Natalie Merchant

Merchant tied the knot with Daniel de la Calle in 2003 and had a daughter with him. Later, in 2012 she confirmed her divorce, in an interview.

She is a vegetarian and likes to paint at times. Her paintings can be found in her official website. She is also fond of gardening and prefers to live in the “countryside, rather than the city”.

Natalie was born to Anthony and Ann Merchant; she has three other siblings—two elder and one younger. Her parents divorced when she was just eight.

She stayed with her mother who was a music enthusiast and motivated her children to learn music and discouraged watching TV. She grew up studying classical music and at age of sixteen she dropped out of high school to work in a health food store.

She attended the Jamestown Community College and also joined the alternative rock band ‘Still Life’ in 1981, which later came to be known as ‘10,000 Maniacs’.

As the lead singer and songwriter for ‘10,000 Maniacs’ she sang for the album ‘Human Conflict Number Five’. She was a part of the band till 1993, during which she sang lead vocals for seven studio albums.

In 1995, she wrote and released her debut album ‘Tigerlily’ from which, the song ‘Beloved Wife’, was used in the famous movie ‘Message in a Bottle’.

Following the success of her album, she grouped a number of young artists to form her band, but they could not remain together for long and the band spilt a little later.

Her second album, ‘Ophelia’ was released in 1998 which was based on the problems faced by women, from times immemorial. The most famous song from the album is ‘Kind and Generous’ which was frequently played on the VH1 radio.

The same year she also recorded the song ‘But Not for Me’—originally by the legendary singer George Gershwin—for Red Hot Organization, a charitable institution.

‘Tigerlily’, Merchant’s debut solo album shot her to fame instantly, reaching no. 13 spot on the Billboard Top 200 and selling over 5 million copies. Till date, it is the most successful album by this singer.

The album ‘Ophelia’ was also successful, thanks to the single ‘Kind & Generous’ which made it to the Top 10 on Billboard 200.

‘Motherland’ her third solo album peaked at no. 30 on the Billboard 200 and ‘Leave Your Sleep’ her fifth solo album was also a huge hit, reaching no. 1 on the Billboard Top Folk Albums.