Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson
Anderson in 2020
Anderson in 2020
Background information
Birth nameLaura Phillips Anderson
Born (1947-06-05) June 5, 1947 (age 77)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • performance artist
  • electronic literature writer
Instruments
  • Violin
  • keyboards
  • percussion
  • vocals
Years active1969–present
Labels
Spouse
(m. 2008; died 2013)
Websitelaurieanderson.com

Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist,[2][3] musician and filmmaker whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects.[3] Initially trained in violin and sculpting,[4] Anderson pursued a variety of performance art projects in New York City during the 1970s, focusing particularly on language, technology, and visual imagery.[2] She achieved unexpected commercial success when her song "O Superman" reached number two on the UK singles chart in 1981.

Anderson's debut studio album Big Science was released in 1982 and has since been followed by a number of studio and live albums. She starred in and directed the 1986 concert film Home of the Brave.[5] Anderson's creative output has also included theatrical and documentary works, voice acting, art installations, and a CD-ROM. She is a pioneer in electronic music and has invented several musical devices that she has used in her recordings and performance art shows.[6]

  1. ^ Holden, Stephen (February 28, 1999). "Music; They're Recording, but Are They Artists?". The New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Ankeny, Jason. "Laurie Anderson Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Fletcher, Kenneth R. "Anderson: The celebrated performance artist discusses Andy Warhol, NASA and her work at McDonald's". Smithsonian. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  4. ^ Amirkhanian, Charles. "Women in Electronic Music – 1977". Liner note essay. New World Records.
  5. ^ "AE160D Unit 11: Laurie Anderson". Archived from the original on December 1, 2007.
  6. ^ Sachs, Ben (November 11, 2015). "Electronic musician Laurie Anderson takes to the big screen". Chicago Reader. Retrieved June 12, 2016.