Anne Murray

For other people named Anne Murray, see Anne Murray (disambiguation).

Anne Murray

Morna Anne Murray, CC, ONS (born June 20, 1945) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian singer. Murray has performed in pop, country and adult contemporary styles. So far, her albums have sold over 54 million copies.

Murray was the first Canadian female solo singer to reach #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 woman who paved the way for other Canadian international success stories such as Céline Dion, Sarah McLachlan and Shania Twain. She is also the first woman and the first Canadian to win "Album of the Year" at the Country Music Association Awards for her 1984 album A Little Good News.

Murray has received four Grammys, three American Music Awards, three Country Music Association Awards, three Canadian Country Music Association Awards and 24 Juno Awards. She has also been honoured with the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2008), the Legacy Award from the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (2006), the East Coast Music Association Directors' Special Achievement Award (2001), induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame (2002) and induction into the Juno Hall of Fame (1993).

Early career

After expressing an early interest in music, she studied piano for six years; by age fifteen, she began taking voice lessons. Every Saturday morning, she took a bus ride from Springhill to Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, for her singing lesson with her teacher, Karen Mills.

In 1965 she appeared on the Univeristy of New Brunswick record "The Groove" (500 pressed). She sang two songs on the record, including "Unchained Melody". On the label her name was misspelled "Anne Murry".

a call from "Singalong Jubilee" co-host and associate producer, Bill Langstroth, and asked to return for a second audition. Anne was subsequently cast for the show.

After a summer of singing, Murray began teaching Physical Education at a high school in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. on a A "Singalong Jubilee" soundtrack was released by Arc Records, one of Canada's Murray that she should record a solo album; her first album, What About Me, was produced by Ahern in Toronto and released in 1968 on the Arc label.

Early career

After expressing an early interest in music, she studied piano for six years; by age fifteen, she began taking voice lessons. Every Saturday morning, she took a bus ride from Springhill to Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, for her singing lesson with her teacher, Karen Mills.

In 1965 she appeared on the Univeristy of New Brunswick record "The Groove" (500 pressed). She sang two songs on the record, including "Unchained Melody". On the label her name was misspelled "Anne Murry".

Murray was encouraged to audition for the 1960s CBC music television show "Singalong Jubilee"; unfortunately the cast was full at the time. Two years later she received a call from "Singalong Jubilee" co-host and associate producer, Bill Langstroth, and asked to return for a second audition. Anne was subsequently cast for the show.

After a summer of singing, Murray began teaching Physical Education at a high school in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. However after one year of teaching, she was offered a spot on a television show, "Let's Go" and returned to "Singalong Jubilee." A "Singalong Jubilee" soundtrack was released by Arc Records, one of Canada's first record labels. The show's musical director, Brian Ahern, advised Murray that she should record a solo album; her first album, What About Me, was produced by Ahern in Toronto and released in 1968 on the Arc label.

Success

The Anne Murray Centre in Springhill, Nova Scotia

Murray's debut album was on the Canadian Arc label, entitled What About Me (Arc AS 782). The lead single was the cut of the same name, was written by Scott McKenzie, and was a sizable Canadian radio hit. The project was produced by Brian Ahern and Bill Gilliland, and covered songs by Joni Mitchell, Ken Tobias and John Denver. After a year-long stint on Arc, Anne switched to Capitol Records in 1969 to record her second album, This Way Is My Way, which was released in the fall of the same year. This album featured the single that launched her successful career, "Snowbird," which became a #1 hit in Canada. "Snowbird" became a surprise hit on the U.S. charts as well, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970. It was also the first of eight #1 Adult Contemporary hits for Murray. The song led to Murray being awarded the first Gold record ever given to a Canadian artist in the United States. becoming One of the most successful female artists of our time. Murray became the demand of several television appearances in Canada and the United States, eventually becoming a regular on the hit U.S. TV series The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.

After the success of "Snowbird", Murray had a number of subsequent singles that charted both pop and country simultaneously. During the 1970s and early 1980s, her hits included Kenny Loggins' "Danny's Song" (1972) (peaked at #7 on the Hot 100) and "A Love Song" (1973); "He Thinks I Still Care" and her Top 10 cover of The Beatles' "You Won't See Me" (1974); her all-time career-peaking #1 Hot 100 hit "You Needed Me" (1978) — oddly, though, the biggest pop and commercially successful hit of her career (and, she claims, her personal favourite song in her entire repertoire) stalled out at #4 on Billboard's country singles chart and #3 on Billboard's U.S. Adult Contemporary chart; "I Just Fall in Love Again," "Shadows in the Moonlight," and "Broken Hearted Me" (all from 1979); her revival of The Monkees' 1967 #1 hit "Daydream Believer" and "Could I Have This Dance?" from the Urban Cowboy motion picture soundtrack, both from 1980; "Blessed Are the Believers" (1981); "Another Sleepless Night" (1982); "A Little Good News" (1983); 1984's "Just Another Woman in Love" and "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" (a duet with Dave Loggins of 1974's "Please Come to Boston" fame and cousin of Murray's frequent songwriter Kenny); and "Time, Don't Run Out On Me" from 1985.

Murray performed O Canada at the first American League baseball game played in Canada on April 7, 1977, when the Toronto Blue Jays played the Chicago White Sox at Exhibition Stadium. Murray reprised the Canadian national anthem prior to Game 3 of the 1992 World Series at SkyDome.

She was a celebrity corporate spokeswoman for The Bay. Murray also sang the company jingle for CIBC.

Murray is a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest honour that can be awarded to a Canadian civilian. Canada Post issued a limited edition Anne Murray Stamp in 2007. She was the first inductee into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. She has her own Star at Hollywood and Vine. In 1998, she was in the inaugural group awarded a Star on Canada's Walk of Fame on King Street in Toronto, and she has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Walkway of Stars.

In 2002, Murray was recognized with some diverse honours. She added her handprints to the cement at the Resorts Entrance to the Stars on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City; she was named an Honourary Canadian Tourism Ambassador; and she was a recipient of the Order of Nova Scotia in its inaugural year.

Murray was ranked #24 in Country Music Television's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002.

In 2006 Murray received a tremendous honour: the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame chose Anne Murray and Leonard Cohen as recipients of the prestigious Legacy Award for their extraordinary contributions to and support of the Canadian songwriting industry. Murray was recognized for her unfailing support of Canada’s songwriters, through her performances and her recordings.

Murray's last Hot 100 charting pop hit was "Now and Forever (You and Me)" from 1986; it also was her last #1 on both American and Canadian country charts. Her last charting single in the U.S. was 1991's "Everyday," which appeared in Billboard's Country Singles chart, and her last charting single in Canada was 2000's What a Wonderful World.

In 1996, she signed on with a new manager, Bruce Allen, who also has managed careers for Bryan Adams and Martina McBride. She recorded her first live album in 1997 and in 1999, she released What A Wonderful World, a platinum selling inspirational album, which went Billboard #1 Contemporary Christian, # 4 Country and #38 on the Pop charts. She also released Country Croonin’, the follow-up to her successful 1993 album, Croonin’. In 2004, she released I'll Be Seeing You in Canada only, which features a collection of songs from the early 20th century through to the mid-1940s. The American version, titled All of Me, features a bonus disc containing many of her hit singles, followed in 2005.

On June 29, 2007, Canada Post issued the limited edition Anne Murray Stamp. She was recognized along with three other iconic Canadian recording artists: Paul Anka, Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell.

Murray's final studio album Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends, was released in November 2007 in Canada and January 2008 in the U.S. The album comprises 17 tracks that include many of Murray's biggest hits over her nearly four-decade career, re-recorded as duets with other established, rising, and – in one case – deceased female singers. These artists include Canadian superstars Celine Dion and Shania Twain along with other fellow Canadians k.d. lang, Nelly Furtado, Jann Arden, a CD-closing French-language duet with Québec's Isabelle Boulay, and Murray's daughter, Dawn Langstroth; Australia's decades-long veteran Olivia Newton-John; Nashville's Emmylou Harris, Martina McBride, Shelby Lynne, and pop/country/contemporary Christian crossover artist Amy Grant; songwriting and recording legend Carole King; influential folk-rock duo Indigo Girls; Irish sextet Celtic Woman; Britain's late blue-eyed soul legend and close personal friend of Murray's, Dusty Springfield; and a duet of her landmark, career-establishing #1 hit from 1970, "Snowbird," with world's biggest selling soprano, Sarah Brightman.

Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends was recorded in four cities - Toronto, Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. According to Billboard magazine, the album has thus far reached #2 on the Canadian pop album charts and has recently been certified double platinum in Canada after merely two months, representing sales of over 200,000 units. Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends was the second-highest debuting CD on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart for the week ending February 2, 2008. It entered the chart at #42, making it already her highest-charting U.S. CD release since 1999's What a Wonderful World, which peaked at #38 on the Top 200 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Also for the week ending February 2, 2008, the CD debuted at #8 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and at #3 on its Top Internet Albums chart. Anne was nominated for the 2008 Juno Award for Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year.

On October 10, 2007, Murray announced that she will embark on her final major tour. She toured in February and March 2008 in the U.S., followed by the Coast-to-Coast – One Last Time tour in April and May in Canada.. Her album What a Wonderful World was re-released in July 2008 in North America as a 14-song package. A new Christmas album, titled Anne Murray's Christmas Album with bonus DVD was released in October 2008. She appeared August 25, 2008 on the popular TV program "Canadian Idol" as a mentor, and Sony BMG Music has just announced an upcoming Elvis Presley album out in October 2008 featuring a virtual duet of "Silver Bells" with Ms. Murray.

In January, 2009, Alfred A. Knopf Canada announced that Murray, in collaboration with Michael Posner, will be writing a memoir of her private life and 40-year career in show business. The autobiography, titled All of Me, was released on October 27, 2009. The autobiogrpahy is an unflinching self-portrait of Canada’s first great female recording artist. All of Me documents the life of Anne Murray, from her humble origins in the tragedy-plagued coal-mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, to her arrival on the world stage.

Following the release of her autobiography, All of Me, Murray embarked on a 15-city book signing tour, starting in Nashville on October 27, 2009 and ending in Ottawa on November 24, 2009. The tour also included a special In Conversation interview with Michael Posner at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto on October 30, 2009.

Personal life

Morna Anne Murray was born on June 20, 1945, in the small coal-mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia. Her father, James Carson Murray, was the town doctor and her mother, Marion, was a registered nurse who decided to focus her life on raising her family. Anne Murray learned determination and perseverance from her parents and from growing up with five brothers - David, Daniel, Harold, Stewart and Bruce.

After high school, Murray spent a year at Mount Saint Vincent University, a Catholic women's college in Halifax. Her next stop was the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, where she studied Physical Education. After receiving her degree, Murray taught physical education at a high school in Summerside, Prince Edward Island for one year.

Murray married Bill Langstroth on June 20, 1975 and gave birth to two children: William, in 1976, and the better-known of her children, Dawn Langstroth 1979, a singer, songwriter, and recording artist who has recorded with her mother a number of times. Dawn made her recording debut in 1996, singing background vocals on Anne’s self-titled album. The two also recorded the duet "Let There Be Love" in 1999 for Murray's What A Wonderful World album. Anne and Dawn were featured in a mother-daughter duet on Murray's hit 2008 U.S. CD (released in late '07 in Canada), Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends, Murray's highest-charting release in nine years.

In recent years, Murray has faced many personal challenges: her departure from Capitol Records after more than a quarter-century; the apparent suicide of Gene MacLellan, the composer of her first hit single, "Snowbird", which hit #1 in both Canada and the U.S. and virtually established her international singing career overnight; the death of her beloved manager and friend, Leonard T. Rambeau, from cancer; the separation and subsequent divorce from her husband, Bill; her daughter Dawn's battle with anorexia (Dawn and Anne reluctantly did the US talk-show circuit to raise awareness of the deadly affliction); and most recently, the loss of her best friend to cancer (she recorded her 2005 album All of Me as a tribute to her).

She emerged from those personal adversities in 1999 with her best-selling album in 20 years, What a Wonderful World, which was certified platinum by the RIAA. Her 2002 CD Country Croonin’ was certified gold. Her promising new 2007-08 "Duets" CD was the second-highest debuting album on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart (U.S.) for the week ending February 2, 2008, and is already Anne's highest-charting album in the U.S. since What a Wonderful World was released in 1999. The CD also debuted on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart at #8 and Top Internet Albums chart at #3 for the same week.

Murray has always kept strong ties with her hometown, Springhill, Nova Scotia, located about an hour south of Moncton, New Brunswick and 2 hours north of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Anne Murray Centre, located in Springhill, houses a vast collection of memorabilia from both her personal life and professional career. The Anne Murray Centre is a non-profit association, and all the revenue generated from its operation is used to provide employment for local people and for its ongoing maintenance. The Anne Murray Centre, which opened its doors in 1989, recognizes Anne's musical accomplishments. It has successfully fostered tourism in the area and has promoted awareness of the music of Nova Scotia and Canada.

Anne Murray was also instrumental in the construction of the Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Community Centre in Springhill. Murray was delighted to accept the role of honorary chair of the fundraising campaign to replace the town arena that collapsed after a peewee hockey game in 2002. Named for her parents, the new Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Community Centre sports an NHL-size ice sheet with seating for 800 people, a walking track, multi-purpose room, community room with seating for up to 300, and a gym. The Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Community Centre has become an integral part of the Springhill community since opening on September 15, 2004.

Murray's personal success combined with her visible love and support for Springhill was featured in the article, “Women of Success – Impact on The Economy of Their Hometowns,” in Progressive Choices – Canadian Women In Business magazine (Summer/Fall 2004 edition).

When a devastaing tsunami brought tragedy on Christmas Eve of 2004, Anne Murray joined other Canadian music stars in the Canada for Asia Telethon, a three-hour, tsunami relief concert broadcast on CBC Television (Jnauary 13, 2005) to support CARE Canada’s efforts. Bryan Adams and Murray closed the show with a duet, What Would It Take.

Environmental awareness is another area for which Murray is passionate, and has been a public supporter of renowned Canadian environmentalist and geneticist Dr. David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge.

Anne Murray has also been involved in a variety of charitable orgainzations. She has served as a spokeswoman for many charities throughout her career - most recently Colon Cancer Canada. On May 20, 2009, Colon Cancer Canada launched the inaugural Anne Murray Charity Golf Classic. Over $150,000 was raised through the event.

Murray's father, Dr. Carson Murray, died in 1980 at the young age of 72 from complications of leukemia. Her mother, the former Marion Burke, died April 10, 2006 at the age of 92 after suffered a series of strokes during heart surgery.

TV work

Murray has had five highly-rated US specials on CBS (over 40 million viewers each), countless Canadian specials on CBC (Anne Murray in Nova Scotia) and has appeared on Solid Gold, Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Dean Martin Summer Show, Singalong Jubilee, Dinah!, The Mike Douglas Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, 20/20, CNN, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and The Pat Sajak Show. Her 2005 CBC special Anne Murray: The Music of My Life broke ratings records for a Thursday night, with more than 7 million Canadian viewers tuned in. The guests on her TV specials have included Julio Iglesias, Patti LaBelle, Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, Dusty Springfield, Bananarama, Barenaked Ladies, Alan Thicke, Roch Voisine, Glen Campbell, Valerie Harper, Diana Krall, Jann Arden, and Miss Piggy. The record for the highest-rated variety special in Canadian television history is Anne Murray's Family Christmas, which garnered a 43 per cent share on CBC with 4.2 million viewers.

Discography

Main article: Anne Murray discography

Awards and honors

Main article: List of Anne Murray awards

References

• Millard, Bob (1998). "Anne Murray". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 361–2.
• Grills, Barry (1996) Snowbird: The Story of Anne Murray. Kingston, ON: Quarry Press.
• Livingstone, David (1981) Anne Murray: The Story so Far. Scarborough: Prentice Hall Canada, Inc.
• Murray, Anne (2009) All of Me. Toronto: Knopf Canada.
• http://www.annemurray.com

External links

• Annemurray.com - Anne Murray's official website
• Annemurraycentre.com - Anne Murray Centre's official website
• Order of Canada Citation
• "Queen Anne: Keeping the Class in Classic"