- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Music from the Film) [Deluxe Edition] · 2000
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Music from the Motion Picture) · 2000
- Pieces of the Sky · 1975
- Grievous Angel · 1974
- It's About Time · 1983
- Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town · 1978
- Trio (Remastered) · 1987
- Luxury Liner · 1976
- The Complete Trio Collection (Deluxe Edition) · 1998
- Red Dirt Girl · 2000
- Earl Thomas Conley: 16 Biggest Hits · 1988
- All the Roadrunning · 2006
- The Essential John Denver · 1972
Essential Albums
- Teaming up with visionary producer Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris made a startling album that sounded like nothing she'd done before. Instead of twangy guitars, there are layers of synthetic textures, anchored by U2's Larry Mullen, Jr. on drums. She even covers Jimi Hendrix on the furthest-out track, "May This Be Love." Yet Harris' vocals are as heartfelt as ever, and her country roots aren't buried: "Waltz Across Texas Tonight," with electronically treated harmonies by the McGarrigle sisters, is both rootsy and otherworldly.
- 1987
- Paradoxically, Harris helped push country music forward in the 1970s by taking it backwards. Her music embraced the pristine sounds and starkly haunting sentiments of centuries-old Appalachian tunes, gospel standards and cowboy balladry. She applied these values (via her shiver-inducing, crystalline voice) brilliantly on 1977's Luxury Liner. Arguably her first full-realized album, Harris found the link between such diverse songs as the Louvin Brothers' poignant "When I Stop Dreaming" and Townes Van Zandt's latter-day outlaw ode "Pancho and Lefty." She kicks up her heels on her readings of Chuck Berry's "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie" and the Gram Parsons-penned title track, making down-home rock sound as timeless as a mountain tune. Emmylou's soon-to-be legendary group The Hot Band plays lean, clean and scorching throughout. Luxury Liner is a milestone in Harris' artistic pilgrimage, an inspiring mix of old-time musicality and contemporary creative ambition.
- This album introduced the world-at-large to a new kind of country queen. Emmylou had already earned progressive-country cred as Gram Parsons’ duet partner, but her first real solo flight proved that she had a feel for classic country too. Her otherworldly quaver is just as goose bump-inducing when she’s redefining tunes such as “Sweet Dreams” and Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya” as it is on her versions of Parsons’ ominous “Sin City” and Rodney Crowell’s heartbreaking ballad “Till I Gain Control Again.”
- Though Emmylou Harris was Gram Parsons’ vocal partner for his pioneering country-rock records, progressive country was still a new idea when she made her official solo debut in 1975. So hearing Harris’ organic-but-otherworldly tones wrap around everything from honky-tonk (her sad-but-sassy take on Merle Haggard’s saloon-slinger “Bottle Let Me Down”) to Beatles tunes (a heart-stopping reinvention of the forlorn “For No One”) with equal grace must have seemed as unprecedented then as it feels timeless today.
- 2015
- 2013
- 2008
- 2006
- 2003
- 2000
Music Videos
Artist Playlists
- The godmother of alt-country has a heady history.
- Her extensive catalog showcases her skill and versatility.
- Her pioneering Americana spurred on countless rootsy crooners.
- She deftly channels both classic country and timeless pop.
Live Albums
- 1998
- 1992
- 1982
- 1982
Appears On
- Barbara Cowart
- Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels
- Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels
About Emmylou Harris
Country music legend Emmylou Harris went to college on a drama scholarship, but she dropped out to pursue a singing career, inspired by the music of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. ∙ Harris got her big break in 1972, when Gram Parsons invited her to collaborate with him on his debut solo album, GP. ∙ Beginning with 1975’s Pieces of the Sky, she has reached the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart 22 times. ∙ The Grammy-winning Trio album showcased her heavenly harmonies with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, with Harris singing lead on their #1 hit cover of “To Know Him Is to Love Him.” ∙ All the Roadrunning, her 2006 collaboration with Mark Knopfler, was a Top 20 hit in 15 countries. ∙ An acclaimed song interpreter, Harris is also a gifted writer, and the 2001 Grammy-winning folk album Red Dirt Girl features her original songs. ∙ She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
- HOMETOWN
- Birmingham, AL, United States
- BORN
- April 2, 1947