Ingrid Ellen Michaelson (born December 8, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her first album, ''
Slow the Rain,'' was released in 2005, and she has since released eight more albums: ''
Girls and Boys,'' ''
Be OK'', ''
Everybody'', ''
Human Again'', ''
Lights Out'', ''
It Doesn't Have to Make Sense
''It Doesn't Have to Make Sense'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, released on August 26, 2016, through Cabin 24 Records under exclusive license to Mom + Pop Music. The album's lead single, "Hell No", ...
'', ''
Songs for the Season
''Songs for the Season'', or ''Ingrid Michaelson's Songs for the Season'', is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson. It was released by Cabin 24 Records on October 26, 2018. It is her first Christmas album and t ...
'', and her most recent, ''
Stranger Songs.'' Her two highest-charting singles are "
The Way I Am" (2007) and "
Girls Chase Boys
"Girls Chase Boys" is the lead single from Ingrid Michaelson's sixth studio album, '' Lights Out''. The song peaked at number 52 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Background
Michaelson spoke about the development of the song and stated,
It was w ...
" (2014), at #37 and #52 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively.
Early life
Michaelson is half
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and was born in 1979 in New York City
to artistic parents. Her father, Carl Michaelson, was a manager of copyrights for the publishing company
Carl Fischer Music
Carl Fischer Music (founded in 1872) is a sheet music publisher based in New York City's East Village. The company has since moved to the Wall Street area in 2013. After 140 years, the company remains a family-owned business, publishing both perf ...
and a composer on the side ("The Praise of Christmas").
Her mother, Elizabeth Egbert, was a sculptor, of
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
ancestry. As a child, Michaelson performed in a musical theatre group called Staten Island Kids On Stage. She took up piano at age 4, and trained until age 7 at Manhattan's
Third Street Music School
Third Street Music School Settlement is the longest-running community music school in the United States. Founded in 1894, it is at 235 East 11th Street, New York City, New York. Third Street has three main programs: a music & dance school, a music ...
, continuing for many more years at the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island's Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute. While there she met vocal coach Elizabeth McCullough, who worked with her through high school.
[''Baby, Remember Her Name'']
Staten Island Advance AWE. (May 24, 2007). Retrieved on August 14, 2007. Michaelson is a graduate of
Staten Island Technical High School and
Binghamton University
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...
, where she received a degree in theater.
While at Binghamton University, she was a member of the Binghamtonics, a co-ed ''
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
'' group, as well as the Pappy Parker Players, an
improv comedy
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...
group, and the theatre
repertory company
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
under Sue Peters. Her time at Binghamton is mentioned in her song "The Hat."
Musical career
2006–08: ''Girls and Boys''
In 2006, Michaelson independently released her second album, ''
Girls and Boys''. The album, like her previous music, was streamed on
Myspace. A music producer from the ABC drama ''
Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...
'' found her music online. After being contacted by the music producer, Michaelson began to be approached by several record companies. Wanting to retain all of the rights she had as an independent artist, Michaelson developed a deal with
Original Signal Recordings, acting as the marketing and distribution arm for Michaelson's label. Through Original Signal, Michaelson re-released ''Girls and Boys'' into mainstream marketing on September 18, 2007. It peaked at #63 on the
Billboard charts
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...
and received positive reviews from critics. Additionally, in 2007, "The Way I Am", a song from the album, was featured in an
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...
commercial. The 30-second ad played on the major US networks and most prime-time shows for a few days. In less than 3 weeks, more than 65 appearances in prime-time had been made, including 17 season premieres.
2008–10: ''Be OK'' and ''Everybody''
![Ingrid Michaelson, 2009 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Ingrid_Michaelson%2C_2009_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In 2008, Michaelson released her third album, and first compilation album, ''
Be OK''. The album debuted at #35 on the Billboard charts and received mixed to positive reviews. The album features the single "
Be OK", which received a large amount of exposure on several shows and commercials. Michaelson joined the Hotel Cafe Tour that fall in support of the album, whose proceeds went toward cancer research. In 2009, Michaelson released her fourth album, ''
Everybody''. ''Everybody'' debuted on #18 on the Billboard charts and received positive reviews. It features the single "
Maybe", which received positive reviews and was featured on several television programs. Her show in Sydney, Australia, at the
Metro Theater is available online at MoshCam, a website that shows pre-recorded concerts.
2010–12: ''Parachute'' and ''Human Again''
![Ingrid Michaelson at the Wiltern, 27 April 2012 (6980127836)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Ingrid_Michaelson_at_the_Wiltern%2C_27_April_2012_%286980127836%29.jpg)
In 2010, Michaelson digitally released the single "Parachute", a song that she wrote but was recorded by
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...
on Cole's album ''
3 Words''. The song has not been featured on any albums, but is available on both iTunes and Amazon. In 2012, Michaelson released her fifth album, ''
Human Again''. ''Human Again'' debuted at #5 on the Billboard charts and received very positive reviews, with critics praising the album's unique sound. Michaelson's first tour leg for the album, The Human Again Tour, was sold out almost every night of the tour. After the first tour, Michaelson continued to tour on 3 other legs, two in North America, and one across the world. The first leg of Michaelson's tour was held from April to May. The second leg, The Human Again Summer Tour, was held from June to August. The Third Leg, The Human Again Fall Tour, began in September. Michaelson also played 3 shows in Australia, where Human Again was the first formally released record of hers.
In September 2012, she 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
Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''.
Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...
and
Sheryl WuDunn
Sheryl WuDunn (born November 16, 1959) is an American business executive, writer, lecturer, and Pulitzer Prize winner.
A senior banker focusing on growth companies in technology, new media and the emerging markets, WuDunn also works with double ...
's book.
2014–2015: ''Lights Out''
On February 4, 2014, Michaelson released the
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
, "
Girls Chase Boys
"Girls Chase Boys" is the lead single from Ingrid Michaelson's sixth studio album, '' Lights Out''. The song peaked at number 52 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Background
Michaelson spoke about the development of the song and stated,
It was w ...
", from her album ''
Lights Out''. The song reached #52 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Afterlife" and "Time Machine" were released as the second and third singles with moderate commercial success.
On April 25, 2014, ''Lights Out'' was released. The deluxe edition, which was released in November later that year, contains an additional six bonus tracks.
2016–2017: ''It Doesn't Have To Make Sense'' and ''Alter Egos''
![Ingrid Michaelson 10 26 2016 -4 (30819184145)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Ingrid_Michaelson_10_26_2016_-4_%2830819184145%29.jpg)
On April 29, 2016, Michaelson released the song "Hell No".
It serves as the
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
from her seventh studio album, ''
It Doesn't Have to Make Sense
''It Doesn't Have to Make Sense'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, released on August 26, 2016, through Cabin 24 Records under exclusive license to Mom + Pop Music. The album's lead single, "Hell No", ...
'', which was released on August 26, 2016, through Cabin 24 Records. In July she released a second video of "Hell No," which incorporates members of the Deaf West theater company performing the lyrics in American Sign Language. In support of the album, Michaelson embarked on the "Hell No Tour" beginning October 6, 2016, in
Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
.
On 12 May 2017, a 5-track EP titled ''Alter Egos'' was released. It consists of re-worked songs from ''It Doesn't Have to Make Sense'' with guest vocalists on each track.
In 2017, Michaelson contributed "Smallest Light" and "Stay Right Where You Are" to the soundtrack for the film ''
The Space Between Us''.
2018–present: ''Ingrid Michaelson's Songs for the Season'' and ''Stranger Songs''
On 26 October 2018, Michaelson released a
Christmas album
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...
called ''
Ingrid Michaelson's Songs for the Season''. In January 2019, Michaelson announced she was composing the score for a musical adaptation of ''
The Notebook
''The Notebook'' is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, with a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams ...
''. On May 10, 2019, she released "
Missing You", which serves as the lead single off of her ninth studio album, ''
Stranger Songs''. Michaelson first announced the album via her Twitter in January 2018, writing that it would be inspired by the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series ''
Stranger Things
''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...
''. The album was released on June 28, 2019.
In July 2020, Michaelson was nominated for her first
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in the
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics category for the song "Build it Up", written specifically for the finale of Hulu's hit miniseries
''Little Fires Everywhere''.
Collaborations
In 2006, Michaelson teamed up with
William Fitzsimmons on his album ''Goodnight,'' which was released that same year.
Michaelson and her friend
Sara Bareilles
Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...
co-wrote "
Winter Song" which was featured on ''
The Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs,'' a compilation of both original recordings as well as classic holiday tracks sung by a lineup of female singer-songwriters. Michaelson performed "Winter Song" with Bareilles for President Obama and his family as well as many spectators at the National Christmas Tree Lighting in December 2010. In 2011, "Winter Song" reached #2 on the
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...
.
Michaelson provided back-up vocals on two songs from
PlayRadioPlay!'s album ''Texas,'' including "I'm a Pirate, You're a Princess" and the title track, "Texas". She provided back-up vocals on
Greg Laswell
Greg Laswell (born April 26, 1974) is an American musician, recording engineer, and record producer from San Diego, California. He attended high school at Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California. He has released 7 studio albums: '' ...
's album, ''Take A Bow'', which was released on May 4, 2010. Collaboration was done on the songs "Take Everything", "My Fight (For You)", and "Come Clean".
Michaelson's bandmate,
Allie Moss
Allie Moss is an American songwriter and guitarist from Jersey Shore. She released her own EP entitled ''Passerby'' in 2009. In 2011, Moss released her debut album ''Late Bloomer''. released a 2009 EP, ''Passerby''. Its song "Corner" was selected by
British Telecommunications
BT Group plc (trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...
in the UK for their
BT Infinity
BT Superfast Fibre (formerly BT Infinity) is a broadband service in the United Kingdom provided by BT Consumer, the consumer sales arm of the BT Group. The underlying network is fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), which uses optical fibre for all exce ...
television commercials. Other past and present band members include Chris Kuffner (bass),
Bess Rogers
Bess Rogers is an American indie rock musician from New York City.
Early life and education
Rogers was born into a musical family on Long Island, New York, and attended the Conservatory of Music at the State University of New York at Purchase f ...
(guitar), Saul Simon MacWilliams (keys), Billy Libby (guitar), Sarab Singh (drums) and
Elliot Jacobson
Elliot Benjamin Jacobson is an American drummer, songwriter and producer. He was the producer and cowriter of Vérité for her first EP, Echo and the majority of her second EP, Sentiment. He plays drums for the New York-based singer/songwriter In ...
(drums).
In 2010, Michaelson co-wrote the song "
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
" with
Marshall Altman
Marshall Noah Altman is a Nashville-based A&R for Nettwerk Music Group, and a record producer and songwriter who owns the Galt Line studio in Nashville, Tennessee. He was formerly an A&R person for such labels as Capitol Records, Hollywood Rec ...
which was covered by British singer
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...
on her debut solo album ''
3 Words''; it peaked at #5 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Michaelson initially believed the track was "so poppy" that she could not release it herself. However, after the song was reworked by "
Everybody" producer
Dan Romer
Dan Romer is an American film composer, music producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles.
Career
As a film composer, Romer's scores include four-time Oscar-nominated ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'', '' Beasts of No Nation'', '' Chasing Coral' ...
to make a more "interesting, funky production", Michaelson released the song as a personal single. There are two different music videos for the song.
Of the release of "Parachute" and upcoming material, Michaelson explained in a 2010 interview with ''
Billboard.com
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
'', "I just felt like I wanted to put something out. I'm not ready to put a full album out, so we thought we'd put this out and see how people take it or don't take it." She said that she expects to release her next album, "probably in the middle of next year".
In 2012, Michaelson and Laswell co-wrote and sang the duet "Landline", which appeared on his album of the same name.
Her 2014 album, ''Lights Out'', was a collaborative effort. "On all my previous records, I'd written all the songs myself. It was one producer and me locked in a room for months," she said. "Not that that was bad, but I think that everything has a season. I never wanted to kind of give up control. I think I'm letting go of a lot of things – embracing the idea of allowing people to help me in all facets of my life. I think that I was a bit of a control freak, and I'm just more open to letting people be part of things that they weren't part of before. It's really liberating. I had the best time ever on the last record. It was just really wonderful to be able to share the success with other people." Michaelson has also appeared on ''
The Nerdist Podcast
''ID10T with Chris Hardwick'' (formerly ''The Nerdist Podcast'') is a weekly interview show "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Chris Hardwick, once usually accompanied by Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. The audio podcasts are typicall ...
'' with
Chris Hardwick
Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts ''Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' The ...
.
Broadway
Michaelson played the role of
Sonya Rostova
Sofya Alexandrovna "Sonya" (; ) is a character in Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel ''War and Peace'', and in Sergey Prokofiev's 1955 opera ''War and Peace'' and Dave Malloy's 2012 musical ''Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812'' based on it. She is ...
temporarily in the
Broadway musical
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
''
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
''Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812'' (or simply ''The Great Comet'') is a sung-through musical adaptation of a 70-page segment from Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel ''War and Peace'' written by composer/lyricist Dave Malloy and directed by Rac ...
'' from July 3 to August 13, 2017, while actress
Brittain Ashford
Brittain Ashford is an American actress, singer and songwriter best known for portraying Sonya Rostova in the 2016 Broadway musical ''Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812'', as well as fronting the band Prairie Empire.
Early life and educa ...
was on leave.
In January 2019, it was reported that Michaelson was writing the music and lyrics for a musical adaptation of ''
The Notebook
''The Notebook'' is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, with a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams ...
''.
Film
Michaelson made her film debut in the comedy film
''Humor Me'', which was released January 12, 2018.
Personal life
Michaelson married fellow musician
Greg Laswell
Greg Laswell (born April 26, 1974) is an American musician, recording engineer, and record producer from San Diego, California. He attended high school at Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California. He has released 7 studio albums: '' ...
in 2011. They divorced in 2015.
In late 2015, Michaelson announced her relationship with film and stage actor
Will Chase
Frank William Chase (born September 12, 1970) is a Tony Award-nominated American actor, director, and singer, best known for his work on Broadway and for his role as country superstar Luke Wheeler on ABC's '' Nashville''.
Early life and educat ...
.
Michaelson identifies as a
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
.
Discography
* ''
Slow the Rain'' (2005)
* ''
Girls and Boys'' (2006)
* ''
Be OK'' (2008)
* ''
Everybody'' (2009)
* ''
Human Again'' (2012)
* ''
Lights Out'' (2014)
* ''
It Doesn't Have to Make Sense
''It Doesn't Have to Make Sense'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, released on August 26, 2016, through Cabin 24 Records under exclusive license to Mom + Pop Music. The album's lead single, "Hell No", ...
'' (2016)
*''
Songs for the Season
''Songs for the Season'', or ''Ingrid Michaelson's Songs for the Season'', is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson. It was released by Cabin 24 Records on October 26, 2018. It is her first Christmas album and t ...
'' (2018)
*''
Stranger Songs'' (2019)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaelson, Ingrid
1979 births
Living people
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
American feminists
American folk musicians
American folk-pop singers
American people of Dutch descent
American people of Swedish descent
American sopranos
American ukulele players
American women singer-songwriters
Binghamton University alumni
Feminist musicians
Guitarists from New York City
Indie folk musicians
Mom + Pop Music artists
People from Staten Island
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Singers from New York City
Universal Motown Records artists