Suzanne Vega facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Suzanne Vega
Vega performing in 2016
Background information
Birth name	Suzanne Nadine Peck
Born	(1959-07-11) July 11, 1959 (age 66) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock folk rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter musician
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Cooking Vinyl A&M Blue Note Amanuensis Productions
Associated acts	Joe Jackson Danger Mouse Sparklehorse Jonathan Coulton Duncan Sheik Shawn Colvin

Suzanne Nadine Vega (born July 11, 1959) is an American singer and songwriter. She is known for her folk-inspired music. Suzanne Vega has been making music for over 40 years.

In the 1980s and 1990s, she had several popular songs in the UK. These included "Marlene on the Wall" and "Luka." Her song "Tom's Diner" became a big hit when it was remixed as a dance track. This song was also used to test the MP3 format. Because of this, Suzanne Vega is sometimes called "The Mother of the MP3."

She has released ten studio albums. Her newest album, Flying With Angels, came out in 2025.

Suzanne Vega's Early Life

Suzanne Nadine Vega was born in Santa Monica, California, on July 11, 1959. Her parents separated when she was very young. Her mother, Pat Vega, worked with computers. Her biological father, Richard Peck, had English, Irish, and Scottish roots.

Her stepfather, Edgardo Vega Yunqué, was a writer and teacher. When Suzanne was two and a half, her family moved to New York City. She grew up in Spanish Harlem and the Upper West Side. She did not know Richard Peck was her biological father until she was nine. They later met and still keep in touch.

Suzanne went to the High School of Performing Arts. There, she studied modern dance. She finished high school in 1977.

Her Music Career

Starting Out in the 1980s

While studying English literature at Barnard College, Suzanne Vega performed in small places in Greenwich Village. She often sang at Jack Hardy's songwriting group. In 1984, she signed a major record deal. This made her one of the first artists from her group to get a big record contract.

Her first album, Suzanne Vega, came out in 1985. Critics liked it, and it sold very well in the UK. The songs featured her acoustic guitar. A music video for "Marlene on the Wall" played on MTV and VH1. She also wrote lyrics for two songs by composer Philip Glass.

In 1986, her song "Left of Center" was in the film Pretty in Pink. It reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart.

Her next album, Solitude Standing (1987), was very successful. It sold over a million copies in the U.S. This album included the worldwide hit "Luka." This song is about a child who needs help. The music on this album was more pop-oriented. In 1989, Suzanne Vega was the first female artist to headline the Glastonbury Festival.

The song "Tom's Diner" from Solitude Standing became a hit in 1990. Two British producers, DNA, remixed it as a dance track. Suzanne Vega allowed them to release it, and it became her biggest hit.

Music in the 1990s

Suzanne Vega's third album, Days of Open Hand, was released in 1990. It continued her earlier style.

In 1992, she released 99.9F°. This album mixed folk and pop music with electronic sounds. It sold over 500,000 copies in the U.S. The song "Blood Makes Noise" from this album reached number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. She later married the album's producer, Mitchell Froom.

Her fifth album, Nine Objects of Desire, came out in 1996. It included "Caramel," which was in the movie The Truth About Cats & Dogs. Another song, "Woman on the Tier," was on the soundtrack for Dead Man Walking.

In 1997, she sang on the album Heaven & Hell. This album was a musical look at the seven deadly sins. She worked with Joe Jackson on this project.

In 1999, Suzanne Vega published a book called The Passionate Eye. It was a collection of her poems, song lyrics, and essays.

Her Work in the 2000s

Suzanne Vega performing in 2008

In September 2001, Suzanne Vega released Songs in Red and Gray. Some songs on this album were about her divorce from Mitchell Froom.

In 2003, a collection of her greatest hits, Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega, was released. She was also invited to perform at the Century of Song concerts in Germany.

In 2003, she hosted a radio series called American Mavericks. This show was about American composers from the 20th century. It won a Peabody Award for its excellence.

On August 3, 2006, Suzanne Vega became the first major artist to perform live in the virtual world Second Life. She also performed in Central Park in 2006 for a benefit concert. She showed her support for Amnesty International, an organization she joined in 1988.

In October 2006, she visited the Academia Film Olomouc festival in the Czech Republic. She performed her classic songs and a new one called "New York Is a Woman."

She signed a new record deal with Blue Note Records in 2006. She released Beauty & Crime in 2007. This album won a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album.

In 2008, some of Suzanne Vega's recordings were lost or damaged in a fire at a music vault in Los Angeles.

Suzanne Vega in the 2010s

Suzanne Vega at Union Chapel, London, 2015

A part of her song "Tom's Diner" was used in the 2010 British movie 4.3.2.1.. The lyrics were changed to fit the movie's story. This new song was called "Keep Moving." Suzanne Vega also worked with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse on their album Dark Night of the Soul (2010). She wrote a song called "Man Who Played God" for it. She also sang on Jonathan Coulton's album Artificial Heart (2011).

Suzanne Vega re-recorded many of her older songs in a series called Close-up. She did this for artistic reasons and to have more control over her music. Love Songs and People & Places came out in 2010. States of Being was released in 2011, and Songs of Family in 2012. These albums included some new songs she had not recorded before. In total, the Close-Up series has 60 re-recorded songs and five new ones.

She and her collaborator Gerry Leonard started playing new songs live. These songs were later recorded for the album Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles. It was released in 2014. This was her first album of new material in seven years. It reached number 37 on the UK Top 40 chart.

Her ninth album, Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, was released on October 14, 2016.

Recent Years (2020s)

In early 2020, Suzanne Vega acted in an off-Broadway musical. It was based on the 1969 movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. She played the "Band Leader" role. A critic from The New York Times called her a "delightful" presence.

In February and March 2023, Suzanne Vega toured the UK. Her album Flying With Angels was released on May 2, 2025.

How Suzanne Vega Writes Songs

Suzanne Vega started writing poetry when she was nine years old. Her stepfather encouraged her. It took her three years to write her first song, "Brother Mine," at age 14. This song was later released on her album Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family.

She does not read musical notes. Instead, she sees melodies as shapes and chords as colors. She focuses on the words and main tune ideas. For more complex parts, she works with other musicians. Most of her albums, except the first, were made with others.

Suzanne Vega finishes about 80% of the songs she starts. She got the idea for "Tom's Diner" while walking in New York. She was thinking about French New Wave films.

Her biggest musical inspirations are Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen. Paul Simon and Laura Nyro are also important to her.

Suzanne Vega's Guitars

Suzanne Vega currently plays Furch guitars. This brand is made in the Czech Republic. Her song "Tom's Diner" was part of a guitar competition by Furch in 2021. In the 1980s, she played Guild guitars. In the 1990s, she used Yamaha and Taylor guitars at different times.

Theater Work

Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik wrote a play called Carson McCullers Talks About Love. It was about the writer Carson McCullers. In the play, Suzanne Vega performed monologues and songs. Vega and Sheik were nominated for an award for their music in the play.

The album Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers (2016) is based on this play. Suzanne Vega sees it as a new version of something she first worked on in college.

Amanuensis Productions

Suzanne Vega started her own record label after the 2008 financial crisis. She wanted to re-record her older songs with new arrangements. She also wanted to own the rights to her music. This led to her Close-Up Series albums.

The name "Amanuensis Productions" was a joke. An "amanuensis" is like a helper or servant. She thought it was funny that the "servant" (her new label) would own the "masters" (her recordings). It was also a play on words with A&M Records, who still owned her old master tapes.

Running her own label was harder than she expected. In 2015, it just about broke even. However, new licenses for "Tom's Diner" helped.

Personal Life

On March 17, 1995, Suzanne Vega married Mitchell Froom. He is a musician and record producer. They have a daughter named Ruby Froom, born on July 8, 1994. The band Soul Coughing named their first album Ruby Vroom after her daughter. Suzanne Vega and Mitchell Froom divorced in 1998.

On February 11, 2006, Suzanne Vega married Paul Mills. He is a lawyer and a poet. He had first asked her to marry him 22 years earlier.

Since 2010, Ruby Froom has sometimes performed with her mother on tour.

Suzanne Vega practices Nichiren Buddhism. She is a member of Soka Gakkai International, a worldwide Buddhist group.

Awards and Recognitions

Suzanne Vega has won several awards for her music.

Suzanne Vega's Albums

Studio Albums

• Suzanne Vega (1985)
• Solitude Standing (1987)
• Days of Open Hand (1990)
• 99.9F° (1992)
• Nine Objects of Desire (1996)
• Songs in Red and Gray (2001)
• Beauty & Crime (2007)
• Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles (2014)
• Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers (2016)
• Flying with Angels (2025)

Live Albums

• Live in London 1986 (1986)
• Sessions at West 54th (1997)
• Solitude Standing: Live at the Barbican (2013)
• Live at the Speakeasy (2014)
• An Evening of New York Songs and Stories (2020)

Books by Suzanne Vega

• The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writing of Suzanne Vega (1999) ISBN: 9780380973538.

Images for kids

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  Suzanne Vega performing in 2016

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  Suzanne Vega's signature

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  Suzanne Vega onstage, 2008

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  Suzanne Vega at Union Chapel, London, 2015

See also

In Spanish: Suzanne Vega para niños