Natalie Merchant

Natalie Merchant, Rolling Stone no. 652, March 1993 - More Posters & Photos »

Fact Sheet

Musical genre:	Rock & Roll
Birthday	26 October 1963 (46)
Sign	Scorpio
Birthplace	Jamestown, New York, USA

Natalie Merchant is a rock and roll musician. Merchant co-founded and sang in the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 but left the band in 1993 for a solo career. Her solo album Tigerlily (1995) had three top-40 singles, Carnival, Jealousy, and Wonder. In 1998, Natalie released Ophelia and the following year released Live in Concert. In 2001 Natalie released her most critically acclaimed album, Motherland, and went on an extensive tour of North America and Europe. In 2003, Natalie parted ways with Elektra Records and released a folk album of traditional songs called The House Carpenter's Daughter on September 16, 2003 on Myth America records. Natalie also plays the piano, produces and writes all of her songs.

Merchant has 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 she lends her name to. Her website, which she is actively involved in contributing to, prominently displays a link to The Nation, which gives some indication of her political stance.

In the summer of 2003 Merchant gave birth to a daughter.

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