Indigo Girls
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For a period of ten years in recordings, Indigo Girls’ achievements are astounding. They have sold over seven million albums worldwide that includes one double platinum disc, three platinum and four gold but what is more surprising than these bulky sales figures are the way that these voices can constantly reach out and make a group of strangers feel at home, be heard and inspired.
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About
Emily Saliers entered the world on June 22, 1963 in New Haven, Connecticut while the following year on April 12, 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia, Amy Ray has given birth. The two crossed paths when Emily Saliers family moved to Decatur, Georgia when she was in sixth grade and be enrolled at Laurel Ridge Elementary School where Amy Ray was already enrolled and attending as fifth grader. Their musical chemistry began when they were in high school. They were first known as Saliers and Ray and the B Band and had performed at some talent shows. Soon, they began performing live in some places in Atlanta.
In 1981, they recorded their first demo tape called ‘’’Tuesday Children’’’ in Amy Ray’s basement followed by ‘’’Color Me Grey’’’, a solo work of Amy Ray in 1982. After four years of playing the local scene, the girls come up with the name Indigo Girls in 1985 after Amy Ray had seen the word ‘’Indigo’’ in the dictionary and find it was catchy. Soon after, they started releasing singles to Atlanta radio. It was the same year when they released their first single ‘’’Crazy Game’’’ and the b-side ‘’’Everybody’s Waiting For Someone To Come Home’’’.
In 1987, Indigo Girls had released their full-length album Strange Fire (which was re-released under Epic label in 1989) though they were told that the album was immature and wasn’t able to grab them a record deal. But things sudden changed after the success of Suzzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman and 10,000 Maniacs that led them to quickly signed with Epic Records in 1988.
February 1989 saw the release of their major label debut Indigo Girls which includes the classic hit song ‘’’Closer To Fine’’’. The album eventually earned a platinum certification and snagged them a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording as well as receiving nomination for Best New Artist.
Their follow-up album, 1990’s Nomads Indians Saints wasn’t nearly as strong as the first but went gold in December 1991 and was nominated for a Grammy. A live EP Back On The Bus Y’All was released in 1991 became certified gold as well as earned nominations in a Grammy.
In spring of 1992, the girls come back with Rites of Passage, which is a huge success. Debuted at number 22 on the chart and went platinum by the end of ‘92.
Almost two years later, Swamp Ophelia was released, went gold by the end of 1994 and gone platinum in September 1996 and also charted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
In 1995, Indigo Girls released a double-live album titled 1200 Curfews and the much-anticipated follow-up to Swamp Ophelia, Shining Of The Sun appeared in 1997, followed by their seventh full-length album in Epic titled Come On Now Social on September 28, 1999. The title Come On Now Social was extracted from a line of an Amy Ray song that doesn’t appear on the album. Come On Now Social also features top-caliber artists in the music industry including Joan Osborne, Sheryl Crow, Kate Schellenbach of Luscious Jackson, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Natasha Atlas, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko of the Band and even the voice of Amy’s grandmother, Ozilline Walker.
2000, when Indigo Girls released Retrospective, it’s a compilation album with two new tracks followed by a highly acclaimed album and a fan favorite Become You in 2002. All That We Let In was released in 2004 which was their last studio album with Epic, regarded as their strongest album in years. Rarities set appeared in 2005, a collection of b-sides and rare tracks that culminates their contract with Epic. After leaving Epic, the duo signed a five record deal contract with Hollywood Records and come up with the album released in 2006 called Despite Our Differences.
Despite of the girls’ hectic schedules, the duo’s even managed to ventured off into film and theater like appearing into Whoopi Goldberg’s film in 1994’s Boys On The Side and be part of the Atlanta-based revival of Andrew Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. They also took part in the highly successful Lilith Fair musical festival in ’97 and ’98. They were also engaged to various causes including gay rights, nuclear waste and gun control and continue to make it their top priority.
The Indigo Girls are now busy in promoting new album and are set to tour.
Awards
| Year | Award | Category. |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Grammy Awards | Best Contemporary Folk Recording |
| 1990 | Grammy Awards | Nominated for Best New Artist |
Certifications
| Year | Album | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Strange Fire | Gold |
| 1991 | Indigo Girls | Double Platinum |
| 1991 | Nomads Indians Saints | Gold |
| 1991 | Back On The Bus Y'All (Live EP) | Gold |
| 1992 | Rites Of Passage | Platinum |
| 1994 | Swamp Ophelia | Gold |
| 1996 | Swamp Ophelia | Platinum |
Chart Toppers
| Year | Title | Hot Dance Music/Club Play | Modern Rock Tracks | The Billboard Hot 100 | Adult Top 40 | Top 40 Adult Recurrents | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Shed You Skin | 36 | - | - | - | - | Shaming Of The Sun |
| 1997 | Shame On You | - | - | - | 15 | 6 | Shaming Of The Sun |
| 1994 | Least Complicated | - | 28 | - | - | - | Swamp Ophelia |
| 1992 | Galileo | - | 10 | 89 | - | - | Rites of Passage |
| 1990 | Hammer And A Nail | - | 12 | - | - | - | Nomads Indians Saints |
| 1989 | Closer To Fine | - | 26 | 52 | - | - | Strange Fire |
News
Indigo Girls, Dolly Parton, Sarah McLachlan and Joan Baez respond to domestic violence.
- The Indigo Girls, Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, and Sarah McLachlan are some of the artists appeared on Respond II, a two-CD set released January 22, 2003. benefiting families suffering from domestic violence.
- Other performers who also appeared on the said disc were Tanya Donelly (Breeders, Belly), Aimee Mann, Sleater-Kinney, Angelique Kidjo, Susan Tedeschi, Ani Di Franco, Susan Vega, Patty Griffin, Tracy Bonham, Odetta, Julie Miller and Sweet Honey In The Rock.
- The benefit release came from Catalyst Disc/Signature Sounds, distributed by Koch, with all of the proceeds going to RESPOND Inc. and the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF).
- This set followed the first Respond collection, issued in 1999, which earned more than $125,000. This featured Juliana Hatfield, Mary Lou Lord, Patty Larkin, amongst 24 other artists.
- Since 1974, RESPOND Inc. has worked to fight and end domestic violence, serving thousands of women every year with a 24-hour hotline, providing emergency shelter, a home program, individual and group counselling sessions, outreach program, offering children services, and an intervention program for teen dating violence.
- FVPF also helps women and children who suffers from domestic violence, affliated with health care providers and employers.
Tours & Concerts
| Date | City | State | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/12/07 | Missoula | Montana | University Theater |
| 01/23/07 | Jacksonville | Florida | Florida Theater |
| 01/24/07 | Clearwater | Florida | Ruth Eckerd Hall |
| 01/25/07 | Orlando | Florida | Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre |
| 01/26/07 | Pompano Beach | Florida | Pompano Beach Amphitheater |
| 01/27/07 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | Olivia Eastern Caribbean Cruise |
| 01/28/07 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | Olivia Eastern Caribbean Cruise |
| 01/29/07 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | Olivia Eastern Caribbean Cruise |
| 01/30/07 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | Olivia Eastern Caribbean Cruise |
| 01/31/07 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | Olivia Eastern Caribbean Cruise |
| 02/01/07 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | Olivia Eastern Caribbean Cruise |
| 02/02/07 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | Olivia Eastern Caribbean Cruise |
| 02/03/07 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | Olivia Eastern Caribbean Cruise |
| 02/14/07 | Cambridge | England | The Junction |
| 02/15/07 | London | England | Shepherds Bush Empire |
| 02/17/07 | Brighton | England | Concorde 2 |
| 02/18/07 | Bristol | England | Carling Academy Bristol |
| 02/20/07 | Bristol | England | Carling Academy Birmingham |
| 02/21/07 | Manchester | England | Manchester University |
| 02/22/07 | Sheffield | England | Memorial Hall |
| 02/23/07 | Glasgow | Scotland | ABC |
| 02/25/07 | Dublin | Ireland | Ambassador Theatre |
| 03/14/07 | Uncasville | Connecticut | Mohegan Sun Caberet |
| 03/15/07 | Uncasville | Connecticut | Mohegan Sun Caberet |
| 03/16/07 | Uncasville | Connecticut | Mohegan Sun Caberet |
| 03/17/07 | Uncasville | Connecticut | Mohegan Sun Caberet |
| 03/18/07 | Uncasville | Connecticut | Mohegan Sun Caberet |
| 03/22/07 | Verona | New York | Turning Stone Resort & Casino Showroom |
| 03/24/07 | New York | Delaware | Grand Opera House |
| 03/26/07 | Baltimore | Maryland | Rams Head |
| 03/27/07 | Norfolk | Virginia | The Norva |
Announcements
Discography
Albums
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Singles
| Date | Title | Label | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Closer to Fine | Epic/Sony | Indigo Girls |
| 1990 | Hammer and Nail | Epic/Sony | Nomads Indians Saints |
| 1992 | Galileo | Epic/Sony | Rites Of Passage |
| 1994 | Least Complicated | Epic/Sony | Swamp Ophelia |
Compilations & Live Releases
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Other artists
Similar artists
Influences
Contemporaries
Trivia
- Ray and Saliers do not ordinarily collaborate in writing songs. Both write separately.
- Both Ray and Saliers have long identified themselves as lesbians, although Saliers prefers gay.
- The Indigo Girls participated in the Atlanta-based revival of Jesus Christ Superstar.
- Featured in Lilith Fair in 1997 and 1998.
