Sarah’s landmark fifth album, the 10X-platinum Surfacing (1997), contained two Grammy Award-winning tracks: Building a Mystery won for Best Female Pop Vocal and Last Dance was voted Best Pop Instrumental. In 1998, the soundtrack of the Wim Wenders film City of Angels reached Number One on the Billboard chart. Featuring the Sarah McLachlan track Angel, the City of Angels soundtrack achieved 4X platinum sales status.
The 1999 Lilith Fair tour gave rise to Sarah’s 4X-platinum album Mirrorball and its platinum long-form video counterpart. I Will Remember You, a track from Mirrorball, earned Sarah her third career Grammy Award, for Best Female Pop Vocal (1999).
It was Lilith Fair that catapulted me into a different stratosphere as far as the media frenzy and public knowledge.
Afterglow, released in 2003, reached 2X-platinum status and received two Grammy Award nomina tions: Best Pop Vocal Album and (for the opening track Fallen ) Best Female Pop Vocal.
In October 2006, Sarah released Wintersong, her first album of holiday-themed songs. Among the highlights of this twelve-song set: Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Song For A Winter’s Night by Gordon Lightfoot, River by Joni Mitchell, and the all-time seasonal favorites I’ll Be Home For Christmas and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Pierre Marchand, the platinum-selling Wintersong reached No. 7 on the Billboard chart. The disc was nominated for both a Grammy Award (for Best Tradi tional Pop Vocal Album) and a Juno Award (for Pop Album of the Year).
On October 7, 2008, the artist, celebrated the 20th anniversary of her multi-platinum record ing career with the release of Closer: The Best Of Sarah McLachlan. For her first career anthology, Closer Sarah personally selected thirteen classic tracks from her award-winning catalog and also included two newly recorded and previ ously unreleased songs, You Want Me and Don’t Give Up. Closer entered the Billboard chart at No. 11, Sarah’s fifth album to reach the Billboard Top 15.
Notable Facts
• Sarah McLachlan has sold over 40 million recordings worldwide since her recording career began in 1988 with her debut album Touch. Five of her albums have reached the Billboard Top 15.
• Sarah has received a career total of 21 Juno Award nominations. She is an eight-time Juno Award winner (Canada) and a three-time Grammy Award winner:
Grammy Award 1999 ‘I Will Remember You’ _ Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Grammy Award 1998 ‘Last Dance’ _ Best Pop Instrumental Performance
Grammy Award 1998 ‘Building a Mystery’ _ Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
• The touring festival called Lilith Fair, founded by Sarah McLachlan, brought together two mil lion people over its three_year history (1997-1999) and raised more than $7 million for charities. Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow, Nelly Furtado, Queen Latifah, Emmylou Harris, and Christina Aguilera were among the many artists who participated in Lilith Fair.
• Sarah has been profiled in cover stories for Rolling Stone, Time and Entertainment Weekly.
• In 1998, Sarah McLachlan received the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Visionary Award for advancing the careers of women in music. New York Governor George Pataki presented Sarah with the award on the 150th anniversary of the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY.
• In 2003, the singer founded the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach Program for the purpose of providing free music education classes to inner city youths whose school music programs have been reduced or abolished by budget cuts.
