Diamanda Galás

A fiercely confrontational avant-garde performer noted for her wailing, four-octave vocal range, Diamanda Galás has received momentous acclaim for her harrowing, politically charged works. Drawing from German expressionism as well as the traditions of blues, gospel, and country, among many other forms, her work addresses subjects such as mental illness, injustice, and suffering. A longtime activist, she has addressed the AIDS crisis in works such as her trilogy Masque of the Red Death, composed in 1986, and 1991's Plague Mass, the first of her numerous live recordings. The Sporting Life, a 1994 collaboration with John Paul Jones, presented Galás in a rock band setting for the first time. On albums such as Malediction & Prayer (1998) and All the Way (2017), she performs radical interpretations of blues, jazz, soul, and country/folk standards, accompanying herself on piano. Broken Gargoyles, originally premiered as part of a sound installation, appeared in 2022.