Alison Krauss | |
|---|---|
 Krauss at the 2007MerleFest | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Alison Maria Krauss (1971-07-23)July 23, 1971 (age 54) Decatur, Illinois, U.S. |
| Origin | Champaign, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1984–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of |
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Spouse | |
| Website | alisonkrauss |
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American singer,fiddle player andmusic producer. She entered theAmerican music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at 14. She signed withRounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987. She was invited to joinUnion Station, releasing her first album with them as a group in 1989 and performing with them ever since.[2]
Krauss has released 14 albums, appeared on numerous soundtracks, and helped to spark a renewed interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including theO Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, and theCold Mountain soundtrack, which led to her performance at the2004 Academy Awards. Platinum-sellingRaising Sand (2007) was the first of her two collaborations with English rock singerRobert Plant.
As of 2025, she has won 27Grammy Awards from 46 nominations,[3] ranking herfourth behindBeyoncé,Quincy Jones and classical conductorGeorg Solti for most Grammy Award wins overall.[4] Krauss was the singer and female artist with the most awards in Grammy history[5] until Beyoncé won her 28th Grammy in2021.[6] When Krauss won her first Grammy in the33rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1991, she was the second-youngest winner at that time.[citation needed]
On November 21, 2019, she was awarded theNational Medal of Arts.[7] She was inducted into theInternational Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in September 2021.[8]
Alison Maria Krauss[9] was born inDecatur, Illinois,[10][11][a] to Fred and Louise Krauss.
Fred Krauss is a German immigrant who came to the United States in 1952 at age 12, and taught his native language while he earned a doctorate in psychology. He later went into the business of real estate; among the properties he owned was the so-calledAmerican Football House, located at 704 W. High St. inUrbana, which was featured on the cover ofthe first album byemo bandAmerican Football.[12] Louise Krauss, an American of German and Italian descent, is the daughter of artists, and works as an illustrator of magazines and textbooks.[13] Fred and Louise met while they were studying at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[14]
After a brief residence in nearby Decatur where Alison was born, the family settled inChampaign, where she was raised with her older brother,Viktor.[15]
Krauss's mother playedbanjo and acoustic guitar,[13] so Krauss was exposed tofolk music at home, and she heard rock and pop music on the radio: She likedGary Numan'ssynth-pop song "Cars", and rock bands such asForeigner,Bad Company, andElectric Light Orchestra.[16] Her brother Viktor played piano and double bass in high school, launching a career as ajazz and rock multi-instrumentalist.[17] At her mother's insistence, Krauss began studying classical violin at age five.[18] Krauss was reluctant to spend time practicing, but she continued with classical lessons until she was eleven.[19] Krauss said her mother "tried to find interesting things for me to do" and "wanted to get me involved in music, in addition to art and sports".[20] Krauss was also very active inroller skating, and in her teens she finally decided on a career in music rather thanroller derby.[18][21]
In mid-1979, Krauss's mother saw a notice for an upcoming fiddle competition at the Champaign County Fair, so she bought abluegrass fiddle instruction book and the 1977 bluegrass albumDuets by violinistRichard Greene. Krauss learned by ear to play several songs from the album, including "Tennessee Waltz", which she practiced on violin with her mother accompanying on guitar. Krauss entered the talent contest in the novice category at the age of eight, placing fourth.[22] (This is where she first met fiddlerAndrea Zonn, who won the junior division at age 10.[23]) Krauss investigated the bluegrass genre more thoroughly after this, and she developed a knack for learning complexriffs by ear, quickly turning them into her own version.[13] In 1981–82, Krauss performed with Marvin Lee Flessner's country dance band, in which she fiddled and sang. In September 1983, her parents bought her a custom violin made by hand in Missouri – her first adult-sized instrument.[19] At 13, she won theWalnut Valley Festival Fiddle Championship,[24] and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her the "Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest".[25] She was also called "virtuoso" byVanity Fair magazine.[26]
Krauss first metDan Tyminski around 1984 at a festival held by the Society. Every current member of her band, Union Station, first met her at these festivals.[27]
Krauss made her recording debut in 1986 on the independent album,Different Strokes, in collaboration with Swamp Weiss and Jim Hoiles, and featuring her brotherViktor Krauss. From the age of 12 she performed with bassist and songwriter John Pennell in a band called "Silver Rail", replacing Andrea Zonn.[28] Pennell later changed the band's name to Union Station after another band was discovered with the name Silver Rail.[29]
Later that year, she signed to Rounder Records, and in 1987, at 16, she released her debut albumToo Late to Cry with Union Station as her backup band.[30]
Krauss' debut solo album was quickly followed by her first group album with Union Station in 1989,Two Highways.[31] The album includes the traditional tunes "Wild Bill Jones" and "Beaumont Rag", along with a bluegrass interpretation ofthe Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider".
Krauss' contract with Rounder required her to alternate between releasing a solo album and an album with Union Station,[32] and she released the solo albumI've Got That Old Feeling in 1990. It was her first album to rise onto theBillboard charts, peaking in the top seventy-five on thecountry chart. The album also was a notable point in her career as she earned her firstGrammy Award, the single "Steel Rails" was her first single tracked by Billboard, and the title single "I've Got That Old Feeling" was the first song for which she recorded a music video.
| Alison Krauss & Union Station | |
|---|---|
| Name | Role |
| Alison Krauss | Lead vocals, piano, fiddle |
| Larry Atamanuik | Drums, percussion |
| Barry Bales | Bass |
| Ron Block | Guitar,banjo |
| Jerry Douglas | Dobro |
| Russell Moore | Guitar, mandolin |
Krauss' second Union Station albumEvery Time You Say Goodbye was released in 1992, and she went on to win her secondGrammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album of the year. She then joined theGrand Ole Opry in 1993 at the age of 21.[31] She was the youngest cast member at the time, and the first bluegrass artist to join the Opry in 29 years.[33][34][35] She also collaborated on a project withthe Cox Family in 1994, a bluegrass album calledI Know Who Holds Tomorrow.Mandolin and guitar playerDan Tyminski replaced Tim Stafford in Union Station in 1994. Late in the year, Krauss recorded with the bandShenandoah on its single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart", which brought her to the country music Top Ten for the first time and it won theGrammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Also in 1994, Krauss collaborated withSuzy Bogguss,Kathy Mattea, andCrosby, Stills, and Nash to contribute "Teach Your Children" to the AIDS benefit albumRed Hot + Country produced by theRed Hot Organization. She contributed vocals onPhish's (2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee) "If I Could," from their 1994 studio albumHoist. In 1997, she recorded vocals and violin for "Half a Mind", onTommy Shaw's7 Deadly Zens album.
Now That I've Found You: A Collection, a compilation of older releases and some covers of her favorite works by other artists, was released in 1995. Some of these covers includeBad Company's "Oh Atlanta",the Foundations' &Dan Schafer's "Baby, Now That I've Found You", which was used in the Australian hit comedy movieThe Castle, andthe Beatles' "I Will" with Tony Furtado.[36] A cover ofKeith Whitley's "When You Say Nothing at All" reached number three on theBillboard country chart;[37] the album peaked in the top fifteen on the all-genreBillboard 200 chart, and sold two million copies to become Krauss' firstdouble-platinum album.[38] Krauss also was nominated for fourCountry Music Association Awards and won all of them.[39]
So Long So Wrong, another Union Station album, was released in 1997 and won theGrammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. One critic said its sound was "rather untraditional" and "likely [to] change quite a few ... minds about bluegrass".[40] Included on the album is the track "It Doesn't Matter", which was featured in the second-season premiere episode ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer[41] and was included on theBuffy soundtrack in 1999.
Her next solo release in 1999,Forget About It, included one of her two tracks to appear on the Billboardadult contemporary chart, "Stay". The album was certified gold and charted within the top seventy-five of the Billboard 200 and in the top five of the country chart. In addition, the track "That Kind of Love" was included in another episode ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer.[42]
Adam Steffey left Union Station in 1998, and was replaced by renowneddobro playerJerry Douglas.[43] Douglas had provided studio back-up to Krauss' records since 1987'sToo Late to Cry. Their next album,New Favorite, was released on August 14, 2001. The album went on to win the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, with the single "The Lucky One" winning a Grammy as well.New Favorite was followed up by the double platinumdouble albumLive in 2002 and a release of a DVD of the same live performance in 2003. Both the album and the DVD were recorded during a performance atThe Louisville Palace and both the album and DVD have been certified double Platinum. Also in 2002 she played a singing voice for one of the characters in the animated comedy filmEight Crazy Nights.
Lonely Runs Both Ways was released in 2004, and eventually became another Alison Krauss & Union Station gold certified album. Ron Block describedLonely Runs Both Ways as "pretty much... what we've always done" in terms of song selection and the style, in which those songs were recorded.[44] Krauss believes the group "was probably the most unprepared we've ever been" for the album and that songs were chosen as needed rather than planned.[20] She also performed a duet withBrad Paisley on his albumMud on the Tires in the single "Whiskey Lullaby". The single was quickly ranked in the top fifty of theBillboard Hot 100 and the top five of theHot Country Songs, and won theCountry Music Association Awards for "Best Musical Event" and "Best Music Video" of the year.
In 2007, Krauss andRobert Plant released the collaborative album titledRaising Sand. RIAA-certified platinum, the album was nominated for and won five Grammy Awards[45][46] at the51st Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album, and Record of the Year ("Please Read the Letter"). Krauss and Plant recorded a Crossroads special in October 2007 for theCountry Music Television network, which first aired on February 12, 2008.
Returning with Union Station, Krauss released an album calledPaper Airplane on April 12, 2011,[47] the follow-up album toLonely Runs Both Ways (2004).Mike Shipley, the recording and mixing engineer for the album, said that the album had a lengthy production time because of Krauss' non-stop migraines.[48][49] Nevertheless,Paper Airplane became Krauss's highest-charting album in the U.S., reaching number three on theBillboard 200 on topping both the country and bluegrass album charts.
In 2014, Krauss and her band Union Station toured withWillie Nelson and Family, with special guestsKacey Musgraves, andthe Devil Makes Three.[50][51]
Capitol Records releasedWindy City, an album of country and bluegrass classics, produced byBuddy Cannon and her first solo release in 17 years, on February 17, 2017.[52] Krauss received two nominations at the60th Annual Grammy Awards forBest Country Solo Performance andBest American Roots Performance.
In August 2021, Krauss announced she was releasing a sequel album toRaising Sand with Robert Plant calledRaise the Roof.[53] The album was released in November that year, and Krauss and Plant went on tour as a duo.[54][55]
In January 2025, it was announced that Union Station would be releasing their first album since 2011.Arcadia was released on March 28, 2025, followed by an extensive tour.[56]
Krauss has made guest appearances on other records on lead vocals,harmony vocals, andfiddle. In 1987, at the age of 15, she played fiddle on the albumThe Western Illinois Rag by Americana musician Chris Vallillo. In 1993 she recorded vocals for thePhish song "If I Could" in Los Angeles.[57] In 1997 she sang harmony vocals in both English and Irish on the albumRunaway Sunday byIrish traditional bandAltan. In 1998 she played and sang on the title track of Hawaiian slack-key artistLedward Kaapana's album,Waltz of the Wind.[58]
Krauss had her only number one hit in 2000, receiving vocal credit for "Buy Me a Rose". She has contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks, most notablyO Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). She andDan Tyminski contributed multiple tracks, including "I'll Fly Away" (withGillian Welch), "Down to the River to Pray", and "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow". In the film, Tyminski's vocals on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" were used forGeorge Clooney's character.[59] The soundtrack sold over seven million copies and won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002.[60] Both Krauss and the surprisingly popular album were credited[61] with reviving interest in bluegrass. She has said, however, that she believes Americans already liked bluegrass and other less-heard musical genres, and that the film merely provided easy exposure to the music.[62] She did not appear in the movie, at her own request, because she was pregnant during its filming.[63]
In 2007, Krauss releasedA Hundred Miles or More: A Collection, an album of new songs, soundtrack tunes, and duets with artists such asJohn Waite,James Taylor,Brad Paisley, andNatalie MacMaster.[64] The album was successful commercially but given a lukewarm reception by critics.[65] One of the tracks, "Missing You", a duet with Waite (and a cover of his hit single from 1984), was similarly received as a single. On August 11, television networkGreat American Country aired a one-hour special,Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More, based on the album.[66]
Krauss appeared onHeart's March 2010 concert DVDNight at Sky Church, providing the lead vocals for the song "These Dreams".[67]
Other soundtracks for which Krauss has performed includeTwister,The Prince of Egypt,Eight Crazy Nights,Mona Lisa Smile,Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,Alias,Bambi II andCold Mountain. She contributed "Jubilee" to the 2004 documentaryPaper Clips. TheCold Mountain songs she sang, "The Scarlet Tide" withT Bone Burnett andElvis Costello, and "You Will Be My Ain True Love" withSting, were each nominated for anAcademy Award. She performed both songs at the76th Academy Awards, the first with Costello and Burnett, and the other with Sting.[68] She producedNickel Creek'sdebut album (2000) and the follow-upThis Side (2002), which won Krauss her first Grammy award as a producer.
Krauss performed onMoody Bluegrass: A Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues.[69]
She participated inBilly Childs' 2014 tribute album toLaura Nyro,Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, performing on the track "And When I Die".[70][71]
Krauss also appears onDef Leppard's twelfth studio album,Diamond Star Halos, released March 2022, as a featured vocalist on the songs "This Guitar" and "Lifeless".[72] Krauss duetted withHigh Valley on the group's 2023 single "Do This Life".[73] Krauss is featured on the song "Thankful" onRingo Starr's 2025 albumLook Up.
Krauss' earliest musical experience was as an instrumentalist, though her style has grown to focus more on her vocals[31] with a band providing most of the instrumentation. Musicians she enjoys include vocalistsLou Gramm ofForeigner andPaul Rodgers ofBad Company.[74][75][76] Krauss' family listened to "folk records" while she was growing up, but she had friends who exposed her to such acts asAC/DC,Carly Simon,the Rolling Stones,Lynyrd Skynyrd, andELO.[77] She citesDolly Parton, with whom she has since collaborated a number of times, as a major influence. Some credit Krauss and Union Station, at least partially, with a recent revival of interest in bluegrass music in the United States.[61] Despite being together for nearly two decades and winning numerous awards, she said the group was "just beginning right now" (in 2002) because "in spite of all the great things that have happened for the band, [she] feel[s] musically it's just really beginning".[62] Although she alternates between solo releases and works with the band, she has said there is no difference in her involvement between the two.[63]
As a group, AKUS have been called "American favourites", "world-beaters",[78] and "the tightest band around".[79] While they have been successful as a group, many reviews note Krauss still "remains the undisputed star and rock-solid foundation" and have described her as the "band's focus"[80] with an "angelic"[79] voice that "flows like honey".[80] Her work has been compared to that ofthe Cox Family,Bill Monroe, andDel McCoury,[citation needed] and has in turn been credited with influencing various "Newgrass" artists including Nickel Creek, for which she acted as record producer on two of their albums.[81] In addition to her work with Nickel Creek, she has acted as producer to the Cox Family,Reba McEntire andAlan Jackson.[82]Adam Sweeting ofThe Guardian has said Krauss and Union Station are "superb, when they stick tohoedowns andhillbilly music, but much less convincing, when they lurch towards the middle of the road".[83]Blender magazine has said the "flavorless repertoire [Krauss] sings... steers her toward Lite FM".[84] In addition,Q magazine andThe Onion AV Club have said their newer releases are "pretty much the usual", and that although Krauss is generally "adventurous", these recent releases contain nothing to "alienate the masses".[85]
Krauss possesses asoprano voice, which has been described as "angelic".[79][86]
She has said her musical influences includeJ. D. Crowe,Ricky Skaggs, andTony Rice.[87] Many of her songs are described as sad,[88] and are often aboutlove, especially lost love. Though Krauss has a close involvement with her group and a long career in music, she rarely performs music she has written herself. She has also described her general approach to constructing an album as starting with a single song and selecting other tracks based on the first, to give the final album a somewhat consistent theme and mood.[63][89] She most commonly performs in the bluegrass and country genres, though she has had two songs on theadult contemporary charts, has worked with rock artists such asPhish[31] andSting,[68] and is sometimes said to stray into pop music.[28][90]
Krauss did not think she would make music videos at the beginning of her career. After recording her first she was convinced it was so bad that she would never do another. Nonetheless, she has continued to make further videos. Many of the first videos she saw were by bluegrass artists.Dan Tyminski has noted that thevideo forThriller was very popular at the time she was first exposed to music videos. She has made suggestions on the style or theme to some videos, though she tends to leave such decisions to thedirector of the particular video. The group chooses directors by seeking out people who have previously directed videos that band members have enjoyed. The director for a video to "If I Didn't Know Any Better" fromLonely Runs Both Ways, for example, was selected because Krauss enjoyed work he had done withDef Leppard and, she wondered, what he could do with their music. While style decisions are generally left to the various directors of the videos, many – including for "The Lucky One", "Restless", "Goodbye is All We Have", "New Favorite", and "If I Didn't Know Any Better" – follow a pattern. In all of these videos Krauss walks, sometimes interacting with other people, while the rest of the band follows her.[27][91]
Krauss has said she used to dislike working in the studio, where she had to perform the same song repeatedly, but has come to like studio work roughly the same aslive stage performances. Her own favorite concert experiences include watching threeForeigner concerts during a single tour, aDolly Parton concert, and aLarry Sparks concert.[92]
She appeared onAustin City Limits in 1992 and opened the show in 1995 with Union Station.[93] TheNew Favorite tour, after AKUS' album of the same name, was planned to start September 12, 2001 inCincinnati, Ohio, but was delayed until September 28 inSavannah, Georgia following theSeptember 11 terrorist attacks.[94] Krauss took part in theDown from the Mountain tour in 2002, which featured many artists from theO Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.[95][96]Down from the Mountain was followed by theGreat High Mountain Tour, which was composed of musicians from bothO Brother andCold Mountain, including Krauss.[91] She has also given several notable smaller performances including atCarnegie Hall (with theGrand Ole Opry),[97] onLifetime Television in a concert of female performers, on the radio showA Prairie Home Companion,[98] where she sang two songs not previously recorded on any of her albums, and a performance at theWhite House attended by then-PresidentBill Clinton and then-Vice PresidentAl Gore.[99] She has also been in theWhite House again, performing the song "When You Say Nothing at All"[100] at country music performances. She also performed a tribute tothe Everly Brothers at which she sang "All I Have to Do is Dream" withEmmylou Harris and "When Will I Be Loved" withVince Gill.[101][102] She was also invited byTaylor Swift to perform with her at the 2013 CMA's and byJoshua Bell to perform with him on a Christmas album; Bell said that "she (Krauss) is someone I've adored for so many years now".[103] She performed at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on January 10, 2015, as a part of "The Life and Songs of Emmylou Harris: An All Star Concert Celebration" which is a tribute toEmmylou Harris.[104][105]
Krauss has won twenty-sevenGrammy Awards[106] over the course of her career as a solo artist, as a group with Union Station, as a duet withRobert Plant, and as a record producer. As of 2025, she ranks fifth on the list of winners of themost Grammy Awards.[107] She overtookAretha Franklin for the most female wins at the46th Grammy Awards, where Krauss won three, bringing her total at the time to seventeen (Franklin won her sixteenth that night).[108] TheRecording Academy (which presents the Grammy Awards) presented her with a special musical achievement honor in 2005.[109] She has also won 15International Bluegrass Music Association Awards,[110] 9Country Music Association Awards,[111][112] 2Gospel Music Association Awards, 2CMT Music Awards,[113][114][115] 2Academy of Country Music Awards,[116] and 2Canadian Country Music Awards.[117]Country Music Television ranked Krauss 12th on their "40 Greatest Women of Country Music" list in 2002.[118]
At the76th Academy Awards in February 2004, where she performed two nominated songs from theCold Mountain soundtrack, Krauss was chosen by Hollywood shoe designerStuart Weitzman to wear a pair of $2 million 'Cinderella' sandals with 4½ inch clear glass stiletto heels and two straps adorned with 565 Kwiat diamonds set in platinum. Feeling like a rather unglamorous choice, Krauss said, "When I first heard, I was like, 'What were they thinking?' I have the worst feet of anybody who will be there that night!" In addition to the fairy-tale-inspired shoes, Weitzman outfitted Krauss with aPalm Trēo 600 smartphone, bejeweled with 3,000 clear-and-topaz-coloredSwarovski crystals. The shoes were returned, but Krauss kept the crystal-covered phone. Weitzman chose Krauss to show off his fashions at the urging of his daughters, who are fans of Krauss' music.[119][120]
In May 2012, Alison Krauss was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music fromBerklee College of Music.[121]
In March 2015, her hometown of Champaign, Illinois, designated the 400 block of West Hill Street as "Honorary Alison Krauss Way".[122][123]
On April 13, 2024, Krauss became a recipient of theOrder of Lincoln, which is Illinois' highest civilian honor.[124]
Krauss was married to musicianPat Bergeson from 1997 to 2001.[125][126] They have one child, born in 1999.[127]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music | Herself | Documentary and concert film[128] |
| 1997 | Annabelle's Wish | Additional Voices | Uncredited Voice only |
| 2000 | Down from the Mountain | Herself | Documentary and concert film |
| 2002 | Eight Crazy Nights | Jennifer | Singing voice only |
| 2004 | Paper Clips | Herself | Singing Voice Only |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Hee Haw | Herself | Episode: "No. 22.21" |
| 1992 | Austin City Limits | Herself | 6 episodes; 1992–2005 |
| 1997 | Miracle on Highway 31 | Herself | Television film |
| 2005 | Sesame Street | Herself | Episode: "American Fruit Stand" |
| 2006 | CMT Cross Country | Performer | withVince Gill |
| 2008 | CMT Crossroads | Performer | withRobert Plant |
| 2022 | CMT Crossroads | Performer | withRobert Plant |
a.^ Sources vary on birthplace; seetalk page discussion
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | AMA Album of the Year (artist) 2008 withRobert Plant | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | AMA Duo/Group of the Year 2008 with Robert Plant | Succeeded by Buddy & Julie Miller |
