Anna McGarrigle, CM (born December 4, 1944) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

singer and songwriter who recorded and performed with her sister,

Kate McGarrigle Kate McGarrigle (February 6, 1946 – January 18, 2010)Obituary at CBC ...

, who died in 2010.

Early life

Anna McGarrigle studied at the

École des beaux-arts de Montréal École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

(1964-1968).

Music career

In the 1960s,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

natives Kate and Anna McGarrigle established themselves in Montreal's burgeoning folk scene while they attended school. From 1963 to 1967, they teamed up with

Jack Nissenson Jack Nissenson (1933-June 24, 2015 in Montreal) was a member of the Mountain City Four, a Canadian folk music group, based in Montreal and active in the 1960s. In addition to Nissenson, the group consisted of Peter Weldon, Kate McGarrigle and Anna ...

and Peter Weldon to form the folk group

Mountain City Four The Mountain City Four were a Canadian folk music group, based in Montreal and active from 1963 to 1967. The group consisted of Jack Nissenson, Peter Weldon, Kate McGarrigle and Anna McGarrigle. They are primarily remembered for popularizing a num ...

. The sisters wrote, recorded and performed music into the twenty-first century with assorted accompanying musicians, including Chaim Tannenbaum and

Joel Zifkin Joel Zifkin (born April 14, 1954) is a Canadian musician and songwriter. His primary instrument is the electric violin and he is best known as a session musician and live performer. Career Zifkin has performed and/or recorded with the followi ...

. McGarrigle was also a songwriter; her song "Heart Like a Wheel" was the title track of

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

's 1974 album, and her song "Cool River" was recorded by

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song "Midnight at the Oasis" and has ...

. In 2016 Anna and her older sister Jane wrote a book together, ''Mountain City Girls''.

Personal life

McGarrigle married journalist

Dane Lanken Dane Lanken (December 9, 1945 – March 3, 2023) was a Canadian journalist and author. Career Lanken was a film critic for the ''Montreal Gazette'' from 1967 to 1977, and was then a freelance journalist who wrote regularly for ''Canadian Geogr ...

on August 25, 1977 in

Hawkesbury, Ontario Hawkesbury is a Franco-Ontarian city in Prescott-Russell county in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The vast majority of its 10,550 inhabitants are francophone. The Long-Sault Bridge links it to Grenville, Quebec to the north. This bridge, crossing ...

. She and Lanken have two children, Sylvan (b. 1977) and Lily (b. 1979).

Awards

Kate and Anna's 1976 debut album ''

Kate & Anna McGarrigle Kate McGarrigle (February 6, 1946 – January 18, 2010) and Anna McGarrigle (born December 4, 1944) were a duo of Canadian singer-songwriters (and sisters) from Quebec, who performed until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010. Music ...

'' was chosen by ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' as Best Record of the Year. In 1993 she was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. The duo's albums ''Matapedia'' (1996) and ''The McGarrigle Hour'' (1998) won

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

s. In 1999 Kate and Anna received Women of Originality awards and in 2006

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...

Lifetime Achievement awards. In 2017 she was presented with a Quebec Arts and Letters Award."Anna McGarricle gets her due"
''Montreal Gazette'', May 30, 2017

Discography

* ''

'' (1976) * ''

Dancer with Bruised Knees ''Dancer with Bruised Knees'' is the second album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1977. It employed several notable folk musicians to contribute a bluegrass feel to many of the tracks. The album also includes three French songs, one by th ...

'' (1977) * ''

Pronto Monto ''Pronto Monto'' is the third album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1978. The title is an approximate pronunciation of the French phrase "prends ton manteau", which means "take your coat". ''Pronto Monto'' was produced with a pop polish i ...

'' (1978) * ''

Entre Lajeunesse et la sagesse ''Entre la jeunesse et la sagesse'' is the fourth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1980. Consisting entirely of songs in French, the album was initially available only in Canada.''Kate & Anna McGarrigle – Entre la jeunesse et la sag ...

'' (1980) * ''

Love Over and Over ''Love Over and Over'' is the fifth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1982. Following this album, the McGarrigles did not release an album of new material until '' Heartbeats Accelerating'' in 1990. The album contains a French-Canadian ...

'' (1982) * ''

Heartbeats Accelerating ''Heartbeats Accelerating'' is the sixth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1990. It was their first album in eight years, after '' Love Over and Over'' in 1982, and received favourable reviews from many music critics. Bill Dillon, Pie ...

'' (1990) * '' Matapédia'' (1996) * ''

The McGarrigle Hour ''The McGarrigle Hour'' is the eighth studio album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released on October 13, 1998. The album was recorded at a family gathering, including Kate's former husband Loudon Wainwright III, their son and daughter Rufus Wainwr ...

'' (1998) * '' La vache qui pleure'' (2003) * ''

The McGarrigle Christmas Hour ''The McGarrigle Christmas Hour'' is the tenth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 2005. A sequel to their 1998 album ''The McGarrigle Hour'', the album features a program of Christmas music recorded by the McGarrigles, their family and ...

'' (2005) * '' ODDiTTiES'' (2010) * ''

Tell My Sister ''Tell My Sister'' is a three-disc compilation album consisting of songs recorded by Kate & Anna McGarrigle. It was released by Nonesuch Records as a box set on May 3, 2011. The first two discs contain Kate & Anna McGarrigle's first two albums, ''K ...

'' (2011) * '' Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGarrigle, Anna 1944 births Living people Kate & Anna McGarrigle Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian women singer-songwriters Members of the Order of Canada Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of French descent Singers from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people French-language singers of Canada École des beaux-arts de Montréal alumni 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers McGarrigle-Wainwright-Roche family