Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne
Osborne performing at The Grand in Wilmington, Delaware, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Joan Elizabeth Osborne
Born	July 8, 1962 (1962-07-08) Anchorage, Kentucky U.S.
Genres	Rock Folk Country rock Blues
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Guitar
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Womanly Hips Records Blue Gorilla Records Mercury Records Interscope Records
Website	http://www.joanosborne.com/

Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 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.

Biography

Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb of Louisville, Osborne moved to New York City in the late 1980s, where she formed her own record label, Womanly Hips, to release a few independent recordings. She signed with Mercury Records, and released her first full length album, Soul Show: Live at Delta 88, in 1991. Her second (and first major label) album was Relish (1995), which became a hit on the strength of the single "One of Us". Apart from this song, the rest of the album was steeped in country, blues and folk music. "Right Hand Man" and "St. Teresa" became minor hits following the success of "One of Us".

In 2001, Osborne appeared on Austin City Limits, singing material mainly from Righteous Love. In a brief interview segment at the end of the episode, Osborne reflects on her gladness to have gotten out of the limelight of her mid-90's stardom.

She was featured in the 2002 documentary film, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, and toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers. She and her band accompanied the Dixie Chicks for a national tour in the summer of 2003, during which time she also joined veteran San Francisco jam-rockers The Dead as a vocalist, and released her fourth album, titled How Sweet It Is, a collection of classic rock and soul covers.

During 2005 and 2006, Osborne performed on numerous occasions with Phil Lesh and Friends. In February 2007, she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry.

In May 2007, she issued Breakfast in Bed, a return to the soul music that she had covered on How Sweet It Is. Breakfast in Bed also featured the two songs ("Heatwave" and "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted") that she had covered for the film Standing in the Shadows of Motown.

She sang lead vocals on the cover of "Spoonful" on Vivian Campbell's solo album Two Sides Of If. She also provided some vocals for "Wayfaring Stranger" on Spearhead's 1997 album Chocolate Supa Highway. She covered Dolly Parton's "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" on the 2003 tribute album Just Because I'm a Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton. She is featured on the Holmes Brothers 2007 collection State of Grace performing "Those Memories of You", an old Allan O'Bryant and Bill Monroe bluegrass tune.

Osborne's latest album, Little Wild One, was released in September 2008. Osborne performs as a guest vocalist on Sgt. Pepper Live, the 2009 album and DVD by Cheap Trick.

Recently her song "One of Us" was performed by the cast of Glee in the episode "Grilled Cheesus".

She performed with The Waybacks at Merlefest, 2011, during the Hillside Album hour, featuring The Allman Brothers' Eat a Peach.

Osborne is currently a member of Trigger Hippy, along with Steve Gorman, Audley Freed, Jackie Greene, and Nick Govrik.

Personal life

Osborne has a daughter who was born in December 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions										Certifications (sales threshold)
		US	US Country	US Indie	AUS	CAN	FIN	NZ	SWE	SWI	UK
Relish	Release date: March 21, 1995 Label: Blue Gorilla Records Formats: CD, cassette	9	—	—	12	5	14	13	6	18	5	CAN: Platinum UK: Gold US: 3× Platinum
Righteous Love	Release date: September 12, 2000 Label: Interscope Records Formats: CD, cassette	90	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
How Sweet It Is	Release date: September 17, 2002 Label: Compendia Records Formats: CD	—	—	19	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Pretty Little Stranger	Release date: 2006 Label: Vanguard Records Formats: CD, music download	—	58	34	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Breakfast in Bed	Release date: 2007 Label: Time Life Music Formats: CD, music download	160	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Little Wild One	Release date: September 9, 2008 Label: Saguaro Road Records Formats: CD, music download	193	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that country

Live albums

Title	Album details
Soul Show: Live at Delta 88	Release date: 1991 Label: Womanly Hips Records Formats: CD, cassette
Early Recordings	Release date: November 5, 1996 Label: Mercury Records Formats: CD, cassette

Compilation albums

Title	Album details
One of Us	Release date: June 28, 2005 Label: Artemis Records Formats: CD, music download

Holiday albums

Title	Album details
Christmas Means Love	Release date: 2005 Label: Time Life Music Formats: CD, music download

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions										Certifications (sales threshold)	Album
		US	US AC	US Adult	US Pop	US Mod	AUS	CAN	CAN AC	NZ	UK
1995	"One of Us"	4	20	16	2	7	1	1	5	11	6	US: Gold	Relish
1996	"St. Teresa"	—	—	—	—	—	43	69	42	38	33
	"Right Hand Man"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	"Ladder"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2007	"I've Got to Use My Imagination"[A]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Breakfast in Bed
2008	"Sweeter Than the Rest"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Little Wild One
2012	"Shake Your Hips"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		TBD
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that country

Notes

• A ^ "I've Got to Use My Imagination" peaked at number 27 on the U.S. Billboard Jazz Songs chart.

External links

• Joan Osborne Official Website
• Joan Osborne at the Internet Movie Database
• Joan Osborne interview and Performance