Linda Perry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Linda Perry
Perry in 2010
Born	(1965-04-15) April 15, 1965 (age 60) Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Singer-songwriter musician record producer
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Sara Gilbert ​ ​ (m. 2014; sep. 2019)​
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	Alternative rock pop rock
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Labels	Interscope Atlantic Kill Rock Stars Custard

Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and main songwriter for the band 4 Non Blondes. They had a huge hit song in 1993 called "What's Up?".

After leaving the band, Linda started two record labels. She also wrote and produced many famous songs for other artists. These include "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, "What You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani, and "Get the Party Started" by Pink. She also worked on albums for Adele, Alicia Keys, and Courtney Love. In 2015, Linda Perry was honored by being added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Linda Perry's Early Life

Linda Perry was born on April 15, 1965, in Springfield, Massachusetts. She grew up in a family that loved art and music. From a young age, Linda showed a lot of musical talent and interest. Her mother is from Brazil, and her father was Portuguese-American.

Linda Perry's Music Career

Starting Out in Music (1987–1989)

In 1986, when she was 21, Linda Perry moved to San Francisco. As a teenager in San Diego, she loved music. She played the guitar and tried out for all-girl cover bands. Moving to San Francisco was the start of her music career. Before that, she worked as a waitress and at a pizza place.

In San Francisco, Linda lived in a small room without windows. She would play her guitar and sing her own songs on the city streets. Third Eye Blind's lead singer, Stephan Jenkins, was also a struggling musician in San Francisco at the time. He remembered sitting with Linda, who worked as a waitress nearby. They would play their original songs for each other. They shared early versions of "Semi-Charmed Life" and "What's Up?". Both of these songs later became massive hits for their bands. Years later, Jenkins realized that the songs they played for each other that day would sell a total of 17 million copies!

Joining 4 Non Blondes (1989–1995)

After performing by herself in clubs and coffeehouses in the San Francisco Bay Area, Linda Perry wrote her first professional song, "Down On Your Face." In mid-1989, Christa Hillhouse, who started the band 4 Non Blondes, asked Linda to join.

After playing locally for several years, the band signed with Interscope Records. They released their first album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More!, on October 9, 1992. Linda was the lead singer, and most of the songs were written by her. The album was an instant success. It included the hit single "What's Up?", which Linda wrote. People often mistakenly call it "What's Going On?" because of its famous chorus.

In February 1994, Linda Perry performed solo in Roger Daltrey's show, album, and video called A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who. She sang with the Juilliard Orchestra and members of The Who. She performed songs like "Doctor Jimmy" and "Acid Queen". She also sang "I'm Free" as a duet with Roger Daltrey.

In 1994, Linda also co-wrote the song "Berlin" with singer/songwriter Janis Ian. This song was on Janis Ian's 1995 album Revenge.

In June 1994, the guitarist for 4 Non Blondes, Roger Rocha, left the band. Jim Mankey from Concrete Blonde took his place. The band tried to create a new album at Interscope Records studios in Los Angeles. However, they found it hard to make a follow-up to Bigger. Linda Perry decided to leave the band to start her own solo career. The band made one last music video for a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop" with Dave Navarro playing guitar.

Starting a Solo Career (1996–1999)

Linda Perry in May 2008

Interscope Records kept Linda Perry as a solo artist. They put together a team to help her create her first solo album. This team included Kevin Gilbert and Bill Bottrell. Her album, In Flight, was released in 1996. It received good reviews but did not sell many copies. Linda went on a world tour with the band Red Fish, Blue Fish. She also opened for famous acts like The Who. She promoted her album by appearing on The Howard Stern Show. Linda also hosted the Bay Area Music Awards in 1997 and 1998.

In 1999, she released her second solo album, After Hours, on Rockstar Records. She also opened shows for Bryan Adams.

Becoming a Producer and Songwriter (2000–2013)

Linda Perry started getting her own recording equipment. She bought a TASCAM DA-88 recorder, a Neumann U 67 microphone, and a Fairchild 670 compressor. She was curious about the new music technology she heard on the radio. She asked a friend for advice and bought an Akai MPC sampler, and Roland and Korg Triton synthesizers. She taught herself how to use them. This is how she wrote her first dance song, "Get the Party Started". She sent the song to Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, but he turned it down.

In 2000, pop rock singer Pink contacted Linda Perry. Pink wanted help with writing and producing her second album, Missundaztood. Linda co-wrote and produced most of the album. She wrote "Lonely Girl" and "Get the Party Started" entirely by herself. "Get the Party Started" was the album's first single and became Pink's biggest hit. The album was a huge success around the world. This brought Linda Perry back into the spotlight as a music producer and songwriter.

The next year, Linda produced another song she had written, "Beautiful", for Christina Aguilera. This song also became a worldwide hit.

In 2003, Linda Perry won two awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for her songwriting. Her song "Beautiful" was also nominated for a Grammy Award for "Song of the Year." The song later won the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards.

She worked with the art-dance group Fischerspooner on some songs for their second album. She also co-wrote songs for Gwen Stefani's first solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.. This included the album's first single, "What You Waiting For?". Linda also started her own record label, Custard Records, which was supported by Atlantic Records. She used it to promote new artists like Sunshine and James Blunt. She produced and played guitar on James Blunt's song "No Bravery". Linda also co-wrote "Save Me" for the punk rock band Unwritten Law.

In 2005, Linda Perry re-released her solo album In Flight. That same year, she started working with Christina Aguilera again on her third album, Back to Basics. Linda co-wrote every song on the second disc of that album with Christina. In late 2006 and early 2007, Linda helped produce and write songs for Vanessa Carlton's third album, Heroes and Thieves.

Linda Perry won an award from the San Francisco chapter of the Recording Academy. This award was for her important contributions to the world of music.

In 2008, Linda signed the group Little Fish to her label. She started producing their album, Baffled and Beat, which came out in August 2010. In the same year, she worked with Daniel Powter to produce his third album, Under the Radar.

She wrote and produced "A Loaded Smile" for Adam Lambert's first album, For Your Entertainment (2009). Christina Aguilera's sixth album, Bionic, released in 2010, included "Lift Me Up." Linda wrote and produced this song all by herself.

On November 5, 2010, Linda Perry performed live in San Francisco with 4 Non Blondes guitar player Roger Rocha. Linda performed her own set of cover songs. These included "Creep" by Radiohead and "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden. Linda and Roger Rocha also played one song together, Led Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You".

In June 2010, Linda Perry announced that she was making an album with her new band, Deep Dark Robot. She started this band with Tony Tornay. Their album, 8 Songs About a Girl, was promoted with the single "Won't You Be My Girl?". Linda thought of the name Deep Dark Robot from a song lyric she made up. The band released the album in March 2011 and started touring.

In July 2011, Linda Perry began sharing acoustic cover songs she recorded with her iPhone. These included "Mad World" by Tears for Fears and "Just What I Needed" by the Cars. She wrote on her Facebook page that these "iPhone sessions" were just her sitting at her piano and recording songs into her iPhone voice memo.

Recent Career (2014–Present)

In 2014, Linda Perry was on the VH1 reality TV show Make or Break: The Linda Perry Project. On the show, she worked with new musicians who were just starting out.

In 2015, Linda Perry co-wrote a song with Adele for her album 25. The song was called "Can't Let Go" and was a bonus track on some versions of the album. Linda played piano, produced, and engineered the song. She also wrote the theme song for the movie Freeheld, called "Hands of Love." Miley Cyrus performed this song.

In June 2015, Linda Perry was officially added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York.

In 2018, Linda Perry worked with Dolly Parton. They wrote the song "Girl In The Movies" for the Netflix movie Dumplin'. This song was nominated for a Golden Globe award.

In 2020, Linda Perry co-wrote "A Beautiful Noise" with seven other female writers. These included Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile. Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile performed the song to encourage Americans to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election.

Linda Perry performing at Festival Hera in Mexico City

We Are Hear Music Company

In 2017, Linda Perry teamed up with Kerry Brown to start We Are Hear. This company is a record label, music publisher, and artist management company in Los Angeles. Under their leadership, the company has signed recording artists like Natasha Bedingfield, Imogen Heap, and Dorothy. They also worked with artist Kii Arens.

Linda Perry has also helped organize events with We Are Hear. One example is the One Love Malibu festival in 2018. This event raised $1 million to help with damage from the Woolsey Fire. Another event was The Art of Elysium fundraiser called Heaven Is Rock & Roll in 2020. At this event, the remaining members of Nirvana (Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Krist Novoselic) performed with Beck and St. Vincent. Other bands like Cheap Trick and L7 also performed.

Linda Perry's Family Life

Linda Perry moved from San Diego to San Francisco and lived there until 1997. Then, she moved to Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.

Linda Perry started a relationship with actress Sara Gilbert in 2011. They announced they were engaged in April 2013 and got married on March 30, 2014. Sara Gilbert gave birth to their son on February 28, 2015. Linda was also the stepmother to Sara's son and daughter from a previous relationship. In December 2019, Sara Gilbert filed for legal separation from Linda Perry.

Linda Perry's Music Albums

Solo Albums

Solo Singles

Songs Produced or Written by Linda Perry

Other Songs Linda Perry Appeared On

• Susanna Hoffs by Susanna Hoffs (1996): "Weak With Love", Linda Perry played guitar and sang backing vocals.
• Missundaztood by Pink (2001): "Lonely Girl" featured Linda Perry.
• Hitting the Ground by Gordon Gano (2002): "So It Goes", Linda Perry sang vocals.
• Prey for Rock & Roll (Original Soundtrack) by Various Artists (2003): "Stupid Star", performed by Gina Gershon, Linda Perry and Patty Schemel.
• Odyssey by Fischerspooner (2005): "Happy", Linda Perry sang additional vocals.
• Back to Basics by Christina Aguilera (2006): "Enter the Circus", performed by Linda Perry (uncredited).
• Plain Girl, Wild Love by Planet Swan (2007): "Chompin' on a Bit", performed by Planet Swan featuring Linda Perry and Sierra Swan.
• Fuzzbox by The Section Quartet (2007): "Paranoid Android", Linda Perry sang operatic vocals.
• Cheat the Gallows by Bigelf (2008): "Superstar" and "Race With Time", Linda Perry sang backing vocals.
• Under the Radar by Daniel Powter (2008): "Am I Still the One?", performed with Daniel Powter, "My So Called Life", performed with Daniel Powter.

Awards and Nominations for Linda Perry

Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Georgia Film Critics Association Awards

Golden Globe Awards

Grammy Awards

Guild of Music Supervisors Awards

Songwriters Hall of Fame

Žebřík Music Awards

Images for kids

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  Perry in 2010

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  Linda Perry in May 2008

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  Linda Perry performing at Festival Hera in Mexico City

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  Perry with Sara Gilbert at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's An Evening with Women event in 2014

See also

In Spanish: Linda Perry para niños