She started her career in 1981 and released her debut album in 1988. She was initially part of a band called The Reclines, and worked on three albums from 1984 to 1989. She won the 1989 Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for Absolute Torch and Twang, though she soon shifted to a more pop-oriented sound with 1992's Ingenue. lang was the one of the first high-profile singers to come out as a lesbian, in June 1992, which caused her to be banned from several U.S. country stations which were still playing her older songs.
Discography:
- k.d. lang and The Reclines
- A Truly Western Experience (1984)
- Angel with a Lariat (1987)
- Absolute Torch and Twang (1989)
- Solo albums:
- Shadowland (1988)
- Ingénue (1992)
- All You Can Eat (1995)
- Drag (1997)
- Invincible Summer (2000)
- Hymns of the 49th Parallel (2004)
- Watershed (2008)
- Other collaborations:
- A Wonderful World (2002) – with Tony Bennett
- Sing it Loud (2011) – credited to "k.d. lang and The Sis Boom Bang"
- case/lang/veirs (2016) – Neko Case, lang, and Laura Veirs
Constant troping, has always been:
- all lowercase letters: Her Stage Name is written in all lowercase.
- Cover Version: Covered Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" to start off the 2010 Olympics.
- Genre Shift: She shifted genres from country to pop ballads beginning with Ingenue. While she has done quite well as a balladeer, it's hard to say, given her vegetarianism and sexual orientation, whether she jumped out of country or was pushed.
- Obsession Song: "Constant Craving" is about the narrator talking about her desire and wanting for something.Constant craving
Has always been - One-Word Title: On the album side, Shadowland, Ingénue, Drag, Reintarnation, Watershed, Recollection, case/lang/veirs, Makeover. For the songs themselves:
- From A Truly Western Experience: "Bopalena"
- From Shadowland: "Shadowland"
- From All You Can Eat: "Sexuality", "This"
- From Invincible Summer: "Summerfling", "Suddenly", "Curiousity"
- From Live by Request: "Crying"
- From Hymns of the 49th Parallel: "Helpless", "Hallelujah", "Fallen", "Jericho"
- From Watershed: "Sunday", "Thread", "Upstream"
- From Sing It Loud: "Inglewood", "Heaven", "Reminiscing"
- From case/lang/veirs: "Delirium", "Supermoon"
- Only Known by Initials: Although in some lyrics to her songs she refers to her actual first name (ex. "The Mind of Love": "Where is your head, Kathryn?") Her full name is Kathryn Dawn Lang.
- Stage Name: k.d. lang, which is derived from the initials of her real name.
- Supergroup: Was part of one with Neko Case and Laura Veirs called case/lang/vers.
- Title Track: "Shadowland"