Suzanne Vega | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Vega performing in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Suzanne Nadine Peck |
| Born | (1959-07-11)July 11, 1959 (age 65) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | suzannevega |
 | |
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 charts in the UK, "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 a dance track by Englishelectronic duoDNA with Vega as featured artist, and it became a Top 10 hit in five countries. The originala 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 nine studio albums. Her most recent release is the live albumAn Evening of New York Songs and Stories released in 2020.
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 writer and teacher fromPuerto Rico.[8] When Vega was two and a half, her family moved to New 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 first 'Fast Folk' artists to break out on a major label.
Vega'sself-titled debut studio album was released in 1985 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. Avideo was released for the album's song "Marlene on the Wall", which went intoMTV andVH1's rotations. During this period Vega also wrote lyrics for two songs ("Lightning" and "Freezing") onSongs from Liquid Days (1986) by composerPhilip Glass.[14]
Vega's song "Left of Center" co-written withSteve Addabbo for the 1986John Hughes filmPretty in Pink reached No. 32 on theUK Singles Chart in 1986.[15]
Her next studio album,Solitude Standing (1987), garnered critical and commercial success, selling over one million copies in the U.S.[16] It includes the international hit single "Luka", which is written about, and from the point of view of, an abused child.[11] (Not until many years later did Vega reveal the song dealt with the abuse she herself had suffered from her stepfather.[17]) While continuing a focus on Vega's acoustic guitar, the music of her second album is more strongly pop-oriented and features fuller arrangements. Following the success of the album, in 1989 Vega became the first female artist to headline theGlastonbury Festival.[18] Vega performed her set whilst wearing abulletproof vest, her band having received death threats from an obsessed fan ahead of the festival.[18]
The a cappella "Tom's Diner" fromSolitude Standing became a hit in 1990, having beenremixed by two British dance 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), continued in the style of her first two studio albums.
In 1992, she released her fourth studio album99.9F°, which mixedfolk andpop music with electronic elements.[19] This record was awarded Gold status by theRIAA in recognition of selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S.[16] 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.[19]
Her fifth studio album,Nine Objects of Desire, was released in 1996.[11] The music varies between a frugal, simple style and the industrial production of99.9F°. This album contains "Caramel", featured in the movieThe Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), and later thetrailer for the movieCloser (2004). A song not included on that album, "Woman on the Tier", was featured on the soundtrack of the movieDead 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" from thePretty in Pink soundtrack (with Vega singing and Jackson playing piano).[20]
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.[21]
In September 2001, Vega released a new studio album entitledSongs in Red and Gray. 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 ofMooncusser Films. The documentary has not been completed.
Undergroundhip hop duoFelt named a track "Suzanne Vega" on their studio albumFelt: A Tribute to Christina Ricci, released in 2002.[22]
In 2003, the 21-songgreatest hits compilation albumRetrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega was released. (The UK version ofRetrospective included an eight-song bonus CD as well as a DVD 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 in Germany.
In 2003, she hosted theAmerican Public Media radio seriesAmerican Mavericks, about 20th century American composers, which received thePeabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.[23][24]
On August 3, 2006, Vega became the first major recording artist to perform live in the Internet-based virtual world,Second 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.[25] During the concert she highlighted her support forAmnesty International, of which she has been a member since 1988.[26]
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 a test 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.
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.[27]
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[28] hit of the year on the PMC Top10's annual countdown. In 2015, Vega joined The 14th Annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.[29][30][31] She was also a judge for the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Independent Music Awards.[32]
In 2008, fire at aUniversal Music Group vault in Los Angeles County resulted in the loss or damage of some Vega recordings.[33]
A partial cover version of her song "Tom's Diner" was used to introduce the 2010 British movie4.3.2.1., 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 studio album,Artificial Heart (2011).
Vega has re-recorded her back-catalogue,[34] both for artistic and commercial (and control) reasons,[35][36] 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[37] 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.[38] 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.[39][40]
In February and March 2023, Vega was to tour the UK.[41]
At the age of nine she began to write poetry. She was encouraged to do so by her stepfather.[42] It took her three years to write her first song, "Brother Mine", which was finished at the age of 14.[43] It was first published onClose-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family (2012), along with her other early song, "The Silver Lady".[42]
Vega has not learned to read musical notation; she sees the melody as a shape and chords as colors. She focuses on lyrics and melodic ideas; for advanced features – like intros orbridges – she relies on other artists with whom she works.[42] Most of her albums, except the first one, were made in such cooperation.[44]
Vega finishes 80% of the songs she starts writing.[43] She got the melody of "Tom's Diner" while walking down Broadway in New York. She was thinking ofFrench New Wave films.[45]
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.[43]
Suzanne Vega currently plays Furch guitars, a brand made in the Czech Republic[46] and was the focus of a win-a-guitar competition run by Furch in 2021.[47] In the mid-1980s she played Guild guitars,[48] and in the 1990s she played Yamaha and Taylor guitars at different times.
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.[49][50][51] Vega and Sheik were nominated for Outstanding Music in a Play for the 57th annual Drama Desk awards.[52]
The albumLover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, based on this play, was released in 2016.[39][40] 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 1969 movieBob & Carol & Ted & Alice, 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.[53] In his review forThe New York Times, criticBen Brantley called the "brandy-voiced" Vega "a delightful, smoothly sardonic presence."[54]
Vega established her own recording label after the2008 economic 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).[42]
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 previous master tapes.[44]
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".[55]
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.[56] 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."[57]
Beginning in 2010, Ruby has occasionally performed with her mother on tour.[58][59][60][61]
Vega practicesNichiren Buddhism and is a member of the American branch of the worldwide Buddhist associationSoka Gakkai International.[62]
| Year | Awards | Work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Billboard Music Awards | Herself | TopBillboard 200 Artist - Female[63][64] | 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[65] | 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[66] | Nominated | |
| 1996 | Žebřík Music Awards | Best International Female[67] | 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
