Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris Bio

Emmylou Harris (April 2, 1947) is a multi-Grammy award winning American singer and songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama. Harris attended the UNCG School of Music on a drama scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro but eventually dropped out to pursue her music career. She moved to New York to perform folk and country songs around Greenwich Village coffeehouses then formed a trio with Gerry Mule and Tom Guidera and toured with Gram Parsons’ band Fallen Angels. Gram Parson became her mentor who sadly passed in 1973, leading to her solo debut, ‘Pieces of the Sky’ in 1975. Harris followed another album in 1976 titled ‘Elite Hotel’ with band Hot Band. ‘Elite Hotel’ won Harris her first Grammy Award for Best Country Pop Female Vocal Performance and brought her two number one hits such as ‘Sweet Dreams’ and ‘Together Again’. Her mix of folk, pop, country and rock brought Harris to fame and recorded 14 more studio albums throughout the 70’s to the 90’s. In the 2000’s, along with her own solo releases, Harris began to collaborate with many artists such as Conor Oberst, Elvis Costello and Neil Young among many others. Harris has released a total of 26 studio albums along with 11 compilations albums and 70 singles. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for a 47 Grammy Awards with 13 wins, 2 ACM Awards with 12 nominations, and has won 4 AMA Awards, one which is the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance. Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002 and is still active in music today along with her animal shelter in Nashville called Bonaparte’s Retreat.