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Laurie Anderson

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Laurie Anderson is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker, born in Chicago in 1947. She had violin lessons, studied art history at Barnard College and in 1972 took a master's degree in sculpture at Columbia University. She performed her first performance piece, a symphony for car horns, in 1969. In the 1970s she worked in New York as an art teacher, art critic and performer, with an emphasis on language, technology and image. A well-known piece from that time is Duets on Ice, in which she played on skates that were frozen into a block of ice and stopped only when the ice had melted.

Music and breakthrough

Her commercial breakthrough came unexpectedly in 1981, when O Superman reached number two in the British chart. In 1982 her debut album Big Science followed, then Mister Heartbreak, Strange Angels, Bright Red and Life on a String. In 1986 she starred in and directed the concert film Home of the Brave. She also made theatre work, documentaries, installations and a CD-ROM.

Influence

Anderson is a pioneer in electronic music and invented instruments of her own for her recordings and shows. Her music combines storytelling, violin sounds and electronics, with a cool, dry voice that almost speaks. She showed that pop and performance art can reinforce each other, and her work opened a path for artists who want to combine music, image and technology.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to O Superman and notice the repeated, electronic sound beneath her voice, and how the story about a telephone call sounds almost like a monologue.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists