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

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

singer and songwriter who recorded and performed with her late sister

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

Early life

Anna McGarrigle studied at the

École des beaux-arts de Montréal École or Ecole 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 * Éco ...

(1964-1968).

Music career

In the 1960s, Montreal 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 (February 10, 1933 – June 24, 2015) was a Canadian folk musician who was a member of the group Mountain City Four, based in Montreal and active in the 1960s. In addition to Nissenson, the group consisted of Peter Weldon, Kate McGa ...

and Peter Weldon to form the folk group Mountain City Four. 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 an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

'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 h ...

. In 2016 Anna and her older sister Jane (1941-2025) 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 town along the Ottawa River in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Hawkesbury is the third most bilingual town in Ontario, with about 70% of its inhabitants being fluent in English and French. ...

. 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 folk rock and country folk Canadian singer-songwriters (and sisters) from Quebec, who performed together until Kate's death in 2010 ...

'' 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. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

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

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

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

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

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 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

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'' (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". The album did not meet sales expectations, and the ...

'' (1978) * '' Entre Lajeunesse et la sagesse'' (1980) * '' Love Over and Over'' (1982) * '' Heartbeats Accelerating'' (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 ''La vache qui pleure'' is the ninth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 2003. It is named after the prehistoric bas-relief (stone carving) of La vache qui pleure near Djanet in the south of Algeria which is pictured on the album cover ...

'' (2003) * '' The McGarrigle Christmas Hour'' (2005) * '' ODDiTTiES'' (2010) * '' Tell My Sister'' (2011) * '' Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle'' (2013) * ''Tant Le Monde: Live in Bremen, Germany, 2005'' (2022)

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 Songwriters from Quebec 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters