Childhood & Early Life
K. D. Lang was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on November 2, 1961. Her family moved to Consort when she was only nine months old. Her father, Adam Fredrick Lang was a drug store owner, and her mother, Audrey Lang was a teacher.
She was the youngest of the four children - two elder sisters and one elder brother.
She graduated from the secondary school in Consort and then joined the ‘Red Deer College’ where she decided to become a professional singer like Patsy Cline.
Continue Reading Below
Career
After graduating from college she formed a band ‘Reclines’ in 1983 and came out with her debut album ‘Friday Dance Promenade’.
She released her next album ‘A Truly Western Experience’ in 1984 which won her the first Juno award the next year.
In August 1984, she was one of the three Canadian artistes to perform at the ‘World Science Fair’ held in Tsukuba, Japan.
She shifted her base to the United States in 1986 and started recording for Sire Records, Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1988 she released her next album ‘Shadowland’ which was later named the ‘Album of the Year’ by the ‘Canadian Country Music Association’.
She started performing on the ‘Super Dave Osborne Show’ from 1987.
In 1988 she appeared on the ‘Austin City Limits’ along with her band Reclines.
In 1989 she sang a duet ‘Crying’ and another duet with Dwight Yoakam titled ‘Sin City’. Her album ‘Absolute Torch and Twang’ came out the same year.
She played the lead role in the drama film ‘Salmonberries’ in 1991.
Continue Reading Below
The album ‘Ingénue’ in 1992 contained her best pop performance ‘Constant Craving’.
She did a cover for the film ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ in 1997, contributed to the music track for ‘Even Cowgirls Get the Blues’ and sang for the James Bond film ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’.
She released the album ‘Drag’ which was based on smoking themes in 1997.
In 1999 she co-starred with Ewan McGregor and Ashley Judd in the film ‘Eye of the Beholder’.
She released her next album ‘Hymns of the 49th parallel’ in 2004
She collaborated with Tony Bennet for the Album ‘A Wonderful World’ in 2003.
In 2004 she sang ‘Little Patch of Heaven’ for the film ‘Home on the Range’.
In 2006 she sang the duets ‘River’, ‘We Had it Right’, ‘Jackson’ with others and acted as a lounge singer in ‘The Black Dahlia’.
She released the album ‘Watershed’ on February 5, 2008.
Continue Reading Below
She made guest appearances in sitcoms and shows such as ‘Dharma & Greg’, ‘The Larry Sanders Show’, ‘Ellen’, ‘Pee Wee’s Playhouse’ and ‘The Jim Henson Hour’.
In 2008 she appeared in the live show ‘Rove’ conducted by Rove McManus.
Lang performed at the St. Luke’s church in London on February 3, 2008 accompanied by the ‘BBC Concert Orchestra’.
She sang ‘Hallelujah’ at the Vancouver Olympics on February 12, 2010.
She sang a duet, ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr.Grinch’ for ‘Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album’ in 2010.
Her ‘Sing it Loud’ album was released in the spring of 2011.
She moved from Los Angeles to Portland in Oregon in 2012.
She appeared as herself in ‘Season 8’ of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ in February 2013 and in ‘Season 4 Finale’ of ‘Portlandia’ in 2014.
She made her Broadway debut by appearing in ‘After Midnight’ from February 11, 2014 to March 9, 2014 as a ‘Special Guest Star’.
Continue Reading Below
Awards & Achievements
K. D. Lang received her first Juno award in 1984 as the ‘Most Promising Female Vocalist’.
In 1987 she won the ‘Entertainer of the Year’ award and won it thrice again in 1988, 1989 and 1990.
She won the ‘Female Vocalist of the Year’ awards in 1988 and 1989.
She won Grammy awards for ‘Best Country Collaboration with Vocals’ and ‘Best Female Country Vocal Performance’ in 1989 and for ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’ in 1992.
She was honored with ‘Officer of the Order of Canada’ in 1996.
She won her fourth Grammy Award for ‘Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album’ in 2003.
She received another Juno award on April 21, 2013 and was inducted into ‘Canadian Music Hall of Fame’ the same day.
