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; div. 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, and music producer. She is best known as the lead singer and main songwriter for the band 4 Non Blondes. Their song "What's Up?" was a huge hit in 1993.

After her band, Linda started two record labels. She also wrote and produced many popular songs for other famous artists. These include "Beautiful" for Christina Aguilera, "What You Waiting For?" for Gwen Stefani, and "Get the Party Started" for 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.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Linda Perry was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on April 15, 1965. Her father, Alfred Xavier Perry, was a musician and engineer. He was of Portuguese descent. Her mother, Marluce Martins Perry, was a model and designer from Brazil. Growing up, Linda was surrounded by art and music. She showed an interest in music from a very young age.

She spent her teenage years in San Diego. Then, in 1986, when she was 21, she moved to San Francisco.

Starting Out in San Francisco

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 frontman Stephan Jenkins was also a musician trying to make it big in San Francisco at that time. He remembered sitting with Linda, who worked as a waitress, and sharing their original songs. They played early versions of "Semi-Charmed Life" and "What's Up?" for each other. Both songs later became massive hits for their bands. Years later, Jenkins realized those songs sold a combined 17 million copies.

Linda Perry also performed by herself in clubs and coffeehouses around the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of these places included Nightbreak, Paradise Lounge, and DNA Lounge.

Joining 4 Non Blondes

Linda Perry wrote her first professional song called "Down On Your Face." In mid-1989, she joined the band 4 Non Blondes. The band was started by Christa Hillhouse. 4 Non Blondes became well-known in the San Francisco bar scene. They gained many fans, especially in local bars. In July 1991, the band signed a contract with Interscope Records.

In 1992, 4 Non Blondes recorded their only album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More!. This album included the song "What's Up?", which Linda Perry wrote. Linda was not happy with a changed version of the song that the album's producer wanted. So, she and the band re-recorded the song to sound like Linda's original demo. This re-recorded version was used for the album. In March 1993, "What's Up" was released as the album's second single. It became number one in 10 countries. This success helped the album do very well. The album stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for 59 weeks. It sold 1.5 million copies between 1992 and 1994.

While recording their second album in late 1994, 4 Non Blondes broke up. Linda Perry said she was not happy with the first album. She also had creative disagreements with the band.

Solo Music Career

Linda Perry in May 2008

After 4 Non Blondes, Interscope Records kept Linda Perry as a solo artist. They put together a team to help her make 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 it did not sell many copies. Linda toured the world with the band Red Fish, Blue Fish. She also opened for famous acts like The Who. To promote her album, she appeared on The Howard Stern Show. She also hosted the Bay Area Music Awards in 1997 and 1998.

In 1999, she released her second solo album, After Hours. This album was on Rockstar Records. She also performed as an opening act for Bryan Adams.

Becoming a Producer and Songwriter

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. Based on their input, Linda 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 songs for her second album, Missundaztood. Linda co-wrote and produced many songs on the album. She got full writing credit for "Lonely Girl" and "Get the Party Started." "Get the Party Started" was released as the album's first single. It became Pink's biggest hit at that time. 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 for Christina Aguilera. This song was "Beautiful", which 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 nominated for "Song of the Year" at the Grammy Awards. The song later won the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards.

She worked with the art-dance duo Fischerspooner on some songs for their 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?" Also, her record label, Custard Records, was started. It was meant 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. They worked on Christina's third album, Back to Basics (2006). 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 was for her important contributions to 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, came out in 2010. It included "Lift Me Up", which Linda Perry wrote and produced all by herself.

On November 5, 2010, Linda Perry performed live in San Francisco with 4 Non Blondes guitar player Roger Rocha. This event celebrated the release of Rocha's album with his band The Golden Hearts. Linda performed a solo set of cover songs. These included Radiohead's "Creep" and Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun". Linda and Roger Rocha performed one song together, Led Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You".

In June 2010, Linda Perry announced that she was going to make an album with her new band Deep Dark Robot. She started this band with Tony Tornay. The 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, "Just What I Needed" by the Cars, and "Creep" by Radiohead. She wrote on her Facebook account: "iPhone sessions are me sitting at my piano an recording song into iPhone voice memo. Then I post it. Very simple enjoy :)"

Recent Career Highlights

In 2014, Linda Perry appeared in 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. Some of these artists included VanJess and the winner, Hemming.

Linda Perry was scheduled to be the house band for a special series of late-night episodes of The Talk. These shows aired the week of January 12, 2015.

Linda Perry co-wrote a song with Adele for her 2015 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 film Freeheld. This song, "Hands of Love," was performed by Miley Cyrus.

In June 2015, Linda Perry was inducted into 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. Its purpose was to encourage American voters to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election.

Linda Perry performing at Festival Hera in Mexico City

We Are Hear Company

In 2017, Linda Perry teamed up with Kerry Brown to start We Are Hear. This company is a record label, a music publisher, and an artist management company. It is based 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 festival 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. This event featured the remaining members of Nirvana (Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Krist Novoselic) performing with Beck and St. Vincent. Other bands like Cheap Trick, L7, and Marilyn Manson also performed.

Personal Life

Perry with her now ex-wife Sara Gilbert at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's An Evening with Women event in 2014

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

Linda Perry began a relationship with actress Sara Gilbert in 2011. They announced their engagement in April 2013. They 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.

Music Releases

Solo Albums

Solo Singles

Songs Produced or Written by Linda Perry

Other Music Appearances

• Susanna Hoffs by Susanna Hoffs (1996): "Weak With Love", guitar and backing vocals by Linda Perry
• Missundaztood by Pink (2001): "Lonely Girl" featuring Linda Perry
• Hitting the Ground by Gordon Gano (2002): "So It Goes", vocals by Linda Perry
• 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", additional vocals by Linda Perry
• 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", operatic vocals by Linda Perry
• Cheat the Gallows by Bigelf (2008): "Superstar" and "Race With Time", backing vocals by Linda Perry
• Under the Radar by Daniel Powter (2008): "Am I Still the One?", "Beauty Queen", "My So Called Life", all performed with Daniel Powter

Awards and Nominations

Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Georgia Film Critics Association

Golden Globe Awards

Grammy Awards

Guild of Music Supervisors Awards

Hollywood Music in Media Awards

Songwriters Hall of Fame

Žebřík Music Awards

See also

In Spanish: Linda Perry para niños