Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s, including "Marlene on the Wall", " Left of Center", "

Luka Luka may refer to: People * Luka (given name), a South Slavic masculine given name cognate of Luke, and a Japanese given name * Luka (singer), stage name of Brazilian singer and songwriter Luciana Karina Santos de Lima (born 1979) * Luka Keʻelik ...

" and " No Cheap Thrill". "

Tom's Diner "Tom's Diner" is a song written in 1982 by American singer and songwriter Suzanne Vega. It was first released as a track on the January 1984 issue of '' Fast Folk Musical Magazine''. Originally featured on her second studio album, '' Solitude S ...

", which was originally released as an '' a cappella'' recording on Vega's second album, '' Solitude Standing'' (1987), was remixed in 1990 as a dance track by English

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

duo DNA with Vega as featured artist, and it became a Top 10 hit in over five countries. The original ''a capella'' recording of the song was used as a test during the creation of the

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format. The role of her song in the development of the MP3 compression prompted Vega to be given the title of " The Mother of the MP3". Vega has released nine studio albums to date, the latest of which is '' Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers'', released in 2016.

Early life

Suzanne Nadine Vega was born on July 11, 1959, in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

. Her parents divorced soon after her birth. Her mother, Pat Vega (née Schumacher), is a computer systems analyst of German-Swedish heritage. Her father, Richard Peck, is of British origin. Her stepfather, Edgardo Vega Yunqué, also known as Ed Vega, was a writer and teacher from

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. When Vega was two and a half, her family moved to New York City. She grew up in

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

and the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

. She was not aware that Peck was her biological father until she was nine years old. Vega and her father met for the first time in her late 20s, and they remain in contact. She attended the High School of Performing Arts, now renamed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, where she studied

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

and graduated in 1977.

Career

1980s

While majoring in English literature at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, she performed in small venues in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, where she was a regular contributor to Jack Hardy's Monday night songwriters' group at the Cornelia Street Cafe and had some of her first songs published on ''

Fast Folk ''Fast Folk Musical Magazine'' (originally known as ''The CooP'') was a combination magazine and record album published from February 1982 to 1997. The magazine acted as a songwriter/performer cooperative, and was an outlet for singer-songwriters ...

'' anthology albums. In 1984, she received a major label recording contract, making her one of the first 'Fast Folk' artists to break out on a major label. Vega's self-titled debut album was released in 1985 and was well received by critics in the U.S.; it reached

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

status in the United Kingdom. Produced by Lenny Kaye and

Steve Addabbo Steve Addabbo is a record producer, songwriter and audio engineer who helped launch the careers of Suzanne Vega and Shawn Colvin. He had a vital hand in Vega's hit single, " Luka" and Colvin's album '' Steady On''. Career He has produced and/or ...

, the songs feature Vega's acoustic guitar in straightforward arrangements. A

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

was released for the album's song "Marlene on the Wall", which went into MTV and VH1's rotations. During this period Vega also wrote lyrics for two songs ("Lightning" and "Freezing") on '' Songs from Liquid Days'' by composer Philip Glass. Vega's song " Left of Center" co-written with

for the 1986 John Hughes film ''

Pretty in Pink ''Pretty in Pink'' is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. A cult classic, it is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film. It was directed by Howard Deutch, produc ...

'' reached No. 32 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 ...

in 1986. Her next effort, '' Solitude Standing'' (1987), garnered critical and commercial success, selling over one million copies in the U.S. It includes the international hit single "

", which is written about, and from the point of view of, an abused child—at the time an uncommon subject for a pop

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

. While continuing a focus on Vega's acoustic guitar, the music is more strongly pop-oriented and features fuller arrangements. Following the success of the album, in 1989 Vega became the first female artist to headline the Glastonbury Festival. In addition, the performance was notable for Vega performing her set whilst wearing a bulletproof vest, her band having received death threats from an obsessed fan ahead of the festival. The acappella "

" from ''Solitude Standing'' became a hit in 1990, having been remixed by two British dance producers under the name DNA. The track was originally a bootleg, until Vega allowed DNA to release it through her record company, and it became her biggest hit.

1990s

Vega's third album, ''

Days of Open Hand ''Days of Open Hand'' is the third studio album by Suzanne Vega. It was released on April 10, 1990 through A&M Records. The follow-up to the successful '' Solitude Standing'' (1987), ''Days of Open Hand'' combines Vega's established folk-rock sty ...

'' (1990), continued in the style of her first two albums. In 1992, she released the album '' 99.9F°''. It consists of a mixture 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 ...

, dance beats and industrial music. This record was awarded Gold status by the RIAA in recognition of selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S. The single "Blood Makes Noise" from this album peaked at number-one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks. Vega later married the album's producer

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is currently the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including R ...

. Her fifth album, '' Nine Objects of Desire'', was released in 1996. The music varies between a frugal, simple style and the industrial production of ''99.9F°''. This album contains " Caramel", featured in the movie '' The Truth About Cats & Dogs'', and later the trailer for the movie '' Closer''. A song not included on that album, "Woman on the Tier", was featured on the soundtrack of the movie '' Dead Man Walking''. In 1997 she took a singing part on the concept album '' Heaven and Hell'', a musical interpretation of the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

by her colleague Joe Jackson, with whom she had already collaborated in 1986 on "Left of Center" from the ''

'' soundtrack (with Vega singing and Jackson playing piano). In 1999,

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles rea ...

published Vega's book ''The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writings of Suzanne Vega'', a volume of poems, lyrics, essays and journalistic pieces.

2000s

In September 2001, Vega released a new album entitled '' Songs in Red and Gray''. Three songs deal with Vega's divorce from her first husband,

. At the memorial concert for her brother Tim Vega in December 2002, Vega began her role as the subject of the direct-cinema documentary, ''Some Journey'', directed by

Christopher Seufert Christopher Seufert (born 1967) is a documentary film producer and director, and photographer based in Chatham, Massachusetts. His production company is Mooncusser Films. His film work has appeared on HBO, VH-1, the Discovery Channel, the Hist ...

of Mooncusser Films. The documentary has not been completed. Underground hip hop duo

Felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...

named a track "Suzanne Vega" on their album '' Felt: A Tribute to Christina Ricci'', released in 2002. In 2003, the 21-song greatest hits compilation Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega was released. (The UK version of ''Retrospective'' included an eight-song bonus CD as well as a DVD containing 12 songs). In the same year she was invited by

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

-winning

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

guitarist

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

to play at the ''Century of Song'' concerts at the famed '' Ruhrtriennale'' in Germany. In 2003, she hosted the

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

radio series ''American Mavericks'', about 20th century American composers, which received the Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. On August 3, 2006, Vega became the first major recording artist to perform live in the Internet-based virtual world, ''

Second Life ''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...

''. The event was hosted by

John Hockenberry John Charles Hockenberry (born June 4, 1956) is an American journalist and author. He has reported from all over the world, on a wide variety of stories in several mediums for more than three decades. He has written dozens of magazine and newsp ...

of public radio's '' The Infinite Mind''. On September 17, 2006, she performed in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

, as part of a benefit concert for the Save Darfur Coalition. During the concert she highlighted her support for Amnesty International, of which she has been a member since 1988. In early October 2006, Vega participated in the Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) in

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

, the Czech Republic, the oldest festival of documentary films in Europe, in which she appeared as a main guest. She was invited there as the subject of the documentary film by director

, that had a test screening at the festival. At the end of the festival she performed her classic songs and added one brand new piece called "New York Is a Woman". Vega is also interviewed in the book ''Everything Is Just a Bet'' which was published in Czech in October 2006. The book contains 12 interview transcriptions from the talk show called ''Stage Talks'' that regularly runs in the Švandovo divadlo (Švandovo Theatre) in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. Vega introduced the book to the audience of the Švandovo divadlo (Švandovo Theatre), and together with some other Czech celebrities gave a signing session. She signed a new recording contract with Blue Note Records in the spring of 2006, and released ''

Beauty & Crime ''Beauty & Crime'' is the seventh studio album by singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. It is her first album of new material since 2001's '' Songs in Red and Gray'' and her first for Blue Note Records. It was released on July 17, 2007. ''Beauty & Cr ...

'' on July 17, 2007. The album, produced by Jimmy Hogarth, won a

Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: * In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical * In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...

. Her contract was not renewed and she was released in June 2008. In 2007, Vega followed the lead of numerous other mainstream artists and released her track "Pornographer's Dream" as podsafe. The song spent two weeks at number-one during 2007 and finished as the No. 11 hit of the year on the PMC Top10's annual countdown. In 2015, Vega joined The 14th Annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers. She was also a judge for the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Independent Music Awards. In 2008, fire at a

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

vault in Los Angeles County resulted in the loss or damage of some Vega recordings.

2010s

Suzanne Vega at Union Chapel, London 2015

A partial cover version of her song ''Tom's Diner'' was used to introduce the 2010 British movie '' 4.3.2.1'', with its lyrics largely rewritten to echo the plot. This musical hybrid was released as " Keep Moving". Vega participated in the Danger Mouse/ Sparklehorse/ David Lynch collaboration ''

Dark Night of the Soul ''Dark Night of the Soul'' ( es, La noche oscura del alma) is a poem written by the 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet St. John of the Cross. The author himself did not give any title to his poem, on which he wrote two book-length commentari ...

''. She wrote both melody and lyrics for her song, which is titled "The Man Who Played God", inspired by a biography of

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. Vega sang lead vocals on the song "Now I Am an Arsonist" with singer-songwriter

Jonathan Coulton Jonathan William Coulton (born December 1, 1970), often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are " Co ...

on his 2011 album, ''

Artificial Heart An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in the case that a heart transplant (from a deceased human or, exper ...

''. Vega has re-recorded her back-catalogue, both for artistic and commercial (and control) reasons, in the ''Close-up'' series. Vol. 1 (''

Love Songs A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order ...

'') and Vol. 2 ('' People & Places'') appeared in 2010 while Vol. 3 ('' States of Being'') was released in July 2011 followed by Vol. 4 ('' Songs of Family'') in September 2012. Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of the ''Close-Up'' albums included previously unrecorded material; Volumes 2 and 3 each included one new collaboratively written song, while Volume 4 included three songs that Vega had written years earlier, but had not previously gotten around to recording. In all, Vega's ''Close-Up'' series features 60 re-recorded songs and five new compositions, representing about three-quarters of her lifetime songwriting output. While performing live, Vega and long-term collaborator

Gerry Leonard Gerry Leonard is an Irish lead guitarist and solo artist, known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie. He has lived and worked in Dublin, Copenhagen, and Manhattan. Hinterland From Clontarf, Dublin, Clont ...

began to introduce a number of new songs into the setlist, including the live favorite "I Never Wear White". Over the course of a year, the songs were completed and recorded in a live-studio setting with the help of a number of guests. Produced by Leonard, ''

Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles ''Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles'' is the eighth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. Released in February 2014, it was Vega's first album of new material in seven years. The album features contributions ...

'' was released in February 2014. It was her first album of new material in seven years and became Vega's first studio album to reach the UK Top 40 since 1992, peaking at No. 37. Vega's next album, '' Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers'', was released on October 14, 2016.

Songwriting

At the age of nine she began to write poetry. She was encouraged to do so by her stepfather. It took her three years to write her first song, "Brother Mine", which was finished at the age of 14. It was first published on '' Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family'', along with her other early song, "The Silver Lady". Vega has not learned to read musical notes; she sees the melody as a shape and chords as colors. She focuses on lyrics and melodic ideas; for advanced features – like intros or

bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

– she relies on other artists with whom she works. Most of her albums, except the first one, were made in such cooperation. Vega finishes 80% of the songs she starts writing. She got the melody of Tom's Diner while walking down Broadway in New York. She was thinking of French new-wave films. The most important artistic influences on her work come from Lou Reed,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

. Some other important artists for her are Paul Simon and

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

Theater

Vega and

Duncan Sheik Duncan Sheik (born November 18, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single " Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has composed m ...

wrote a play ''Carson McCullers Talks About Love'', about the life of the writer

Carson McCullers Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, '' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...

. In the play directed by Kay Matschullat, which premiered in 2011, Vega alternates between monologue and songs. Vega and Sheik were nominated for Outstanding Music in a Play for the 57th annual Drama Desk awards. The album '' Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers'', based on this play, was released in 2016. Vega considers it to be a third version, because it's rewritten, and she made the first version in college. In early 2020, Vega played the role of "Band Leader" in an off-Broadway musical based on the 1969 movie ''

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky, written by Mazursky and Larry Tucker, who also produced the film, and starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, and Dyan Cannon. The origi ...

'', directed by Scott Elliott and produced at

The New Group The New Group, is a New York City Off-Broadway theatrical troupe founded by Artistic Director Scott Elliott, that produced its first play, Mike Leigh's '' Ecstasy'', in 1995. The New Group is run by founding Artistic Director, Scott Elliott, an ...

in New York City. She replaced Sheik, who wrote the show's music and co-wrote the lyrics with

Amanda Green Amanda Green (born December 29, 1963) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. In 2021, she was elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America, the first woman to hold the role in the Guild's 100-year history. Early life and edu ...

. In his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', critic

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

called the "brandy-voiced" Vega "a delightful, smoothly sardonic presence.

Amanuensis Productions

Vega established her own recording label after the 2008 economic crisis. From that point, she stopped working for Blue Note Records and started thinking about re-recording her back catalog with new arrangements and gaining control over her works (which she eventually did with the '' Close-Up Series''). The name "Amanuensis Productions" was meant as a private joke about "servant" ( amanuensis) owning the "masters" ( recording masters), also a pun at A&M still legally owning her previous master tapes. Running the label proved to be harder than she expected. In 2015, it barely "broke even", but new licenses were coming for "

Personal life

On March 17, 1995, Vega married

, a musician and a record producer (who played on and produced '' 99.9F°'' and '' Nine Objects of Desire''). They have a daughter, Ruby Froom (born July 8, 1994). The band

Soul Coughing Soul Coughing was an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/guitarist Mike Doughty (also known as M. Doughty), keyboardist/sampler Mark Degli Antoni, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and drummer Yuval Gabay. Soul Coughing developed a d ...

's ''

Ruby Vroom ''Ruby Vroom'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Soul Coughing, released in 1994. The album's sound is a mixture of sample-based tunes (loops of Raymond Scott's " Powerhouse" on "Bus to Beelzebub", Toots and the Maytals, Howlin' Wo ...

'' album was named for her, with Vega's approval. Vega and Froom separated and divorced in 1998. On February 11, 2006, Vega married Paul Mills, a lawyer and poet, "22 years after he first proposed to her." Beginning in 2010, Ruby has occasionally performed with her mother on tour. Vega practices

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one o ...

and is a member of the American branch of the worldwide Buddhist association

Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organisation founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai, which declares approximately 12 million adherents in 192 countries and territorie ...

Awards and nominations

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result , - , 1985 , rowspan=8, Billboard Music Awards , rowspan=5, Herself , rowspan=2, Top Billboard 200 Artist - Female , , - , rowspan=8, 1987 , , - , Top Billboard 200 Artist , , - , Top Hot 100 Artist , , - , Top Hot 100 Artist - Female , , - , rowspan=2, '' Solitude Standing'' , Top Billboard 200 Album , , - , Top Pop Compact Disk , , - , "

" , Top Hot 100 Song , , - ,

NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...

, rowspan="2" , Herself , Best Female Singer , , - , rowspan="8" , 1988 ,

Pollstar ''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017. History and profile Founded in 1981 in Fr ...

Concert Industry Awards , Small Hall Tour of the Year , , - ,

ASCAP Pop Music Awards The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

, rowspan="7" , "

" , Most Performed Song , , - , rowspan="3" , MTV Video Music Awards , Best Female Video , , - , Breakthrough Video , , - , Best Cinematography , , - , rowspan="5" , Grammy Awards , Song of the Year , , - ,

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

, , - ,

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

, , - , rowspan="2" , 1990 , rowspan="2" , ''

'' , Best Contemporary Folk Recording , , - ,

Best Album Package The Grammy Award for Best Recording Package is one of a series of Grammy Awards presented for the visual look of an album. It is presented to the art director of the winning album, not to the performer(s), unless the performer is also the art dire ...

, , - , 1992 , Billboard Music Video Awards , " Blood Makes Noise" , Best Pop/Rock Female Video , , - , 1993 , New York Music Awards , '' 99.9F°'' , Best Rock Album , , - , 1996 , Žebřík Music Awards , rowspan="3" , Herself , Best International Female , , - , 2003 ,

Glamour Awards The ''Glamour'' Awards is an annual set of awards hosted by '' Glamour'' magazine. Woman of the Year awards honour "extraordinary and inspirational" women from a variety of fields, including entertainment, business, sports, music, science, medic ...

, Woman of the Year , , - , 2004 , Peabody Awards , Entertainment , , - , 2008 , Grammy Awards , ''

'' , Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical , , - , 2010 , New York Music Awards , '' Close-Up Vol. 1, Love Songs'' , Best Pop/Rock Compilation , , - , 2012 ,

Drama Desk Awards The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

, ''Carson McCullers Talks About Love'' , Outstanding Music in a Play ,

Discography

* '' Suzanne Vega'' (1985) * '' Solitude Standing'' (1987) * ''

'' (1990) * '' 99.9F°'' (1992) * '' Nine Objects of Desire'' (1996) * '' Songs in Red and Gray'' (2001) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2014) * '' Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers'' (2016)

Books

* ''The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writing of Suzanne Vega'' (1999) .

References

External links

* * * *
Stories told by Suzanne Vega at

The Moth The Moth is a non-profit group based in New York City dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Founded in 1997, the organization presents a wide range of theme-based storytelling events across the United States and abroad, often featuring ...

Suzanne Vega recording of 'Streets of Laredo'
for Pioneers for a Cure {{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Suzanne 1959 births A&M Records artists American women rock singers American women singer-songwriters American folk rock musicians American folk singers American people of German descent American people of Swedish descent American people of Irish descent American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent American rock guitarists Barnard College alumni Blue Note Records artists Fast Folk artists Feminist musicians Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Folk musicians from New York (state) Grammy Award winners Living people Members of Sōka Gakkai American Buddhists Musicians from Santa Monica, California Singer-songwriters from California Singers from New York City American rock songwriters 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from California Guitarists from New York City 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers People from the Upper West Side People from East Harlem Cooking Vinyl artists 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers Nichiren Buddhists Singer-songwriters from New York (state)