O’Hara was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to a large Catholic family. Her sister, Catherine has experienced a successful acting career, most notably for her role in the box office smash “Home Alone”. After graduating from Ontario Art College, Mary began acting and singing with the pop/soul group Dollars, covering songs by the likes of Etta James and Otis Redding. By 1976 she was lead vocalist for rock band Go Deo Chorus, where she developed her unique songwriting and vocal techniques. Audiences were reportedly stunned as she would flail neuroticly on stage, ad-libbing songs into a bewilderment of repetitive confusion and then suddenly bring it all down into an acoustic subtlety over which her voice would become awe-inspiringly pure and elegant. In 1984, O’Hara signed a recording contract with Virgin Records, but her first album did not appear until 1988 because O’Hara’s perfectionism and unconventional recording habits made the record difficult to complete. Andy Partridge of XTC had been scheduled to produce recordings with her, but was fired by her manager Jody Colero from the project when she found out that he was an atheist and that Partridge’s co-producer on the project John Leckie (who produced albums by XTC and, later, The Stone Roses) was a follower of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a controversial Indian guru who reportedly supported free love. As well, she did some work as a graphic artist, including lettering for the cover of Dalbello’s album whomanfoursays. In 1987, Michael Brook saw O’Hara in performance and was captivated by her unique style, and soon took on the job of producing O’Hara’s attempts at an album. He ultimately added new vocals to and remixed material that was originally recorded by Joe Boyd in 1984. When ”Miss America” was finally released in 1988, O’Hara’s songwriting (a fusion of jazz, country, rock and pop) and distinctive vocal style — which can move from a pure, angelic croon to a loud wail in seconds — quickly won her raves from critics and fellow musicians alike. It was hailed in many quarters as one of the best and most distinctive records of the decade, and has in fact made an appearance in some music magazines’ polls of the best records of the 20th century. The British music magazine Mojo sings her praises regularly. On their 1990 album ”The Caution Horses”, Cowboy Junkies recorded a sparse, haunting version of O’Hara’s song “You Will Be Loved Again”. In 1991, O’Hara followed up with a four-song EP of Christmas material, entitled ”Christmas”. Following the Christmas EP, O’Hara took on several acting roles and appeared as a vocalist on recordings by a variety of other artists, including Morrissey, John & Mary, Bruce Cockburn, Holly Cole, Meryn Cadell, The Henrys and Neko Case. She also contributed songs to a number of compilation albums, including tributes to Vic Chesnutt and Kurt Weill, and participated in a 1994 Christmas concert with Holly Cole, Rebecca Jenkins, Jane Siberry and Victoria Williams, which was released as the album ”Count Your Blessings”. As well, she has occasionally performed in musical theatre, most notably productions of Tom Waits’ experimental rock opera ”The Black Rider”. During an R.E.M. concert in Toronto in 1999, Michael Stipe brought O’Hara on stage and declared her a “national treasure”. Other artists who are said to be fans of hers include Kristin Hersh, Radiohead, Dave Matthews and Rickie Lee Jones. However, she did not release a new recording under her own name until 2001, when she and long time guitarist Rusty Mccarthy contributed to the soundtrack for the Canadian film ”Apartment Hunting” (in which she also acted). On October 4th and 5th, 2006, O’Hara performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (with Gavin Friday) and “The Window” at “Came So Far For Beauty” the Leonard Cohen Tribute organised by Hal Willner at The Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. She performed at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Minehead, England, over the weekend of April 27 to 29, 2007, and with Howe Gelb and friends at the Barbican Centre in London on May 2, 2007. |
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