by request	-	-	-	-	US94 (5 weeks) US	First release: August 14, 2001 live album
2010	Recollection	DE74 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK68 (1 week) UK	US36 (8 weeks) US	First published: February 9, 2010 compilation
	Beautifully Combined: The Best Of	-	-	-	-	US42 (2 weeks) US	First published: February 2010 compilation

more publishments

• 1983: Friday Dance Promenade (with The Re-Clines)
• 1984: A Truly Western Experience (with The Re-Clines)
• 1987: Angel with a Lariat (with The Re-Clines)
• 2006: reincarnation

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1992	Constant Craving Ingénue	DE61 (10 weeks) DE	-	-	UK15 (12 weeks) UK	US38 (19 weeks) US	First published: February 1992
	Crying hiding out	-	-	-	UK13 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 1992 with Roy Orbison
	Miss Chatelaine Ingénue	-	-	-	UK68 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 1992
1993	The Mind of Love Ingénue	-	-	-	UK72 (1 week) UK	-	First published: April 1993
	Just Keep Me Moving Even Cowgirls Get the Blues	-	-	-	UK59 (1 week) UK	-	First published: December 1993
1995	If I Were You All You Can Eat	-	-	-	UK53 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 1995
	You're Ok All You Can Eat	-	-	-	UK44 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 1995
2000	Summerfling Invincible Summer	-	-	-	UK83 (1 week) UK	-	First published: July 2000
	The Consequences of Falling Invincible Summer	-	-	-	UK77 (1 week) UK	-	First published: October 2000
2010	Hallelujah Recollection	-	-	CH21 (2 weeks) CH	-	US61 (1 week) US	First published: February 2010

More singles

• 1983: Damned Old Dog
• 1987: Rose Garden
• 1988: I'm Down to My Last Cigarette
• 1988: Lock, Stock and Teardrops
• 1988: Sugar Moon
• 1988: Our Day Will Come
• 1989: Wallflower Waltz
• 1989: Trail of Broken Hearts
• 1994: Hush Sweet Lover
• 1999: Anywhere but Here
• 2007: I Dream of Spring

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Canada 1987: for the album Angel With a Lariat 1995: for the album All You Can Eat 2008: for the album Watershed Platinum record  Canada 1989: for the album Shadowland 1990: for the album Absolute Torch & Twang 2005: for the album Hymns of the 49th Parallel 2011: for the single Hallelujah Vancouver Winter 2010

2 × platinum record  Canada 1993: for the album Ingenue 2011: for the album Recollection

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Canada (MC)	-	3 × gold3	8 × platinum8th	880,000	musiccanada.com
United States (RIAA)	-	5 × gold5	2 × platinum2	4,500,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	4 × silver4th	-	platinum1	540,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	4 × silver4th	8 × gold8th	11 × platinum11

Awards

• 2018 Awarded the Alberta Order of Excellence
• 2013 induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame
• 2001 Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for collaboration with US star Tony Bennett Playin 'with My Friends: Tony Bennett Sings the Blues
• 1996 Appointment as "Officer" of the Order of Canada
• 1993 Song track (largely by her) for the movie Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
• 1992 Grammy "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female" for Ingénue with the chart hit "Constant Craving"
• 1989 Grammy "Best Country Vocal Performance, Female" for Absolute Torch and Twang
• 1988 kd Lang sings the final song of the Winter Olympics in Calgary
• 1987 Grammy "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals" for working with Roy Orbison
• 1985 "Most Promising Female Vocalist" for A Truly Western Experience

Film & television

• Dharma & Greg (guest appearance with Lyle Lovett , episode 3.15, 2000)
• Salmonberries (1991, by Percy Adlon ; lead role)
• The Eye (as Hilary)
• Ellen (guest appearance, episode Das Outing )
• The Black Dahlia (guest appearance, 2006)
• How I Met Your Mother (guest appearance, episode 8.15, 2013)

swell

1. ↑ Portland's own kd lang on her Oregon Zoo concert and moving to the Rose City , The Oregonian, June 28, 2012, accessed March 16, 2014
2. ↑ WDR 5 CD of the week - Madeleine Peyroux: Half the Perfect World ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (September 1, 2006)
3. ↑ kd lang Junos Speech: Singer Enters Canadian Music Hall Of Fame , Huffington Post, April 21, 2013, accessed March 16, 2014
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE CH UK US
5. ↑ Music Sales Awards: US UK
6. ↑ kd lang one of eight recipients of the Alberta Order of Excellence awards. In: Edmonton Journal. October 19, 2018, accessed March 19, 2020 . 
7. ^ Canadian Music Hall of Fame - Inductees. Canadian Music Hall of Fame , accessed August 6, 2017 . 

Web links

Commons : Kd lang  - collection of images

• www.kdlang.com
• Kd lang in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Kd lang at Discogs (English)
• Biographical notes on musik-news.de for kd lang
• "Music for Blue Hours", review of the 2004 album in: Der Standard, October 1, 2004 (paid article)
• Interview with kd lang