Lisa Gerrard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lisa Gerrard
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Gerrard with Dead Can Dance, 2012
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| Birth name | Lisa Germaine Gerrard |
| Born | 12 April 1961 Melbourne, Australia |
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| Years active | 1980–present |
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Lisa Gerrard (born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer, and composer. She is famous for her unique singing style. She often sings in a special language she made up herself. Lisa has a very deep and powerful voice. She can sing a wide range of notes.
She is also a member of the music group Dead Can Dance. She formed this group with her music partner Brendan Perry. Besides singing, Lisa plays instruments like the yangqin. This is a Chinese hammered dulcimer. She has released many solo albums. She has also worked with other famous artists. These include Hans Zimmer and Ennio Morricone. Lisa Gerrard has created music for many movies. She won a Golden Globe Award for her music in the movie Gladiator.
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Early life and first bands
Lisa Gerrard was born in Melbourne, Australia. Her parents were from Ireland. She grew up in a part of Melbourne called Prahran. This area had many people from Greece. Lisa remembers hearing "Mediterranean music blaring out of the houses." She says this music really influenced her own songs.
When she was young, Lisa started forming bands. She created her own music. This was part of Melbourne's "Little Band scene." This was a time when many experimental bands started. It was between 1978 and 1981. Here, she met Brendan Perry. He would later become her bandmate in Dead Can Dance. Lisa was the lead singer for a band called Microfilm. They released a few songs in the early 1980s.
Music career
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance started as a four-person band in 1981. The members were Lisa Gerrard, Brendan Perry, Paul Erikson, and Simon Monroe. In 1982, Lisa, Brendan, and Paul moved to London. Simon stayed in Australia. The band became a trio.
The band took a break in 1998. But they got back together in 2005 for a world tour. In 2012, they announced another tour. This was for their new album, Anastasis. Two of Dead Can Dance's albums reached number one. These were Spiritchaser (1996) and Anastasis (2012). They topped the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart.
Solo work and collaborations
In 1995, Lisa released her first solo album. It was called The Mirror Pool. The Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra helped her with it. This album was popular and appeared on music charts.
In 1998, she worked with composer Pieter Bourke. They released an album called Duality. This album also did well on the charts. Lisa and Pieter worked together on music for movies. These included The Insider and Ali.
Lisa started working with Patrick Cassidy in 2004. They released Immortal Memory. They also worked on music for the TV show Salem's Lot.
In 2006, a documentary about Lisa's life came out. It was called Sanctuary. It showed interviews with Lisa and people she worked with. These included Russell Crowe and Hans Zimmer.
Lisa released her second solo album, The Silver Tree, in 2006. It was very different from her earlier work. It also did well on the New Age Albums Chart. In 2007, a collection of her best songs was released. It was called The Best of Lisa Gerrard. She then went on a world tour. This was her first time touring in Australia.
In 2007, Lisa worked with German musician Klaus Schulze. They released the album Farscape. They also toured Europe together.
In 2009, Lisa started her own record label. It is called Gerrard Records. She wanted to release her own music there. She also wanted to help new artists. Her third solo album, The Black Opal, was the first release from her new label.
Lisa has continued to release new music. She worked with Marcello De Francisci on Departum in 2010. She also collaborated with Prash Mistry on the song "Spirit Guide." In 2014, she released Twilight Kingdom. This album featured Daniel Johns and Russell Crowe. Her voice was also used in the video game Armello in 2015.
In 2018, Lisa worked with the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices. They released a collaborative album called BooCheeMish. She also teamed up with David Kuckhermann for the album Hiraeth. Hiraeth was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Film music career
Lisa Gerrard first wrote music for a film in 1989. It was for the Spanish movie El Niño de la Luna. Dead Can Dance composed the music. Lisa also acted in the film.
She became very well known for film music in 1999. This was when she worked on The Insider with Pieter Bourke. Then, in 2000, she worked with Hans Zimmer on Gladiator. This music was nominated for an Academy Award. It won a Golden Globe Award for both composers.
Lisa's music for the film Whale Rider was all her own. She also worked with Ennio Morricone on Fateless in 2005. She contributed to the soundtrack of Baraka. She sang on the song "Gortoz a ran – J'attends." This song was later used in the movie Black Hawk Down.
In 2009, Lisa wrote the music for Balibo. She won an APRA award and an ARIA award for it. She also sang the theme song for a Japanese TV show called Ryōmaden.
Lisa continues to compose for films. She worked on Tears of Gaza (2010) and Oranges and Sunshine (2011). Her music for Burning Man won an award in 2012. Her song "Now We Are Free" from Gladiator was very popular. It stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for a long time. More recently, she contributed to the music for Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024).
Vocal style
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Lisa Gerrard has a very deep and powerful singing voice. It is called a "contralto" voice. She can also sing higher notes. Her voice has been described as "rich, deep" and "mournful." Critics say her voice is "simply not of this world."
She sings some songs in English. But many of her songs use a language she created herself. She calls it the "language of the Heart." She says she started singing in this language when she was about 12. She believed she was "speaking to God" when she sang in it.
Lisa's early singing was influenced by Bulgarian choirs. She also heard many different types of music growing up in Melbourne. There was a large Greek and Turkish community there. Her father's Irish "sean-nós" songs also influenced her. She said her singing is her own way of responding to these influences.
Awards and achievements
Lisa Gerrard has won many awards for her music. She has received 11 awards and 23 nominations in total.
- She won a Golden Globe Award for the music in Gladiator (2000).
- She won an ARIA Award for the soundtrack of Balibo (2009).
- She has also won several FCCA Awards for Best Music Score.
- Her album Hiraeth was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2019.
- She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her music in Salem's Lot (2005).
Discography
- The Mirror Pool (1995)
- Duality (1998) (with Pieter Bourke)
- The Silver Tree (2006)
- The Black Opal (2009)
- Twilight Kingdom (2014)
- BooCheeMish, collaboration with the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices (2018)
- Hiraeth, Lisa Gerrard & David Kuckhermann (2018)
- Górecki Symphony No. 3: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, with Genesis Orchestra & Yordan Kamdzhalov (2020))
Filmography
- 1989 – Moon Child
- 1994 – Toward the Within
- 1999 – The Insider
- 2000 – Gladiator
- 2000 – Mission: Impossible 2
- 2001 – Ali
- 2002 – Whale Rider
- 2004 – Layer Cake
- 2004 – Man on Fire
- 2006 – Sanctuary
- 2011 – InSight
- 2015 – Tanna
- 2017 – 2:22
- 2021 – Man of God
- 2021 – Dune
- 2024 – Dune: Part Two
- 2024 - Gladiator II (trailer and song "Now We Are Free").
See also
In Spanish: Lisa Gerrard para niños
