Joan Osborne

Biography

Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter. She has recorded and performed in various musical genres, including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best known for her recording of the Eric Bazilian-penned song "One of Us×One of Us1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1One of Us (edit)4:192Dracula Moon6:203One of Us5:224Crazy Baby (live)8:07", from her debut album, Relish×Relish21 March 1995 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1St. Teresa5:202Man in the Long Black Coat4:523Right Hand Man5:024Pensacola4:375Dracula Moon6:206One of Us5:247Ladder4:148Spider Web5:339Let’s Just Get Naked5:1210Help Me5:1211Crazy Baby6:3612Lumina3:08 (1995). Both the single and the album became worldwide hits and garnered a combined seven Grammy Award nominations. Osborne has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002).

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×Soul Show1991 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Son of a Preacher Man6:032Flyaway3:443Get Up Jack4:274Crazy Baby5:375Fingerprints4:546Dreamin' About the Day4:007Help Me6:568Match Burn Twice3:499Wild World4:49104 Camels4:1511Lady Madonna3:40: 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×Relish21 March 1995 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1St. Teresa5:202Man in the Long Black Coat4:523Right Hand Man5:024Pensacola4:375Dracula Moon6:206One of Us5:247Ladder4:148Spider Web5:339Let’s Just Get Naked5:1210Help Me5:1211Crazy Baby6:3612Lumina3:08 (1995), which became a hit on the strength of the single "One of Us×One of Us1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1One of Us (edit)4:192Dracula Moon6:203One of Us5:224Crazy Baby (live)8:07". "Right Hand Man" and "St. Teresa×St. Teresa1996 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1St. Teresa (edit)4:102Spider Web (live)5:283St. Teresa (live)4:184Lumina3:08" 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×How Sweet It Is17 September 2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1I'll Be Around4:322Think3:383How Sweet It Is4:224Smiling Faces Sometimes4:455Love's in Need of Love Today4:126These Arms of Mine4:397Only You Know and I Know3:458War5:509Why Can't We Live Together?4:5910Axis: Bold as Love4:0511The Weight5:1312Everybody Is a Star3:15, 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×Little Wild One9 September 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Hallelujah in the City4:162Sweeter Than the Rest4:093Cathedrals4:174Little Wild One3:315Rodeo3:396The One I Love4:257Daddy-O3:288Meet You in the Middle3:469Can't Say No4:4910Light of This World4:0011Bury Me on the Battery3:03 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×Bring It On Home6 March 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1I Don’t Need No Doctor3:202Bring It On Home4:073Roll Like a Big Wheel2:504Game of Love3:175Broken Wings4:396Shoorah! Shoorah!2:537I Want to Be Loved3:358The Same Love That Made Me Laugh4:269Shake Your Hips3:2910I’m Qualified3:1611Champagne and Wine3:4112Rhymes4:43 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×Love and Hate8 April 2014 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Where We Start5:432Work on Me2:453Mongrels4:104Train4:365Up All Night3:486Not Too Well Acquainted5:467Thirsty for My Tears3:378Love and Hate3:389Kitten's Got Claws5:2010Secret Room4:0411Keep It Underground3:4512Raga2:21 in 2014 and followed up in 2017 with Songs of Bob Dylan×Songs of Bob Dylan1 September 2017 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Tangled Up in Blue5:432Rainy Day Women #12 & 354:053Buckets of Rain3:554Highway 61 Revisited4:195Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)4:216Tryin' to Get to Heaven4:267Spanish Harlem Incident2:568Dark Eyes4:029High Water (For Charley Patton)3:5310You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go4:1211Masters of War4:2312You Ain't Goin' Nowhere3:1513Ring Them Bells3:13, another cover album. In 2020, she published Trouble and Strife, and in 2022, she issued the live compilation Radio Waves×Radio Waves18 February 2022 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Saint Teresa3:532My Love Is Alive3:283Dream a Little Dream3:444How Sweet It Is4:375Shake Your Hips4:066One of Us4:277Real Love3:218Little Wild One4:359Same Love That Made Me Laugh5:2910Make You Feel My Love4:1211Only You Know and I Know3:3512Love’s in Need of Love Today4:2613Everybody Is a Star3:00. In 2023, Osborne released the studio album Nobody Owns You×Nobody Owns You8 September 2023 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1I Should've Danced More3:562Nobody Owns You3:323So Many Airports3:444Woman's Work3:395The Smallest Trees3:406Time of the Gun4:037Dig a Little Ditch3:408Secret Wine3:379Child of God4:2610Tower of Joy4:0011Lifeline4:1612Great American Cities4:39.

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.
Osborne identifies as bisexual.

Grammy Awards

"One of Us×One of Us1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1One of Us (edit)4:192Dracula Moon6:203One of Us5:224Crazy Baby (live)8:07" was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The nomination is credited to the songwriter, Eric Bazilian.