Martha Wainwright

Born in 1976 and raised in Montreal, Martha Wainwright was destined to be a musician. Her parents are the folk singers Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, and her older brother is Rufus Wainwright. Yet Martha has carved out her own path, starting with a 2005 self-titled album that drew on folk music’s sturdy songwriting tradition but added lyrical bite (“Bloody Mother F*****g A*****e”) and influences from jazz, Americana and rock. Subsequent albums saw Wainwright exploring eclectic piano rock (2008’s I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too), French pop (2009’s Edith Piaf tribute Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright’s Piaf Record) and experimental indie (2012’s Come Home To Mama, featuring Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and Dirty Three drummer Jim White). Wainwright has never shied away from her famous lineage: she teamed up with half sister Lucy Wainwright Roche for the haunting folk album Songs in the Dark, released in 2015 under the name The Wainwright Sisters, in addition to working with various family members on collaborations.