Suzanne Vega | |
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.jpg) Vega performing at Inselleuchten-Festival inMarienwerder, Brandenburg, 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Suzanne Nadine Peck (1959-07-11)July 11, 1959 (age 66) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Works | Discography |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | |
Spouses | |
| Website | suzannevega |
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Suzanne Nadine Vega (néePeck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter offolk-inspired music.[1][2] Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s, she released four singles that entered the Top 40 on theUK singles chart, "Marlene on the Wall", "Left of Center", "Luka" and "No Cheap Thrill".
"Tom's Diner", which was originally released as ana cappella recording on Vega's second studio album,Solitude Standing (1987), was remixed in 1990 as adance track by Englishelectronic music producersDNA with her vocals, and it became a Top 10 hit in five countries. The original a cappella recording of the song was used as a test during the creation of theMP3 format.[3]The role of her song in the development of the MP3 compression prompted Vega to be given the title of "The Mother of the MP3".[4]
Vega has released ten studio albums; her most recent release is the studio albumFlying with Angels, released on May 2, 2025 byCooking Vinyl.
Suzanne Nadine Vega was born on July 11, 1959, inSanta Monica, California.[5] Her parents divorced soon after her birth.[6] Her mother, Pat Vega (née Schumacher), is a computersystems analyst of German-Swedish heritage. Her father, Richard Peck, is of English, Irish and Scottish origin.[7] Her stepfather,Edgardo Vega Yunqué, also known as Ed Vega, was a novelist and professor from Puerto Rico.[8] When Vega was two and a half, her family moved toNew York City. She grew up inSpanish Harlem and theUpper West Side.[9] She was not aware that Peck was her biological father until she was nine years old. Vega and Peck met for the first time in her late 20s, and they remain in contact.[10]
She attended theHigh School of Performing Arts[11] (since renamedFiorello H. LaGuardia High School) where she studiedmodern dance and graduated in 1977.
While majoring inEnglish literature atBarnard College,[12] she performed in small venues inGreenwich Village, where she was a regular contributor toJack Hardy's Monday night songwriters' group at theCornelia Street Cafe and had some of her first songs published onFast Folk anthology albums.[13] In 1984, she received a major labelrecording contract, making her one of the firstFast Folk artists to break out on a major label.
Vega'seponymous debut studio album was released on May 1, 1985 byA&M Records and was well received by critics in the U.S.;[9] it reachedplatinum status in the United Kingdom. Produced byLenny Kaye andSteve Addabbo, the songs feature Vega's acoustic guitar in straightforward arrangements which deviated from the prevailing trends of the time. Amusic video was released for the album's song "Marlene on the Wall", which went intoMTV andVH1's rotations. During this period Vega also wrote lyrics, and sang vocals for two songs ("Lightning" and "Freezing") on the 1986 studio albumSongs from Liquid Days by composer and pianistPhilip Glass.[14]
Vega's song "Left of Center" co-written withSteve Addabbo, was released as part of thesoundtrack to theJohn Hughes filmPretty in Pink (1986). It features British musicianJoe Jackson on piano and was released as a single in May 1986, reaching No. 32 on theUK singles chart.[15]
In 1986, she was interviewed byLou Reed on120 Minutes to promote aGreenpeace benefit concert, which led to them becoming friends, and after Reed's death in 2013, Vega has covered "Walk on the Wild Side" at all of her live concerts since, as a tribute.[16][17]
Her next studio album,Solitude Standing (1987), garnered critical and commercial success, selling over one million copies in the U.S.[18] It includes the international hit single "Luka", which is written about, and from the point of view of, anabused child.[11] Many years later Vega revealed that the song dealt with the abuse that she herself had suffered from her stepfather.[19] While continuing a focus on Vega's acoustic guitar, the music of her second album is more stronglypop-oriented and features fuller arrangements. Following the success of the album, in 1989 Vega became the first female artist to headline theGlastonbury Festival.[20] Vega performed her set whilst wearing abulletproof vest, her band having received death threats from an obsessed fan ahead of the festival.[20]
The a cappella "Tom's Diner" fromSolitude Standing became a hit in 1990, having beenremixed by two Englishelectronic music producers under the nameDNA.[11] The track was originally abootleg, until Vega allowed DNA to release it through her record company, and it became her biggest hit.
Vega's third studio album,Days of Open Hand (1990), combines Vega's establishedfolk rock style with more varied instrumentation such as theney anddumbec and experimental arrangements. High-profile contributors to the album includePhilip Glass,Shawn Colvin, andJohn Linnell ofThey Might Be Giants. The album saw greater use of synthesizers andsamplers than Vega's previous studio albums; these included the digitalFairlight CMI and analogVoyetra-8.
In 1992, she released her fourth studio album99.9F°, which mixedfolk andpop music with electronic elements.[21] This record was awarded Gold status by theRIAA in recognition of selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S.[18] The single "Blood Makes Noise" from this album peaked at number-one onBillboard'sModern Rock Tracks. Vega later married the album's producer,Mitchell Froom.[21]
Her fifth studio album,Nine Objects of Desire, was released in 1996.[11] The music varies between a frugal, simple style and theindustrial production of99.9F°. This album contains "Caramel", featured in theromantic comedy filmThe Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), and later thetrailer for the romantic drama filmCloser (2004). A song not included on that album, "Woman on the Tier", was featured on thesoundtrack of the crime drama filmDead Man Walking (1996).
In 1997 she took a singing part on the concept albumHeaven & Hell, a musical interpretation of theseven deadly sins by her colleagueJoe Jackson, with whom she had already collaborated in 1986 on "Left of Center".[22]
In 1999,Avon Books published Vega's bookThe Passionate Eye: The Collected Writings of Suzanne Vega, a volume of poems, lyrics, essays and journalistic pieces.[23]
In September 2001, Vega released her sixth studio albumSongs in Red and Gray, which was her final release forA&M Records. Three songs deal with Vega's divorce from her first husband,Mitchell Froom.
At the memorial concert for her brotherTim Vega in December 2002, Vega began her role as the subject of the direct-cinema documentary,Some Journey, directed byChristopher Seufert. The documentary has not yet been released.
Undergroundhip-hop duoFelt named a track "Suzanne Vega" on their debut studio albumFelt: A Tribute to Christina Ricci, released in 2002.[24]
In 2003, the 21-songgreatest hits compilation albumRetrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega was released. (The UK version ofRetrospective included an eight-song bonusCD as well as aDVD containing 12 songs). In the same year she was invited byGrammy Award-winningjazz guitaristBill Frisell to play at theCentury of Song concerts at the famedRuhrtriennale inRuhr, Germany.
In 2003, she hosted theAmerican Public Media radio seriesAmerican Mavericks, about 20th century American composers, which received thePeabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.[25][26]
On August 3, 2006, Vega became the first major recording artist to perform live in the Internet-based virtual worldSecond Life. The event was hosted byJohn Hockenberry of public radio'sThe Infinite Mind.
On September 17, 2006, she performed inCentral Park, as part of a benefit concert for theSave Darfur Coalition.[27] During the concert she highlighted her support forAmnesty International, of which she has been a member since 1988.[28]
In early October 2006, Vega participated in the Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) inOlomouc, the Czech Republic, the oldest festival of documentary films in Europe, in which she appeared as a main guest. She was invited there as the subject of the documentary film by directorChristopher Seufert, that had atest screening at the festival. At the end of the festival she performed her classic songs and added one brand new piece called "New York Is a Woman".
Vega is also interviewed in the bookEverything Is Just a Bet which was published in Czech in October 2006. The book contains 12 interview transcriptions from the talk show calledStage Talks that regularly runs in the Švandovo divadlo (Švandovo Theatre) inPrague. Vega introduced the book to the audience of the Švandovo divadlo (Švandovo Theatre), and together with some other Czech celebrities gave a signing session.[citation needed]
She signed a new recording contract withBlue Note Records in the spring of 2006, and releasedBeauty & Crime on July 17, 2007. The album, produced byJimmy Hogarth, won aGrammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Her contract was not renewed and she was released in June 2008.[29][dead link]
In 2007, Vega followed the lead of numerous other mainstream artists and released her track "Pornographer's Dream" aspodsafe. The song spent two weeks at number-one during 2007 and finished as the No. 11[30] hit of the year on thePMC Top10's annual countdown.
Vega was a member of the Annual Independent Music Awards judging panel in multiple years, from the 6th through to the 14th iterations.[31][32][33][34]
In 2008,a fire that broke out on the backlot ofUniversal Studios Hollywood inLos Angeles County, California resulted in the loss or damage of some Vega recordings.[35]
A partial cover version of her song "Tom's Diner" was used to introduce the British crime thriller film4.3.2.1. (2010), with its lyrics largely rewritten to echo the plot. This musical hybrid was released as "Keep Moving". Vega participated in theDanger Mouse andSparklehorse studio albumDark Night of the Soul (2010). She wrote both melody and lyrics for her song, which is titled "Man Who Played God", inspired by a biography of Spanish artistPablo Picasso. Vega sang lead vocals on the song "Now I Am an Arsonist" with singer-songwriterJonathan Coulton on his eighth studio album,Artificial Heart (2011).
Vega has re-recorded her back-catalogue,[36] both for artistic and commercial (and control) reasons,[37][38] in theClose-Up series. Vol. 1 (Love Songs) and Vol. 2 (People & Places) appeared in 2010 while Vol. 3 (States of Being) was released in July 2011[39] followed by Vol. 4 (Songs of Family) in September 2012. Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of theClose-Up albums included previously unrecorded material; Volumes 2 and 3 each included one new collaboratively written song, while Volume 4 included three songs that Vega had written years earlier, but had not previously gotten around to recording. In all, Vega'sClose-Up series features 60 re-recorded songs and five new compositions, representing about three-quarters of her lifetime songwriting output.
While performing live, Vega and long-term collaboratorGerry Leonard began to introduce a number of new songs into the setlist, including the live favorite "I Never Wear White". Over the course of a year, the songs were completed and recorded in a live-studio setting with the help of a number of guests. Produced by Leonard,Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles was released in February 2014.[40] It was her first album of new material in seven years and became Vega's first studio album to reach the UK Top 40 since 1992, peaking at No. 37.
Vega's ninth studio album,Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, was released on October 14, 2016.[41][42]
In February and March 2023, Vega toured the UK.[43] On May 2, 2025, Vega released her tenth studio albumFlying with Angels.[44] This was followed by a European tour.
At the age of nine she began to write poetry. She was encouraged to do so by her stepfather.[45] It took her three years to write her first song, "Brother Mine", which was finished at the age of 14.[46] It was first published onClose-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family (2012), along with her other early song, "The Silver Lady".[45]
Vega has not learned to readmusical notation; she sees themelody as a shape andchords as colors. She focuses on lyrics and melodic ideas; for advanced features – like intros orbridges – she relies on other artists with whom she works.[45] Most of her albums, except the first one, were made in such cooperation.[47]
Vega finishes 80% of the songs she starts writing.[46] She got the melody of "Tom's Diner" while walking downBroadway in New York City. She was thinking ofFrench New Wave films.[48]
The most important artistic influences on her work come fromLou Reed,Bob Dylan andLeonard Cohen. Some other important artists for her arePaul Simon andLaura Nyro.[46]
Suzanne Vega currently playsFurch Guitars, a brand made in the Czech Republic,[49] and her song "Tom's Diner" was the focus of a win-a-guitar competition run by Furch in 2021.[50] In the mid-1980s she playedGuild guitars,[51] and in the 1990s she playedYamaha andTaylor guitars at different times.
In 1998, she wrote the bookThe Passionate Eye: The Collected Writing of Suzanne Vega.[52] In 2014, Vega wrote theforeword for the book about singer, songwriter, and poetLeonard Cohen,Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen.[53][54]
Vega andDuncan Sheik wrote a playCarson McCullers Talks About Love, about the life of the writerCarson McCullers. In the play directed by Kay Matschullat, which premiered in 2011, Vega alternates between monologue and songs.[55][56][57] Vega and Sheik were nominated for Outstanding Music in a Play for the 57th annual Drama Desk awards.[58]
The studio albumLover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, based on this play, was released in 2016.[41][42] Vega considers it to be a third version, because it's rewritten, and she made the first version in college.[10]
In early 2020, Vega played the role of "Band Leader" in anoff-Broadway musical based on the comedy-drama filmBob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), directed by Scott Elliott and produced atThe New Group in New York City. She replaced Sheik, who wrote the show's music and co-wrote the lyrics withAmanda Green.[59] In his review forThe New York Times, criticBen Brantley called the "brandy-voiced" Vega "a delightful, smoothlysardonic presence."[60]
Vega established her own record label after the2008 financial crisis. From that point, she stopped working forBlue Note Records and started thinking about re-recording her back catalog with new arrangements and gaining control over her works (which she eventually did with the 2014Close-Up Series).[45]
The name "Amanuensis Productions" was meant as a private joke about "servant" (amanuensis) owning the "masters" (recording masters), also a pun atA&M still legally owning her previousmaster tapes.[47]
Running the label proved to be harder than she expected. In 2015, it barely "broke even", but new licenses were coming for "Tom's Diner".[61]
On March 17, 1995, Vega marriedMitchell Froom, a musician and a record producer (who played on and produced99.9F° andNine Objects of Desire). They have a daughter, Ruby Froom (born July 8, 1994). The alternative rock bandSoul Coughing's debut studio albumRuby Vroom (1994) was named for her, with Vega's approval.[62] Vega and Froom separated and divorced in 1998.[citation needed]
On February 11, 2006, Vega married Paul Mills, alawyer andpoet, "22 years after he first proposed to her".[63] In 1977, at the age of 27, Mills, then a young poet who went by "Poez", dated Vega for a time, but when she was ambivalent about his marriage proposal, he moved to California to become a lawyer. In 2005, their paths crossed again, and he moved back to New York to refocus on his poetry, and the following year the young couple finally tied the knot.[64]
Beginning in 2010, Ruby Froom has occasionally performed with her mother on tour.[65][66][67][68]
Vega practicesNichiren Buddhism and is a member of the American branch of the worldwide Buddhist associationSoka Gakkai International.[69]
| Year | Awards | Work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Billboard Music Awards | Herself | TopBillboard 200 Artist – Female[70][71] | Nominated |
| 1987 | Nominated | |||
| TopBillboard 200 Artist | Nominated | |||
| Top Hot 100 Artist | Nominated | |||
| Top Hot 100 Artist – Female | Nominated | |||
| Solitude Standing | TopBillboard 200 Album | Nominated | ||
| Top Pop Compact Disk | Nominated | |||
| "Luka" | Top Hot 100 Song | Nominated | ||
| NME Awards | Herself | Best Female Singer | Won | |
| 1988 | Pollstar Concert Industry Awards | Small Hall Tour of the Year | Nominated | |
| ASCAP Pop Music Awards | "Luka" | Most Performed Song[72] | Won | |
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best Female Video | Won | ||
| Breakthrough Video | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Nominated | |||
| Grammy Awards | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Record of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated | |||
| 1990 | Days of Open Hand | Best Contemporary Folk Recording | Nominated | |
| Best Album Package | Won | |||
| 1992 | Billboard Music Video Awards | "Blood Makes Noise" | Best Pop/Rock Female Video | Nominated |
| 1993 | New York Music Awards | 99.9F° | Best Rock Album | Won |
| Hit Awards(Hong Kong) | Herself | Top Female Artist[73] | Nominated | |
| 1996 | Žebřík Music Awards | Best International Female[74] | Nominated | |
| 2003 | Glamour Awards | Woman of the Year | Won | |
| 2004 | Peabody Awards | Entertainment | Won | |
| 2008 | Grammy Awards | Beauty & Crime | Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical | Won |
| 2010 | New York Music Awards | Close-Up Vol. 1, Love Songs | Best Pop/Rock Compilation | Won |
| 2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Carson McCullers Talks About Love | Outstanding Music in a Play | Nominated |
Studio albums
Live albums
