Cat Power

Cat Power is the daughter of a Charlie Marshall, a blues singer and pianist, and her childhood was disrupted by the lifestyle this inflicted on the family. She dropped out of High School and began to perform locally, with no real ambition other than to have fun. At 20 she moved to New York City and was introduced to the free-jazz and experimental scene, including the queercore band God Is My Co-Pilot.

Her first two albums were Dear Sir and Myra Lee released in 1995 and 1996 but recorded on the same day in 1994. By What Would the Community Think (1996) she had signed to Matador Records. That album was nearly the end of her musical career as she had planned to give it all up. Then she changed her mind, having written several of the songs which would appear on her next album Moon Pix (1998), after a nightmare. The album was critically acclaimed and led to her growing credibility within the indie scene. After a covers album in 2000 she released a new album of fresh material in 2003, You Are Free on which she collaborated with Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl. For her next album she collaborated with Teenie Hodges on The Greatest (2006) but by the time it was released she was in hospital. Ultimately this was no surprise for those fans who had for some time been witness to her muddled, alcohol-soaked performances. Jukebox, a covers album, was released in 2008 to middling reviews and charted well around the world.

More recently she has made forays into acting, and has recently had her screen debut as Jude Law's girlfriend in My Blueberry Nights.