Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a Canadian singer in pop, country, and adult contemporary music whose albums have sold over 55 million copies worldwide. Murray was the first Canadian female solo singer to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts, and also the first to earn a Gold record for one of her signature songs, “Snowbird” (1970). She is often cited as the one who paved the way for other international Canadian success stories such as k.d. lang, Céline Dion and Shania Twain. Murray has received four Grammys, a record 24 Junos, three American Music Awards, three Country Music Association Awards, and three Canadian Country Music Association Awards. In 2011, Billboard ranked her 10th on their list of the 50 Biggest Adult Contemporary Artists Ever. (More from Wikipedia)
Over her career, k.d. lang has collaborated with many prominent musicians from Roy Orbison, to Dwight Yoakam, to Tony Bennett, to fellow Canadian artist Anne Murray. She first came to prominence during a performance at the closing ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary; in 2010, k.d. lang performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
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I think of “Put Your Hand in the Hand” as the quintessential early Christian contemporary song. “Put Your Hand in the Hand” was recorded previously by Anne Murray, who is the first Canadian female solo artist to reach #1 on the U.S. charts; the song appears on her third album, Honey, Wheat and Laughter (1970).
