Lisa Gerrard
Who was Lisa Gerrard?
Ethereal vocalist and composer best known for her work with Dead Can Dance and film scores including Gladiator, for which she won a Golden Globe.
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Lisa Gerrard (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Lisa Germaine Gerrard, born on April 12, 1961, in Melbourne, Australia, attended Brinsley Road Community School. She gained international fame as a musician, singer, and composer, renowned for her ethereal vocal style and as a founding member of the band Dead Can Dance. Known for her dramatic contralto voice with a three-octave range, she uses a unique singing technique called glossolalia, often performing in an invented language of her own.
Gerrard's music career started in Melbourne's Little Band scene, where she led the post-punk group Microfilm. In 1981, she and Brendan Perry co-founded Dead Can Dance, exploring various traditional and modern musical styles and helping to develop the neoclassical dark wave genre. Their innovative mix of ancient and modern music gained critical acclaim and a devoted global following during the 1980s and 1990s.
Besides her singing, Gerrard is a skilled instrumentalist, notably playing the yangqin, a Chinese hammered dulcimer, which features in much of her work. Her first solo album, "The Mirror Pool," came out in 1995, launching a successful solo career alongside her work with Dead Can Dance. She has worked with many famous artists and composers, including Patrick Cassidy, Klaus Schulze, Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, and Zbigniew Preisner.
Gerrard also found great success in film scoring, with her work featured in over 48 movies. Her collaboration with Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack for Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" (2000) brought widespread recognition and a Golden Globe Award. She also composed the score for "Balibo," winning an ARIA award for Best Original Soundtrack and an APRA Screen music award for Best Feature Film Score. By 2020, Gerrard had released four solo albums and collaborated on sixteen albums, winning 11 awards from 23 nominations, including two Grammy Award nominations.
Before Fame
Growing up in Melbourne during the 1970s, Gerrard was in a city going through a big cultural change and musical growth. The music scene in Melbourne in the late 1970s and early 1980s featured experimental post-punk and alternative rock, which created plenty of room for artistic exploration. This scene influenced her early musical development and led to her involvement with the Little Band scene.
Gerrard's rise to fame began with her work in Microfilm, a post-punk band where she honed her unique vocal style. Meeting Brendan Perry was pivotal, as their shared interest in exploring different musical traditions from around the world led them to form Dead Can Dance. This partnership laid the groundwork for her international career and established her reputation as an innovative vocalist and composer.
Key Achievements
- Co-founded Dead Can Dance in 1981, helping establish the neoclassical dark wave genre
- Won Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for Gladiator (2000) with Hans Zimmer
- Composed scores for over 48 films and released four solo albums plus sixteen collaborative works
- Won ARIA and APRA Screen Music Awards for her score to Balibo
- Received 11 awards from 23 nominations including two Grammy nominations
Did You Know?
- 01.She invented her own unique language for singing, which she describes as coming from her heart rather than her mind
- 02.Her yangqin, a Chinese hammered dulcimer, was a gift that became her signature instrument despite having no formal training on it
- 03.She was often called the 'wailing woman' after her haunting vocal performance in Gladiator became widely recognized
- 04.Dead Can Dance was named after a mask that Brendan Perry found, and the band never performed with a traditional drum kit
- 05.She has composed music for films in multiple languages including English, Italian, and Polish productions