Photo: NeilEvans ( talk ) · CC BY 3.0 · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Gretchen Peters
Person · female · United States · Bronxville · born 1957 · recording since 1996
American musician
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Also known as Gretchen Daniel · Gretchen P. Daniel
Timeline
12 events▣ Album 10◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1
1950s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: The Secret of Life
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2000s
2010s
2020s
Biography
English biography318 words · 4 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1362610497
Biography
Gretchen Peters is an American singer and songwriter.
Early life
Peters was born in Bronxville in affluent Westchester County, New York, on November 14, 1957 and spent her early childhood in nearby Pelham Manor. Her father was the journalist and filmmaker William Peters. In 1970, after her parents' divorce, Peters moved with her mother to Boulder, Colorado.
Music career
In Boulder, she discovered a lively music scene, and began playing at local clubs. In 1988 she moved to Nashville, where she found work as a songwriter, composing hits for Martina McBride, Etta James, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Anne Murray, Shania Twain, Neil Diamond and co-writing songs with Bryan Adams. Some of Peters' notable compositions include "The Secret of Life
The Secret of LifeSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Waiting for the Light to Turn Green3:432Border Town4:083I Ain't Ever Satisfied3:524I Was Looking for You3:595On a Bus to St Cloud3:566Over Africa4:117This Uncivil War4:098The Secret of Life4:179A Room With a View3:4010Circus Girl3:3511When You Are Old2:54", "On a Bus to St. Cloud", "You Don't Even Know Who I Am" and "Independence Day", for which she received the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year. In addition, Peters has released fourteen studio albums of her own, beginning with 1996's The Secret of Life.
As a writer, Peters' style is defined by melancholy lyrics and dark themes, such as murder, loneliness, PTSD, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. She was inducted to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on October 5, 2014.
In June 2021, the Academy of Country Music announced that they would honor Peters with the Poet's Award. Presented during the ACM Honors ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium on August 25, 2021, the award honors to a songwriter’s "outstanding and longstanding musical and/or lyrical contributions throughout their career, with special consideration given to a song or songs’ impact on the culture of country music."
On August 12, 2022, Peters announced her intention to retire from full-scale touring and completed a UK "farewell tour" in June 2023, though she will continue to write and record.
Personal life
Peters is married to keyboardist and producer Barry Walsh, her long-time performing partner, who has also performed with the reunified Box Tops.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 12 | 64.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 17 | 85.9th |
| Studio albums | 10 | 91.1th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 12 | 88.9th |
| Recording span (years) | 26 | 58.1th |
| Genres | 4 | 84.7th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (17 release groups · 10 studio albums)
Albums · 10
1996 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 42:24
1Waiting for the Light to Turn Green3:432Border Town4:083I Ain't Ever Satisfied3:524I Was Looking for You3:595On a Bus to St Cloud3:566Over Africa4:117This Uncivil War4:098The Secret of Life4:179A Room With a View3:4010Circus Girl3:3511When You Are Old2:542000 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 45:54
1Souvenirs4:482In a Perfect World3:243I Don't Know4:394Love and Texaco4:015Love Is a Drug3:536Like Water Into Wine4:427Eddie's First Wife4:038Picasso and Me2:579Lilies of the Field4:1310Waiting for Amelia4:2811Revival4:462004 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 41:10
1Tomorrow Morning3:402The Aviator's Song4:413Blessing in Disguise3:294Child of Mine3:095A Cool Goodbye3:016Imogene3:287This Used to Be My Town4:328If Heaven3:189Germantown5:0510Drowning in You3:3611Museum3:112007 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 51:41
1Ghost4:202Sunday Morning (Up and Down My Street)4:103Summer People3:564Jezebel3:595Thirsty3:446England Blues3:087The Lady of the House4:348One for My Baby4:409The Way You Move Me4:1210This Town3:1211Breakfast at Our House6:2712To Say Goodbye5:192008 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 41:42
1Song for a Winter's Night4:262Coventry Carol (Prelude)0:283Coventry Carol3:474I Wonder as I Wander2:465December Child4:026(Charlie's) Angels3:327Waitin' on Mary3:388In the Bleak Midwinter4:379Careful How You Go3:1410Northern Lights4:1311Christmas Time Is Here3:0212Silent Night3:57One to the Heart, One to the Head
2009 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 53:39
1North Platte0:562Prairie in the Sky4:403Billy 45:374Blue Mountains of Mexico3:375These Cowboys Born Out of Their Time4:126Guadalupe5:397Sweet and Shiny Eyes3:008Wolves4:169Snowin on Raton4:2310Old Paint3:0911My Last Go Round3:4312North Platte (reprise)1:0713If I Had a Gun3:1114Prairie Melancholy6:092012 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 52:14
1Hello Cruel World4:252Saint Francis4:533The Matador4:184Dark Angel3:445Paradise Found4:506Woman on the Wheel5:007Five Minutes5:008Camille4:549Natural Disaster4:5010Idlewild5:3311Little World4:472015 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 49:30
1Blackbirds4:332Pretty Things5:033When All You Got Is A Hammer3:484Everything Falls Away4:075The House On Auburn Street5:236When you Comin’ Home2:597Jubilee4:488Black Ribbons4:569Nashville4:5110The Cure For The Pain4:1311Blackbirds (Reprise)4:492018 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 50:06
1Arguing With Ghosts3:582Wichita3:533The Boy From Rye5:214Disappearing Act4:585Lowlands4:496The Show4:387Dancing With the Beast5:558Truckstop Angel4:289Say Grace4:3110Lay Low4:3711Love That Makes a Cup of Tea2:58The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury
2020 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 51:35
1The Sailor5:052She Even Woke Me up to Say Goodbye3:423Just Dropped in (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)3:534The Night You Wrote That Song4:555Wish I Was3:536Why You Been Gone so Long3:537Frisco Depot4:388Leavin’ Kentucky4:079Heaven Help the Child3:4310San Francisco Mabel Joy5:1811Saint Cecelia4:2812Three Bells for Stephen4:00
Album · 5
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | TrioSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 13 tracks · 54:391Museum3:36 2Circus Girl3:33 3Like Water Into Wine3:47 4Souvenirs4:58 5Main Street4:15 6You Don't Even Know Who I Am4:18 7The Secret of Life4:30 8Revival4:49 9Over Africa5:09 10This Used to Be My Town3:58 11American Tune4:16 12On a Bus to St. Cloud4:07 13When You Are Old3:23 | Live | August 2005 | |
| 2010 | Circus Girl: The Best of Gretchen PetersSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 15 tracks · 54:101Circus Girl3:34 2The Aviator’s Song4:39 3Sunday Morning4:09 4The Secret of Life4:14 5If Heaven3:16 6On a Bus to St Cloud3:54 7In a Perfect World3:22 8This Town3:09 9Picasso and Me2:56 10When You Are Old2:53 11Independence Day3:43 12Tomorrow Morning3:38 13The Way You Move Me4:10 14Don’t You Know2:28 15Nobody’s Girl4:05 | Compilation | 1 May 2010 | |
| 2016 | The Essential Gretchen PetersSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 27 tracks · 1:55:38Disc 1 1Blackbirds4:30 2The Aviator’s Song4:40 3The Secret of Life4:17 4If Heaven3:19 5When All You Got Is a Hammer3:48 6On a Bus to St. Cloud4:48 7The Matador4:16 8Sunday Morning (Up and Down My Street)4:09 9Guadalupe5:40 10Hello Cruel World4:22 11When You Love Someone3:09 12Five Minutes5:00 13When You Are Old2:55 Disc 21The Way You Move Me3:28 2Ring Around the Moon3:22 3Pretty Things (radio edit)4:02 4The Cruel Mother6:21 5Woman on the Wheel (live)5:09 6When You Wish Upon a Star3:03 7I Saw Your Light4:37 8Love3:29 9The Chill of an Early Fall (demo)3:47 10Independence Day (acoustic version)4:40 11Wild Horses5:32 12The Answer (work tape)3:24 13Blackbirds (work tape)5:13 14Five Minutes (work tape)4:38 | Compilation | 29 January 2016 | |
| 2018 | Sad Songs Make Me HappySearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 11 tracks · 50:371Disappearing Act4:58 2Blackbirds4:33 3The Matador4:18 4The Way You Move Me4:12 5When All You Got Is a Hammer3:48 6This Used to Be My Town4:32 7Independence Day4:42 8Five Minutes5:00 9On a Bus to St. Cloud4:48 10The Answer3:25 11The Cruel Mother6:21 | Compilation | 13 April 2018 | |
| 2022 | The Show: Live from the UKSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 18 tracks · 1:35:28Disc 1 1Arguing With Ghosts4:39 2Hello Cruel World4:27 3The Secret of Life4:36 4Revival4:56 5Love That Makes a Cup of Tea3:20 6Blackbirds7:17 7When You Love Someone3:27 8On a Bus to St. Cloud5:13 9To Say Goodbye9:21 10When You Are Old4:11 Disc 21When All You Got Is a Hammer4:26 2Disappearing Act4:39 3Wichita4:50 4Say Grace5:05 5Everything Falls Away6:20 6The Matador6:09 7Five Minutes5:33 8Idlewild6:59 | Live | 2022 |
EP · 2
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Songs From the Red RoomSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 4 tracks · 18:201Hello Cruel World4:12 2Five Minutes5:02 3Natural Disaster4:29 4Saint Francis4:37 | 31 January 2012 | ||
| 2015 | Hits & MissesSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 4 tracks · 17:301If Heaven3:32 2The Secret of Life4:41 3On a Bus to St. Coud4:35 4Independance Day4:42 | 2015 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Gretchen Peters head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 12 | 64.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 17 | 85.9th |
| Studio albums | 10 | 91.1th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 12 | 88.9th |
| Recording span (years) | 26 | 58.1th |
| Genres | 4 | 84.7th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GretchenPeters.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/ca311a64-0a30-4fdb-ad0c-02444b8b0b8bdiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/ca311a64-0a30-4fdb-ad0c-02444b8b0b8bcore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4818845genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4818845seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretchen_Petersbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretchen_Peters
Why this artist is in the database
- List of country music performers
- List of folk musicians
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: NeilEvans ( talk ) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q4818845 · MusicBrainz: ca311a64-0a30-4fdb-ad0c-02444b8b0b8b
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