Over her more than five decades of performing, Emmylou Harris has won 14 Grammys and become a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Moving during her youth as a child in a military family, Harris spent her high school years in the Commonwealth, graduating as the class valedictorian from Gar-Field High School.
Harris attended UNC Greensboro where she began studying folk music. That was followed by a brief period playing in Greenwich Village. Soon she was married with a child, then divorced and living back with her parents. Continuing to perform, former Byrds member Chris Hillman saw her and recommended her to Gram Parsons.
The pair were a perfect vocal match and Harris recorded with Parsons until his death in 1973. From there Harris formed her own group. The Hot Band backed her on Harris’s’ first major label record. Pieces of the Sky demonstrated many of the talents she would continue to bring forward throughout her career: Championing great songs and songwriter, using top level musicians and having a great voice.
In the 70s Emmylou Harris recorded multiple country number 1 songs. She attempted in the early 80s to record with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, but the first attempt was blocked by the artists’ record labels refusing to allow their vocals to be used on a Harris record. Emmylou re-recorded Mister Sandman using her own voice for all three parts and scored a top 10 hit.
By the late 80s the issues with Parton and Ronstadt were cleared and the trio recorded their album. Trio remains Emmylou Harris’s’ most successful album.
Over the decades Harris has continued to evolve her music to remain contemporary. From an early start in classic country influenced sounds, through contemporary country and folk to more recent collaborations with Mark Knopfler and Conor Oberst, Harris has remained a presence and a recognizable voice to a new generation of fans.
