Natalie Anne O'Shea Merchant (born October 26, 1963 in Jamestown, New York, USA) is a professional musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and began her solo career in 1993.

Family
Merchant was the lead singer of the band 10,000 Maniacs, joining in its infancy in 1981 while she was a student at Jamestown Community College.
She left the band in 1993 to pursue a successful solo career. Her debut solo album Tigerlily (1995) had three Top 40 singles in the U.S.: "Carnival", "Jealousy", and "Wonder". In 1997, she first performed "Planctus", a song for voice and piano written for her by Philip Glass. In 1998, Merchant released Ophelia, supported by co-headlining the concert tour Lilith Fair. The following year she released Live in Concert, containing covers and solo songs as well as a few songs from the 10,000 Maniacs-era.
In 2001, Merchant released her album Motherland and went on an extensive tour of North America and Europe. She parted ways with Elektra Records in 2003 and released a folk album of traditional songs called The House Carpenter's Daughter in September of that year on Myth America Records, her own label.
In 2005 Elektra Records released Retrospective: 1995-2005, a collection of her singles. It was also released as a limited edition two-CD package featuring rare and previously unreleased songs.
Merchant plays the piano, and has written and produced almost all of her songs. She has sung alongside Michael Stipe, Susan McKeown, David Byrne, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel, amongst many other artists. She has also collaborated with Billy Bragg (and Wilco) a number of times, including the 1998 album Mermaid Avenue. Like Bragg, her work touches on social and political themes; and has been active in raising a number of campaigning issues in both her songs and through the causes to which she lends her name, such as Amnesty International and the American Indian Movement.

Career

Discography

Human Conflict Number Five (1982)
Secrets of the I Ching (1983)
The Wishing Chair (1985)
In My Tribe (1987)
Blind Man's Zoo (1989)
Hope Chest: The Fredonia Recordings 1982-1983 (1990)
Our Time in Eden (1992)
MTV Unplugged (1993)
Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings (2004) Solo albums

"Carnival" was the debut single from the former 10,000 Maniacs lead vocalist. The single was released to U.S. airwaves in the summer of 1995 and went straight to the number ten spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The single received a radio edit cutting the song down from the six-minute LP version.
"Wonder" was the second single from the album Tigerlily. The single was released in the autumn of 1995, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Singles Chart and number 7 on the Top 40 Mainstream Charts. "Wonder" received a slight radio remix for its commercial release. The released commercial single contains the radio version of the song (credited as 'remix') and the bonus track "Baby I Love You". The U.S. single even saw new interactive elements on the single containing the music video for "Wonder". This was one of the very first singles ever released to contain the music video of the song (since this was a new technology).
"Jealousy" was the third single (and probably the most famous) by Natalie Merchant. In a magazine interview, it was revealed that the song is about Merchant's broken engagement to record company executive David Bither. "Jealousy" was released in the spring of 1996. The single reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and climbed to the number 8 spot on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream Singles Charts. Natalie Merchant decided to re-record the song for its final release. Introducing new instruments, speeding up the track and creating a more upbeat tempo. The final commercial release of the single was released in the U.S. on May 28, 1996. The CD single contained the live bonus track taken from Merchant's current U.S. tour, "Sympathy For The Devil", a cover of The Rolling Stones hit. The CD single also contained the brand new version of "Jealousy", also credited as the 'remix' or 'radio remix'.
"San Andreas Fault" was the fourth single taken from Tigerlily. However, the single was never officially released commercially, but only in support of Natalie's current tour. The single received a decent radio edit with new vocals and a slight alteration of the song from the original. A music video was never created and a commercial single was never released for purchase. Promotional singles were sent out in late summer of 1996.
"Kind & Generous" April 1998 saw the release of the first single from her second solo album Ophelia. A soft uptempo ballad became one of Merchant's most catchy singles to date. Managers felt sales of a single might lower the sales of the album, therefore without a commercial release the single did not make the Billboard Hot 100, although it was a hit on the radio, peaking at number 12 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.
"Break Your Heart" was Merchant's second single taken from the second album Ophelia. The song was released in February 1999. The delay in the release of the follow up single to "Kind & Generous" was due to the fact that Merchant had gone on tour with the Lilith Fair. The single peaked again at the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream Singles Chart (peaking at 38). The final commercial release received two versions of the song, the 'pop radio edit' running at a total of three minutes and twenty seconds while the standard radio edit ran a total of four minutes and twenty five seconds. A commercial single was never released for purchase.
"Life Is Sweet" was the third and final single released from Ophelia. "Life Is Sweet" also hit the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream, peaking at number 38 just as her previous single "Break Your Heart". The song was released to radios in June 1999. Several versions of this single were released for radio airplay. The main version release was the VH1 Storytellers Radio Edit, the second version was the standard radio edit. A commercial single saw no release in the US or internationally.
"Space Oddity" is the first and last single taken from Merchant's Live album. The song is a cover of David Bowie's hit single. The single was never really released for airplay but for promotion for the album. The promo single contained a radio edit of the live version and the LP live version.
"Just Can't Last" was the first single to be lifted from Merchant's fourth album. The single was released in November 2001. It also hit number 1 on the Triple A charts. The single peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream Charts. The single released to the radio was a huge difference from the version released on the album. The single is credited as the radio edit, and received different vocals and a different sound (a more pop sound). A commercial single was not released domestically but internationally.
"Build a Levee" was the second, and so far last single released by Merchant. However this single received no music video. The final version released was a shortened version from the album (aka the radio edit) and there was also a radio remix with new vocals and instruments. The single never charted and was never released commercially, except as a promo given to local radio stations in the U.S. Compilation Album

Download sample of "San Andreas Fault" from Tigerlily