Anne Murray
b. 20 June 1946, Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada. This doctor's daughter enjoyed local celebrity for her trained singing, which was accompanied by her own piano accompaniment. Nevertheless, she regarded music as a pastime when she graduated to New Brunswick University prior to a post as a physical training instructor at a Prince Edward Island school. In 1964 she was persuaded to audition for SING ALONG JUBILEE, a regional television show, but was selected instead for the same network's LET'S GO, hosted by Bill Langstroth (her future husband). Income from a residency on the programme and solo concerts was sufficient for Murray to begin entertaining professionally in a vaguely folk/country rock style, though she could also acquit herself admirably with both R&B and mainstream pop material. Like Linda Ronstadt—seen by some as her US opposite number—she was mainly an interpreter of songs written by others. Issued by Arc Records, 1968's WHAT ABOUT ME, created sufficient impact to interest Capitol Records, who signed her to a long term contract. 
From THIS WAS MY WAY, an arrangement of Gene MacLellan's remarkable Snowbird, soared into Billboard's Top 10 (and was also her biggest UK hit). Despite regular appearances on Glen Campbell's GOODTIME HOUR television series, subsequent releases—including the title track to TALK IT OVER IN THE MORNING—sold only moderately until 1973 when she scored another smash hit with Danny's Song, composed by Kenny Loggins (with whom she duetted 11 years later on Nobody Loves Me Like You Do, a country chart-topper). Although finishing 1976 as Billboard's second most successful female artist, family commitments necessitated a brief period of domesticity before 1978's You Needed Me won her a Grammy award. While revivals of Bobby Darin's Things and the Monkees’ Daydream Believer were aimed directly at the pop market, it was with the country audience that she proved most popular. He Thinks I Still Care (originally a b-side) became her first country number 1. However, between Just Another Woman In Love, Could I Have This Dance (from the film URBAN COWBOY), 1983's bold A Little Good News and other country hits, she had also recorded a collection of children's ditties ( HIPPO IN MY TUB), commensurate with her executive involvement with Canada's Save The Children Fund. In 1989 Springhill's Anne Murray Center was opened in recognition for her tireless work for this charity.