JOAN OSBORNE
Joan Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including pop, soul, R&B, blues and country. She is best known for her recording of the Eric Bazilian song “One of Us”. She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown. (More from Wikipedia)
What I remember most fondly about the 1990’s is the bumper crop of fine female singer-songwriters and rockers: Joan Osborne, Fiona Apple, Lisa Loeb, Shawn Colvin, Tracy Chapman, Jewel, Paula Cole, and just too many more to name. There was even a series of three music festivals beginning in 1997 that were spearheaded by Sarah McLachlan, called Lilith Fair. But the growing feeling that rock music was beginning to get scarce was only enhanced when I picked up the nearly rock-less two-disc CD, Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women in Music in 1998.
(January 2013)
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Melissa Etheridge rose to rock stardom in the 1980’s and was one of the first prominent lesbians in any field of entertainment. Also, VH1 had a series of Duets programs where Etheridge was paired with newer female singers, including Joan Osborne, Sophie B. Hawkins, Jewel and Paula Cole. Each of these performers has had a solid career with several hit albums. After awhile, so many fine female performers were on the music scene that one of them, Sarah McLachlan organized a touring music festival featuring female singers or female-led bands called Lilith Fair. The festival ran from 1997 to 1999 and was revived in 2010.
(October 2013)
