Sierra Marie Swan (born April 5, 1978) is an American musician. She is known for her work with

Dollshead Dollshead was an American alternative rock/electronic band. Its members were California-born vocalist Sierra Swan and bassist Graham Edwards from Scotland, who in 1997 began collaborating after an impromptu jam session at a Los Angeles studio. T ...

, Black Eyed Peas and as a solo artist.

Biography

Early life

Swan is the daughter of 1970s country and pop musician Billy Swan, who played rhythm guitar for

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...

. She was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in April 1978. Swan's love of music started at an early age. During her many nights backstage while her father played, she decided to become a professional musician. As a teenager, Sierra listened to

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

Grant Lee Buffalo Grant Lee Buffalo was an American rock band based in Los Angeles, California, United States, consisting of Grant-Lee Phillips (vocals and guitar), Paul Kimble (bass) and Joey Peters (drums). All three were previously members of another Los Ange ...

, Mozart and

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

. It was Patsy Cline who inspired her singing career. Swan also had influences from

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

Career

When she was sixteen Swan began playing at coffeehouses in

. At eighteen she got a residency in Hollywood at Goldfinger's. In 1997, Swan got together with Graham Edwards and

was formed. The band was signed and eventually dropped from MCA. After Dollshead, Swan was a member of

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hi ...

from 1998-2000, featuring on the song "Fallin' Up". After leaving the Black Eyed Peas she went solo. Swan was discovered by Anne Previn and Scott Cutler of

Ednaswap Ednaswap was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, that existed between 1993 and 1998. Over a span of five years, the band released four major label records on East West, Elektra Records and Island Records. The band is best know ...

. She wrote several songs with Previn and Cutler. In 2001, she was signed to Atlantic Records. She has released various albums and EPs since 2006. She completed the ''Queen Of The Valley'' LP, which was originally titled ''Queen of the Valley Girls''. However, she was dropped from her label which delayed release until 2008. The LP featured such producers as

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...

The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos ...

and

Linda Perry Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for ...

(formerly of the musical group 4 Non Blondes). Linda Perry worked with Swan on her next (and officially, her first) album, ''Ladyland'' in 2006. The album included a duet with singer-songwriter

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, titled "Get Down to It" and features additional production work by

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. Linda Perry has quoted the following about Swan. ''"Beautiful, erotic, mesmerizing is everything that comes to mind when listening to Sierra Swan. Her voice will take you on an emotional journey."'' Swan released an EP entitled ''Coward'', available on iTunes only, in 2007. She has subsequently released songs via her Web site or via MySpace. Her albums are available on iTunes. Swan has also toured and collaborated with Dave Stewart, Ringo Starr, and

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. F ...

. In 2014 she released ''Good Soldier'' on February 25th which was produced by Billy Corgan of

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Ch ...

. She played with The Smashing Pumpkins on their 2016 in Plainsong tour, singing and playing various instruments. In 2018 Swan collaborated once again with

for a 5 track EP titled ''Caterwaul''

Discography

;''LadyLand'' (2006) #"Copper Red" #"Don't Say" #"Get Down to It" (featuring

) #"Dr. Loveboy" #"The Ladder" #"Ladyland" #"Trouble Is" #"Lucky Scar" #"Shakedown" #"Just Tell Me" #"Mother" ;''Coward'' (2007) #"Coward" #"Same Ol' Way" #"Bring Me In" #"Depression" #"Empty of You" #"Ramona" ;''Queen of the Valley'' (2008) #"So Much Fun" #"Seasons" #"Prelude to Sex" #"Sex Is Keeping Us Together" #"Nuclear Letdown" #"Distraction" #"You Got Away" (ft.

Scooter Ward Scooter Ward (born Ronald Ward Jr. on May 7, 1970) is an American musician who is best known as a founding member and lead singer of the rock band Cold. He has also performed occasional guitar duties both in the studio and live. Ward has been r ...

) #"Unforgivable" #"Demise of Love" #"Sleeping Beauty" #"Obvious Day" #"Rock and Roll Dance" #"You Got Away" (ft. Scooter Ward – Demo version) #"You Got Away" ;''Girl Who Cried Wolf'' (2009) #"I Will Follow" #"Girl Who Cried Wolf" #"Who Am I" #"End of You" #"Deep Wound" #"The Truth Is..." #"Mansion Crew" #"Oh You" #"In My Room" #"Untitled" #"Blame" ;''Good Soldier'' (2014) #"Black Eyed" – 4:40 #"Emotional" – 3:20 #"Little Shoes" – 4:30 #"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" – 4:23 #"Mother Nature" – 4:43 #"Make a Happy Home" – 3:52 #"The Day" – 3:50 #"Sad Affair" – 4:20 #"I Feel" (feat.

Carina Round Carina Round (born 20 April 1979) is a British singer-songwriter from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England. Career In the summer of 1996, following a gig in a basement acoustic club in Wolverhampton, Round was given a three-night su ...

) – 5:14 #"No Matter How Much" – 4:28 Album Produced by Billy Corgan, Engineered and Mixed by

Bjorn Thorsrud Bjorn Thorsrud (October 7, 1963 – October 19, 2021) was an American music producer, programmer, and audio engineer who produced film scores and albums for rock and pop artists. He also engineered, mixed, or contributed production or programmi ...

;''Caterwaul (EP)'' (2018) #"Caterwaul" #"Duel Of The FarewellMeNots" #"Purple Forever" #"Rusted Girl" #"System Breaker" EP Produced by Chad Hugo

Guest vocals

Swan is credited with Guest Vocals on the following albums: * '' Cyr'' by

* '' ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts'' by The Smashing Pumpkins * ''

Ogilala ''Ogilala'' () is the second solo album by American musician Billy Corgan (under his full name, William Patrick Corgan), frontman of alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The album was released on October 13, 2017, in the United States. It ...

'' by Billy Corgan ("Processional") * ''...Is a Real Boy'' by

Say Anything Say Anything may refer to: Film and television * '' Say Anything...'', a 1989 American film by Cameron Crowe * "Say Anything" (''BoJack Horseman''), a television episode Music * Say Anything (band), an American rock band ** ''Say Anything'' (alb ...

* ''Infinite Motion'' by T-Tauri * '' Two Angels and a Dream'' by

Depswa Depswa is a four-piece alternative metal band from Modesto, California. The band released two studio albums, two EPs, and a compilation before entering an indefinite hiatus in 2011. History Formation and EP releases The beginnings of Depswa ca ...

, on the song "Traveler's Song" * ''From There to Here'' by John Oszajca * ''Fast Man Raider Man'' by

* ''

13 Ways to Bleed On Stage Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

'' by

Cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

, on the songs "No One" & "Witch" * '' Year of the Spider'' by Cold, on the song "Suffocate" * ''Fallin Up by The Black Eyed Peas''

References

External links

Official website

Sierra Swan interview
*
Exclusive: Billy Corgan and Sierra Swan talk new album Good Soldier

Music Radar MusicRadar is a music website that offers information pertaining to artists and their music. The site features music gear news and reviews, artist interviews and online music and production tutorials. It is owned by British media company Future ...

Sierra Swan - Good Soldier on spfc.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Sierra 1978 births Custard Records artists American contraltos Living people 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers