Nell Marie McKay (born April 13, 1982) is a singer and songwriter. She made her Broadway debut in ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...

'' (2006).

Early life and education

McKay was born in London to an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

father, writer-director Malcolm McKay, and an American mother, actress Robin Pappas. She also has a half sister, author Alice Clark Platts. She holds dual citizenship. While growing up, she lived with her mother in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater H ...

, in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...

and in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. She studied jazz voice at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in m ...

, but did not graduate. Her performances at various New York City music venues, including the Sidewalk Cafe and Joe's Pub, drew attention from record labels.

Career

2004–2006

The recording sessions for McKay's debut album ''Get Away from Me'' took place in August 2003 with

Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road'' ...

as producer. Emerick was known for working as the Beatles' engineer on such albums as ''Revolver'' and ''Abbey Road''. The title is a play on

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

' ''

Come Away with Me ''Come Away with Me'' is the debut studio album by American recording artist Norah Jones, released on February 26, 2002, by Blue Note Records. Recording sessions took place at Sorcerer Sound Studio in New York City and Allaire Studios in Shok ...

''. ''Get Away from Me'' was released in February 2004. Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'' called the album "a tour de force from a sly, articulate musician who sounds comfortable in any era". The album was included on several "Best of 2004" lists. McKay was one of the major breakout artists from the 2004

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

Festival and was a finalist in the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize. She toured the northern United States in July 2004 as an opening act on the first half of the Au Naturale tour co-headlined by

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with two ...

and

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached ...

. ''Pretty Little Head'' was released in the United States on 31 October 2006 on McKay's own label, Hungry Mouse, and was marketed by SpinART Records. McKay made her

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut as Polly Peachum in the Roundabout Theatre Company's limited-run production of ''The Threepenny Opera'', co-starring with

Alan Cumming Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a British actor. His London stage appearances include ''Hamlet'', the Maniac in '' Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' (for which he received an Olivier Award), the lead in '' Bent'', The National Theatre ...

Jim Dale Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In Britis ...

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

, and

Brian Charles Rooney Brian Charles Rooney is an American actor and singer. Technically a sopranist (sopranista or male soprano), he has also sung high tenor roles in theatrical productions in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He made his Broadway debut in The ...

. The role earned her a

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

for Outstanding Debut Performance.

2007–present

McKay's third full-length studio release debuted on 25 September 2007. With both her previous albums lasting over 60 minutes and spanning two discs each, ''

Obligatory Villagers ''Obligatory Villagers'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Nellie McKay. It was released on September 25, 2007. Bob Dorough appears as a guest vocalist on several tracks. Many of the musicians on the album reside in the Pocono ...

'', with only nine tracks (ten if purchased from iTunes), totaling 30 minutes was her shortest release to date.Nellie McKay: Review
rollingstone.com; accessed February 14, 2017. On October 13, 2009 she released her fourth studio album, ''

Normal as Blueberry Pie – A Tribute to Doris Day ''Normal as Blueberry Pie – A Tribute to Doris Day'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter, Nellie McKay. Released in 2009 by Verve Records, it is McKay's first cover album, composed of songs previously recorded by American ...

'' on

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

. The album contains twelve covers of songs made famous by

Day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two ...

, as well as one original tune.

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 ...

featured an exclusive edition, packaged with the bonus track "I Want To Be Happy". iTunes also featured an exclusive edition with a different bonus track, "I'll Never Smile Again". On September 28, 2010 McKay and

released her fifth album, '' Home Sweet Mobile Home,'' with original tracks. It was produced by McKay and her mother, Robin Pappas, with artistic input from

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

. In 2013, McKay appeared in the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

revue show '' Old Hats''. On March 24, 2015 McKay released her sixth album, ''My Weekly Reader'', a

covers album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

of songs from the 1960s. Songs include

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...

's "Murder in My Heart for the Judge",

The Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...

' "

Itchycoo Park "Itchycoo Park" is a song written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, first recorded by their group, the Small Faces. Largely written by Lane, it was one of the first music recordings to feature flanging, an effect at that time made possible ...

", the

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

's "Quicksilver Girl",

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...

's "Hungry Freaks, Daddy",

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

If I Fell "If I Fell" is a song by English rock band the Beatles which first appeared in 1964 on the album '' A Hard Day's Night'' in the United Kingdom and United States, and on the North American album '' Something New''. It was written primarily by John ...

The Cyrkle The Cyrkle was an American rock band active in the early and mid-1960s. The group charted two Top 40 hits, "Red Rubber Ball" and " Turn-Down Day". Career The band was formed by guitarists and lead singers Don Dannemann and Tom Dawes (who also p ...

's "

Red Rubber Ball "Red Rubber Ball" is a pop song written by Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers and recorded by The Cyrkle, whose version reached 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and in South Africa and New Zealand. In Canada, th ...

", and

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK ...

' " Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter". On February 1, 2017, McKay joined

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

, Joan Osborne,

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered th ...

and the

Brooklyn Philharmonic There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence ...

Orchestra for ''Four Scored'', a single performance of reworked songs at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

. McKay, along with violinist Philippe Quint, starred in and contributed music to the independent film '' Downtown Express'', directed by David Grubin. Her musical show "I Want to Live!" is based on the life of murderer Barbara Graham, who also inspired a 1958 film with of the same title.

Personal life

McKay is a vocal

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, and wrote a satirical song relating to feminist issues called "Mother of Pearl". She is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

. McKay "is a proud member of

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, a ...

" (album notes); her song "Columbia Is Bleeding" dealt with the issue of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's cruelty to animals. She wrote a 2004 song ("John John") about her feelings in favor of political candidate

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

over Democratic presidential candidate

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

. She has performed at events for the progressive radio station

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. Th ...

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

, Farm Sanctuary, and the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, among many groups. McKay was one of several musicians to write a song in support of Georgia death row inmate

Troy Davis Troy Anthony Davis (October 9, 1968 – September 21, 2011) was a man convicted of and executed for the August 19, 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. MacPhail was working as a security guard at a Burger King re ...

. In 2018, she appeared on '' The Jimmy Dore Show'', a progressive political commentary show on YouTube, where she performed several of her songs and discussed her political views with Dore. She has also appeared as a guest on Dore's live show.

Discography

Albums

*2004: '' Get Away from Me'' *2006: ''

Pretty Little Head ''Pretty Little Head'' is the second album by singer Nellie McKay. It was released October 31, 2006, on Nellie's own Hungry Mouse label. It features duets with Cyndi Lauper ("Beecharmer") and k.d. lang ("We Had It Right"). Other songs include "C ...

'' *2007: ''

'' *2009: '' Normal as Blueberry Pie - A Tribute to Doris Day'' *2010: '' Home Sweet Mobile Home'' *2015: ''

My Weekly Reader ''My Weekly Reader'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Nellie McKay, consisting of covers of hits from the 1960s. The album entered the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, and garnered positive reviews upon its release. B ...

'' *2018: ''Sister Orchid'' *2019: ''Bagatelles (EP)''

Soundtracks and covers

*2005: ''Grey's Anatomy'' (TV series) : "David", "The Dog Song" *2005: ''

Rumor Has It (film) ''Rumor Has It'' (stylized as ''Rumor Has It...'' in the U.S. market) is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine and Mark Ruffalo. The concept of the screenplay b ...

'' : "Pasadena Girl", "Face of a Faith" *2005: '' Monster-in-Law'' : "Won't U Please B Nice" *2005: '' Weeds'' : "David" *2007: '' P.S. I Love You'' : ""P.S. I Love You" *2010: '' Terrible Thrills, Vol. 1'' *2010: ''Downtown Express'' *2010: ''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920 ...

'' : "Wild Romantic Blues" *2018: Private Life (film) : “Quicksilver Girl”, “Meditation”, “I Wanna Get Married”

Collaborations and other appearances

*2005: "

If I Needed Someone "If I Needed Someone" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist. It was released in December 1965 on their album '' Rubber Soul'', except in North America, where it appeared on the J ...

" off the album '' This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul'' *2009: "Light and Night" as a single with the band ''

Tally Hall Tally Hall is an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in December 2002. The band is known for upbeat melodies and whimsical lyrics. The members originally described their musical style as "wonky rock," later redefining their soun ...

'' *2010: "How Are You?" off the album '' Here Lies Love'' by

and

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist ...

*2016: "Pack Up Your Sorrows" duet with

Richard Barone Richard Barone is an American rock musician who first gained attention as frontman for the Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and record producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created concert event ...

off his album ''Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s''

Other songs

*"The In Crowd" *"John-John" *"Teresa" *"Late Again" *"A Christmas Dirge" *"Take Me Away" *"The Cavendish" * "Compared to What" (Original written by Gene McDaniels and made popular by Les McCann, Nellie McKay has included it in her performances during 2015.)

Filmography

References

External links

Nellie McKay - Official Website
* *
Trouser Press entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Nellie 1982 births Living people Manhattan School of Music alumni People from Harlem Musicians from Olympia, Washington Columbia Records artists Vanguard Records artists Feminist musicians 21st-century American women singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Theatre World Award winners Songwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American singers