Miranda Lee Richards (born April 4, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter. Her 2001 release ''The Herethereafter'' included original compositions such as "The Beginner", and a cover of

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' 1967 single "

Dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...

". Her single "The Long Goodbye" reached the top five in Japan, and its

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was in heavy rotation on

MTV Japan MTV Japan (Music Television Japan) is the Japanese version of the cable television network based in Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Paramount Global, Paramount Global Japan K.K., and was launched on November 15, 1993. It can be viewed on cable ...

. Richards grew up in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, the daughter of comic book artists Ted and Teresa Richards. She attended San Francisco's Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, and then took up modeling after graduation. She moved to Paris to continue her modeling career, but "hated" it and moved back to San Francisco. She met

Kirk Hammett Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Prior to joining Metallica, he co-formed the thrash metal band Exodus in 1979. In 2023, Hammett, along ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

through a friend, David Deresinski and he gave her guitar lessons and taught her to play

Mazzy Star Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal (band), Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal ...

songs. She recorded some demos in her basement, which reached the ears of

Anton Newcombe Anton Alfred Newcombe (born August 29, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of the music group The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Newcombe was the subject of the 2004 documentary film '' Dig!'', alo ...

The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American Rock music, rock band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called ''Dig!'', and have gained media notorie ...

, which she joined briefly. After leaving them, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, while she met the many musicians who would contribute to her debut. She has also worked with

Joe Firstman Joe Firstman (born December 12, 1979) is an American multi-genre singer, songwriter, and late-night bandleader. He was the bandleader from 2005 to 2009 on American late night television program ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' broadcast on NBC. ...

, and was reported to appear on several tracks on an upcoming Tricky release. She has also performed with The Good Listeners and

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the ...

. Her "musical heroes" include

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, Blondie,

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

, and

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American-British musician. She is a founding member of the rock band the Pretenders and is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter; she and drummer Martin Chambers are the ...

. She also enjoys trip-hop bands including

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

and the DJ culture of beat-making, the influence of which is apparent on ''The Herethereafter''. Her studio album ''Echoes of the Dreamtime'' was released on 29 January 2016 on London-based record label Invisible Hands Music. ''Existential Beast'' was released on June 16, 2017, also on Invisible Hands.

Discography

* ''The Herethereafter'' (

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

, 2001) * ''Early November'' EP (2008) * ''Light of X'' (

Nettwerk Records Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

, 2009) * ''Echoes of the Dreamtime'' ( Invisible Hands Music, 2016) * ''Existential Beast'' ( Invisible Hands Music, 2017)

References

External links

Miranda Lee Richards' official website
* Miranda Lee Richards at Allmusic.com

Alexander Laurence interview on ''Free Williamsburg''
Miranda Lee Richards and Nikka Costa
1975 births American women singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California American indie rock musicians Living people The Brian Jonestown Massacre members 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts alumni {{US-singer-songwriter-stub