Joan Osborne

Career

Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb of Louisville, Osborne moved to New York City in the late 1980s to study filmmaking at New York University, where she had classes with legendary documentarian George Stoney, among others. Osborne was paying her own way through college and taking time off to earn money for another semester when, by chance, she sang at an open mic night at the Abilene Café. The other musicians encouraged her to return, and she began singing weekly at the Abilene's open mic and at other blues open mics in NYC's East Village. She soon became immersed in NYC's live music scene, forming her own band and playing in nightclubs alongside groups like the Sweetones, Surreal McCoys, Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, and the Holmes Brothers, and artists like Chris Whitley, Frankie Paris, and Jeff Buckley.

In 1991, she formed her own record label, Womanly Hips, to release her first full-length album, Soul Show: Live at Delta 88, and she began to tour around the Northeast, building a devoted regional following. She signed a recording contract with Rick Chertoff of Mercury Records, and released her second (and first major label) album Relish (1995), which became a hit on the strength of the single "One of Us". "Right Hand Man" and "St. Teresa" were minor hits, and "Spider Web" also received radio play. Osborne wrote and directed the second music video for "St. Teresa".

Osborne was a co-headliner for the Lilith Fair in 1997.

In 2001, Osborne produced an album for her friends the Holmes Brothers, Speaking in Tongues, engineered by Grammy winner Trina Shoemaker and featuring backing vocals from Catherine Russell, Maydie Miles, and Osborne. The album was released by Alligator Records.

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-1990s 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. Her vocals were featured prominently on the album Live at the Warfield. She continues to make appearances with the band.

In February 2007, she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. In May 2007, she issued Breakfast in Bed, produced by Tor Hyams, 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. The same year, Osborne appeared as a featured guest in the third season of the Transatlantic Sessions television series, performing "Saint Teresa", "Holy Water", and "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends".

Osborne sang lead vocals on the cover of the Willie Dixon-penned "Spoonful" on Vivian Campbell's 2005 solo album, Two Sides of If. She also provided vocals for "Wayfaring Stranger" on Spearhead's 1997 album, Chocolate Supa Highway. She interpreted "Raglan Road" for the Chieftains 1999 album, Tears of Stone, and 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 Alan O'Bryant bluegrass tune.

Osborne released the studio album Little Wild One in September 2008. She performed as a guest vocalist on Sgt. Pepper Live, the 2009 album and DVD by Cheap Trick. In 2010, she was awarded the Woman of Achievement Award from Women's Project Theater. She performed with The Waybacks at Merlefest, 2011, during the Hillside Album hour, featuring The Allman Brothers' Eat a Peach.

In 2010, Osborne again produced an album for the Holmes Brothers on Alligator Records, Feed My Soul, which featured contributions from keyboard player Glenn Patscha.

Her album Bring It On Home was released on March 27, 2012. It is a collection of vintage blues and soul covers, and it received a 2013 Grammy Awards nomination for Best Blues Album. In September 2012, Osborne was featured in a campaign called "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book.

Osborne was a member of Trigger Hippy, along with Steve Gorman, Tom Bukovac, Jackie Greene, and Nick Govrik. The band released their debut album on September 30, 2014. She announced her departure from the group on her blog in October 2018.

On October 31, 2015, Osborne and Mavis Staples performed in Washington, D.C. at The George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium as part of their Solid Soul Tour.

Osborne has a long history of political activism, in particular with Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She began volunteering as a PPFA clinic escort in NYC in the 1980s, has organized benefit concerts for the group, and was honored as a PPFA "Woman of the Year" in 1997 after she promoted Planned Parenthood from the Lilith Fair stage in Houston, TX, despite being expressly forbidden to do so by the arena's owners, who then blacklisted her from the venue.

Osborne released the original album Love and Hate in 2014 and followed up in 2017 with Songs of Bob Dylan, another cover album. In 2020, she published Trouble and Strife, and in 2022, she issued the live compilation Radio Waves. In 2023, Osborne released the studio album Nobody Owns You.

Personal life

Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb of Louisville, Osborne moved to New York City in the late 1980s. She has stated that she feels an attachment to the city, particularly the borough of Brooklyn. Her interest in the culture, history, and society of her Boerum Hill neighborhood has influenced her music. She has also expressed admiration for American poetry, especially the works of Walt Whitman, cited as a major inspiration for her songwriting.

Raised a Roman Catholic, Osborne distanced herself from that institution after childhood, specifically after telling her parents that she wished to become a priest, only to learn that the Church does not allow women to do so. As an adult, she regards herself as skeptical of large-scale organized religion and identifies as a "spiritual person" influenced by both Buddhism and Christianity.

Osborne has a daughter, born in December 2004.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

References

1. Steve Pick, [http://blues.about.com/od/cddvdreview1/fr/Joan-Osborne-Bring-It-On-Home-2012.htm Review of Joan Osborne – Bring It On Home (2012)] {{Webarchive. link. (February 6, 2013 , About.com Blues, March 2012)
2. "Women of Achievement Honorees".
3. "Bring It On Home". All Music.
4. (August 30, 2012). "30 Songs / 30 Days for Half the Sky | Half The Sky". Halftheskymovement.org.
5. "Trigger Hippy – "Trigger Hippy" (album stream) (Premiere)".
6. (October 29, 2018). "Dear Trigger Hippy Fans". Joanosborne.com.
7. "Mavis Staples and Joan Osborne Bring Soul to Campus - GW Today - The George Washington University".
8. (September 30, 2019). "Building a Mystery: An Oral History of Lilith Fair".
9. (September 19, 2020). "Joan Osborne Gets Political in 'Trouble And Strife'".
10. (February 21, 2018). "Joan of arts: Singer curates a women's music series". Brooklyn Paper.
11. "Joan Osborne: Finding a Spiritual Space in an Ordinary World".
12. Christiano-Mistretta, Maryanne. (July 11, 2013). "Joan Osborne Brings it on Home to Maplewoodstock". TheAlternativePress.com.
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18. "The Women's Project Honors Laurie Anderson, Joan Osborne & Suzanne Vega in Concert, 3/8".