Laurie Anderson

  • Glen Ellyn, IL
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  • Alternative
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  • 1975
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About Laurie Anderson


After briefly entering the mainstream pop radar in 1981 with her lone hit "O Superman," Laurie Anderson enjoyed a public visibility greater than virtually any other avant-garde figure of her era. Her infrequent forays into rock aside, Anderson nevertheless remained firmly grounded within the realm of performance art, her ambitious multimedia projects encompassing not only music but also film, mime, visual projections, dance, and -- most importantly -- spoken and written language, the cornerstone of all of her work. Born in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn, IL on June 5, 1947, she studied violin as a teen; relocating to New York City at age 20, she later attended Barnard College, graduating with a B.A. in art history in 1969. After earning an M.F.A. in sculpture from Columbia University in 1972, Anderson taught art history and Egyptian architecture at City College; she mounted her first public performances a year later.

By 1976, Anderson was regularly mounting performances in museums, concert halls, and art festivals throughout North America and Europe; claiming to base all of her projects on the power of words and language, her work also emphasized visual imagery and cutting-edge technology, with pieces like 1980's Born, Never Asked, written for both orchestra and electronics. A year later, Anderson recorded "O Superman" for the tiny New York label 110 Records; an 11-minute single built around electronic drones and featuring opaque lyrics half-spoken and half-sung (in a voice sometimes electronically treated); this most unlikely hit became a smash in Britain, where it reached the number two spot on the national pop charts. Warner Bros. soon signed Anderson to record a full-length LP, and in 1982,she issued Big Science, a work drawn from a much larger project, the seven-hour multi-media performance United States.

With 1984's Mister Heartbreak, Anderson produced her most overtly pop-oriented work, teaming with artists including Peter Gabriel and Adrian Belew; the end result even reached the American Top 100. That same year, she also issued United States Live, a recorded document of the complete performance spread across a five-LP set. Anderson's next project, Home of the Brave, was a concert film; a year later, she also scored the Jonathan Demme/Spalding Gray film Swimming to Cambodia. A proper studio album, Strange Angels, did not follow until 1989; the next several years were devoted to performance tours, including 1990's Empty Places, 1991's Voices from the Beyond, and 1993's Stories from the Nerve Bible. In 1994, Anderson teamed with producer Brian Eno for Bright Red, also featuring her boyfriend Lou Reed; the following year she released the LP The Ugly One with Jewels as well as Puppet Motel, a CD-R confirming her ongoing interest in the latest technology. In 2001, Anderson issued Life On A String which contained songs from her large musical theater pieces Moby Dick and Strange Angels. In 2001, two weeks after the attacks on the World Trade Center, Ms. Anderson recorded a live album at Town Hall, New York City (on its cover werre the poignantwords "New York City, September 19-20, 2001." It was released as Live At Town Hall NYC in 2002. Ms. Anderson continued her appearance schedule but didn't record for another seven years when she began working on Homeland, which was released by Nonesuch in 2010. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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  • Warner Bros.
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News

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  • Laurie Anderson
    Four Tet, Antony Guest on New Laurie Anderson Album
    www.pitchfork.com
    Bergamot. She also produces alongside Roma Baran and husband Lou Reed. And she's recruited a pretty serious army of collaborators. Kieran Hebden, bett...
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  • Laurie Anderson
    Laurie Anderson Plays Concert for Dogs at Sydney Opera House | Billboard.com
    www.billboard.com
    shouted from behind her keyboard. "Beautiful work, dogs!" Not all of the pups were thrilled. Oliver, a Jack Russell terrier who tends to have issues w...
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  • Laurie Anderson
    News in Brief: Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, Damien Jurado, Peter Wolf Crier, Rolo Tomassi
    www.pitchfork.com
    and a day later in North America, Secretly Canadian will release Saint Bartlett, the new album from singer-songwriter Damien Jurado. Richard Swift pro...
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Tour Dates

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  • Jun 16 Sunday
    Toronto, ON, Canada David Pecaut Square (Metro Square)
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  • Jun 16 Sunday
    Toronto, ON, Canada Luminato Festival
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  • Jun 18 Tuesday
    New York, NY, US Rockefeller Park
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  • Jun 19 Wednesday
    New York, NY, US Rockefeller Park
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  • Jun 28 Friday
    London, UK Barbican Centre
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  • Aug 17 Saturday
    East Hampton, NY, US Guild Hall
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Discography

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  • Homeland (2010)
    Laurie Anderson
    Homeland (2010)
  • Live at Town Hall NYC (2002)
    Laurie Anderson
    Live at Town Hall NYC (2002)
    Nonesuch
  • Life on a String (2001)
    Laurie Anderson
    Life on a String (2001)
    Nonesuch
  • The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other Stories (1995)
    Laurie Anderson
    The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other Stories (1995)
    Warner Bros. Records
  • Bright Red (1994)
    Laurie Anderson
    Bright Red (1994)
    Warner Bros. Records
  • Strange Angels (1989)
    Laurie Anderson
    Strange Angels (1989)
    Warner Bros. Records
  • Home of the Brave (1986)
    Laurie Anderson
    Home of the Brave (1986)
    Warner Bros. Records
  • Mister Heartbreak (1984)
    Laurie Anderson
    Mister Heartbreak (1984)
    Warner Bros.
  • Big Science (1982)
    Laurie Anderson
    Big Science (1982)
    Warner Bros. Records
  • You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With (1981)
    Laurie Anderson
    You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With (1981)
    ESD (East Side Digital)
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