Sarah McLachlan Biography

Sarah McLachlan
Biography

Birth Name
Sarah McLachlan
Date of birth (location)
28 January 1968
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Since her debut in 1988, Sarah McLachlan's atmospheric folk-pop has gained a devoted following of fans not only in Canada, where she has established star status, but also in the U.S. and U.K. Each album has shown her growing both as a musician and songwriter, continually redefining herself and emerging as a major voice in the growing Adult Alternative pop format.

Sarah McLachlan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on January 28, 1968 where she took vocal training in addition to classical piano and guitar lessons as a child. After a year of art training at the Nova Scotia School of Design, while fronting a new wave band, October Game, Nettwerk Records approached her for a solo deal. She initially turned it down in favor of continued studies, but took them up on the offer in late 1987 and relocated to Vancouver. On the strength of her debut, 1988's Touch, she was signed to Arista for international distribution. The album eventually reached gold status in Canada and was reissued worldwide in 1989. In 1991, she followed up with Solace, an impressive collection that showed a great leap in songcraft and built a strong cult following in the U.S.

In September 1992, following a 14-month promotional tour, McLachlan traveled to Cambodia and Thailand for work on a Canadian-sponsored documentary on poverty and child prostitution, World Vision. Inspired by her experiences, she retreated to a secluded house outside of Montreal to write material for her next album. After six months in a Montreal studio with collaborator/producer Pierre Marchand, Fumbling Toward Ecstasy, her strongest and most personal effort to date, was released in late 1993. The album peaked in the U.S. charts at number 50 and by the end of 1994, it reached platinum status after 62 weeks on the chart.

"Possession," the single from the album, broke the Top 100 and received considerable airplay, especially on modern rock radio, where it reached number 14. "Good Enough" also found a home in that format, reaching number 16. The hit single from that album, "Hold On," was inspired by the documentary, A Promise Kept, about a woman whose fiance discovers he has AIDS. Overwhelmed by the woman's strength and selflessness, McLachlan wrote the song in a single day. It is an unsentimental portrait of a woman's courage in the face of adversity. "Hold On" appeared on the No Alternative compilation album, the proceeds of which go to support AIDS research.

The Freedom Sessions, consisting mainly of alternate versions of tracks from Fumbling, was released in 1995, and Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff, a collection of non-LP tracks and remixes, was issued in Canada in 1996. In 1997, McLachlan began work on her fourth album, the enormously successful Surfacing, which debuted at number two on the pop albums chart and contained the hits "Building a Mystery" and "Sweet Surrender." In addition to her own albums, she has contributed tracks to several cause-related releases, provided the theme for the film Brothers McMullen ("I Will Remember You"). She also took time out to organize and headline the acclaimed Lilith Fair, which focused on emerging women singer-songwriters and became the most successful tour of the summer of 1997.

McLachlan spent the summers of '98 and '99 back on the road with the Lilith Fair tours in North America. In June 1999 she released Mirrorball, a live album culling material from Lilith. Mirroball received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Album.

Sarah McLachlan has won the Pop Album of the Year 2004 category for Afterglow, her first record since 1997’s eight-times Platinum Surfacing, which was on the Billboard charts for more than two years. 1998 was a stellar year for McLachlan. Surfacing garnered her a JUNO Award in the Songwriter of the Year (with Pierre Marchand), Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year, and Album of the Year categories.

Sarah has been playing instruments, including the piano and guitars, since the age of 5. She was the first artist signed to Nettwerk recording label. She was 17 at the time.

She is a recipient of the Order of Canada.

Sarah gave birth to her first child, daughter India Ann Sushil , on April 6, 2002.

She married Ashwin Sood in Negril , Jamaica.