Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne emerged as a star in 1995 upon issuing Relish, her debut album for a major label, displaying her commanding voice across rock, pop, soul, blues, jazz, and additional genres. “One of Us” rose to become a huge hit single, raising expectations for a sustained pop career. Creative restlessness soon sparked friction with the label, prompting her instead to pursue her own path by blending vintage soul covers with similar originals on Breakfast in Bed in 2007, reworking soul and blues standards on Bring It on Home in 2012, and saluting a favored songwriter with the plainly titled Songs of Bob Dylan in 2017, all while shifting releases to her independent imprint for fuller autonomy. Equally at ease fronting the Motown house band the Funk Brothers or singing with the Grateful Dead on tour, Osborne demonstrates impressive range, a strong voice, sharp instincts for its deployment, and informed judgment guiding her artistic decisions. She blended genre-spanning sounds with socially engaged material on Trouble and Strife in 2020, then turned to personal and political subjects on the soul-infused Nobody Owns You in 2023.

Born July 8, 1962, in Anchorage, Kentucky, Osborne did not begin treating singing as a serious pursuit until she moved to New York City in the early 1990s to attend NYU’s film school, an ambition ignited after she sang Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child” at a neighborhood bar’s open-mike night. Along with Holiday, she drew inspiration from Etta James and Ray Charles, choosing not to court major labels and instead launching her own Womanly Hips imprint, which yielded the 1992 live set Soul Show and other early recordings.

She eventually signed with Mercury, which released Relish in March 1995. The album enjoyed unusual longevity; nearly a year later “One of Us” became an MTV and radio sensation, holding the top spot on the U.S. singles chart for two weeks and helping Relish surpass three million copies sold. Follow-up singles “Right Hand Man” and “St. Teresa” did not replicate that breakthrough, yet Osborne still reached a broad audience, notably through her participation in the 1997 Lilith Fair tour organized by Sarah McLachlan. She earned multiple Grammy nominations in both 1996 and 1997.

Crafting a successor to Relish proved protracted. Mercury filled the gap with the compilation Early Recordings, which gathered Live at Delta ’88 and Blue Million Miles. Osborne devoted time to advocacy for Rock the Vote and Planned Parenthood, later joining the latter’s board of advocates as an honorary member, and she teamed with Isaac Hayes on a cover of “I’m Just a Bill” for the 1998 benefit album Schoolhouse Rocks the Vote!. She also studied briefly with Qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and shared stages with Stevie Wonder, Melissa Etheridge, Taj Mahal, Luciano Pavarotti, Spearhead, Bob Dylan, and the Chieftains. Righteous Love, her next original studio album, finally appeared in September 2000 but faded quickly after modest sales. She rebounded in 2002 with How Sweet It Is, a covers collection centered on classic soul and R&B from the 1960s and 1970s. A career overview titled One of Us arrived in 2005.

Vanguard signed her soon afterward and issued the country-leaning Pretty Little Stranger in 2006. Breakfast in Bed followed in 2007 and Little Wild One in 2008. After a three-year hiatus she returned to the studio with her touring band and co-producer Jack Petruzzelli, resulting in the gritty blues and R&B covers set Bring It on Home, released in spring 2012.

She assumed tighter control on Love & Hate, again collaborating with Petruzzelli on production while writing or co-writing every track; the album appeared in spring 2014. That year Osborne also joined Trigger Hippy, the roots-rock band led by Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman, for their debut album and some live dates before stepping away to concentrate on solo work. Turning to fans for crowdfunding, she next assembled Songs of Bob Dylan, issued in 2017. Trouble and Strife followed in 2020, reflecting the political and social upheavals of the moment and featuring guitar from Wilco’s Nels Cline. She released the single “Great American Cities” in July 2023, previewing Nobody Owns You, which arrived that September and addressed both personal concerns and social commentary, most directly in the title track written as an empowering message to her daughter.