Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the UK, " Marlene on the Wall", " Left of Center", " Luka" and " No Cheap Thrill". " Tom's Diner", which was originally released as an ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'' recording on Vega's second studio album, '' Solitude Standing'' (1987), was remixed in 1990 as a dance track by English electronic duo

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

with her vocals, and it became a Top 10 hit in five countries. The original ''a cappella'' recording of the song was used as a test during the creation of the MP3 format. The role of her song in the development of the MP3 compression prompted Vega to be given the title of " The Mother of the MP3". Vega has released ten studio albums; her most recent release is the studio album ''Flying With Angels'', released in 2025.

Early life

Suzanne Nadine Vega was born on July 11, 1959, in Santa Monica, California. Her parents divorced soon after her birth. Her mother, Pat Vega (née Schumacher), is a computer

systems analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...

of German-Swedish heritage. Her father, Richard Peck, is of English, Irish and Scottish origin. Her stepfather, Edgardo Vega Yunqué, also known as Ed Vega, was a writer and teacher from Puerto Rico. When Vega was two and a half, her family moved to New York City. She grew up in

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

and the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

. She was not aware that Peck was her biological father until she was nine years old. Vega and Peck met for the first time in her late 20s, and they remain in contact. She attended the High School of Performing Arts (since renamed

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia or "LaG", is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln ...

) where she studied

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

and graduated in 1977.

Career

1980s

While majoring in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

, she performed in small venues in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

, where she was a regular contributor to Jack Hardy's Monday night songwriters' group at the Cornelia Street Cafe and had some of her first songs published on '' Fast Folk'' anthology albums. In 1984, she received a major label

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

, making her one of the first 'Fast Folk' artists to break out on a major label. Vega's self-titled debut studio album was released in 1985 and was well received by critics in the U.S.; it reached

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

status in the United Kingdom. Produced by Lenny Kaye and Steve Addabbo, the songs feature Vega's acoustic guitar in straightforward arrangements. A

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

was released for the album's song "Marlene on the Wall", which went into

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's rotations. During this period Vega also wrote lyrics for two songs ("Lightning" and "Freezing") on '' Songs from Liquid Days'' (1986) by composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

. Vega's song " Left of Center" co-written with Steve Addabbo for the 1986 John Hughes film ''

Pretty in Pink ''Pretty in Pink'' is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. The film stars Molly Ringwald, alongside Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, James Spader, a ...

'' reached No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart in 1986. Her next studio album, '' Solitude Standing'' (1987), garnered critical and commercial success, selling over one million copies in the U.S. It includes the international hit single " Luka", which is written about, and from the point of view of, an abused child. (Not until many years later did Vega reveal the song dealt with the abuse she herself had suffered from her stepfather.) While continuing a focus on Vega's acoustic guitar, the music of her second album is more strongly pop-oriented and features fuller arrangements. Following the success of the album, in 1989 Vega became the first female artist to headline the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. Vega performed her set whilst wearing a

bulletproof vest A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or bullet-resistant vest, is a type of body armor designed to absorb impact and prevent the penetration of firearm projectiles and explosion fragments to the torso. The vest can be either soft ...

, her band having received death threats from an obsessed fan ahead of the festival. The acappella " Tom's Diner" from ''Solitude Standing'' became a hit in 1990, having been

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed by two British dance producers under the name

. The track was originally a bootleg, until Vega allowed DNA to release it through her record company, and it became her biggest hit.

1990s

Vega's third studio album, '' Days of Open Hand'' (1990), continued in the style of her first two studio albums. In 1992, she released her fourth studio album , which mixed folk and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

with electronic elements. This record was awarded Gold status by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in recognition of selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S. The single " Blood Makes Noise" from this album peaked at number-one on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

. Vega later married the album's producer,

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including David LaFl ...

. Her fifth studio album, '' Nine Objects of Desire'', was released in 1996. The music varies between a frugal, simple style and the industrial production of . This album contains " Caramel", featured in the movie '' The Truth About Cats & Dogs'' (1996), and later the trailer for the movie '' Closer'' (2004). A song not included on that album, "Woman on the Tier", was featured on the soundtrack of the movie '' Dead Man Walking'' (1996). In 1997 she took a singing part on the concept album '' Heaven & Hell'', a musical interpretation of the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins (also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins) function as a grouping of major vices within the teachings of Christianity. In the standard list, the seven deadly sins according to the Catholic Church are pride, greed ...

by her colleague Joe Jackson, with whom she had already collaborated in 1986 on "Left of Center" from the ''

'' soundtrack (with Vega singing and Jackson playing piano). In 1999,

Avon Books Avon Publications is a leading publisher of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reaching and ma ...

published Vega's book ''The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writings of Suzanne Vega'', a volume of poems, lyrics, essays and journalistic pieces.

2000s

In September 2001, Vega released a new studio album entitled '' Songs in Red and Gray''. Three songs deal with Vega's divorce from her first husband,

. At the memorial concert for her brother Tim Vega in December 2002, Vega began her role as the subject of the direct-cinema documentary, ''Some Journey'', directed by

Christopher Seufert Christopher Seufert (born 1967) is a documentary film producer and film director, director, and photographer based in Chatham, Massachusetts. His production company is Mooncusser Films. His film work has appeared on HBO, VH-1, the Discovery Chan ...

of Mooncusser Films. The documentary has not been completed. Underground

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

duo

Felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...

named a track "Suzanne Vega" on their studio album '' Felt: A Tribute to Christina Ricci'', released in 2002. In 2003, the 21-song

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

compilation album '' Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega'' was released. (The UK version of ''Retrospective'' included an eight-song bonus CD as well as a DVD containing 12 songs). In the same year she was invited by

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist Bill Frisell to play at the ''Century of Song'' concerts at the famed Ruhrtriennale in Germany. In 2003, she hosted the

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

radio series ''American Mavericks'', about 20th century American composers, which received the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

for Excellence in Broadcasting. On August 3, 2006, Vega became the first major recording artist to perform live in the Internet-based virtual world, ''

Second Life ''Second Life'' is a multiplayer virtual world that allows people to create an Avatar (computing), avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user-created content within a multi-user online environment. Developed for person ...

''. The event was hosted by John Hockenberry of public radio's '' The Infinite Mind''. On September 17, 2006, she performed in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, as part of a benefit concert for the Save Darfur Coalition. During the concert she highlighted her support for

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, of which she has been a member since 1988. In early October 2006, Vega participated in the Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) in

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

, the Czech Republic, the oldest festival of documentary films in Europe, in which she appeared as a main guest. She was invited there as the subject of the documentary film by director

, that had a test screening at the festival. At the end of the festival she performed her classic songs and added one brand new piece called "New York Is a Woman". Vega is also interviewed in the book ''Everything Is Just a Bet'' which was published in Czech in October 2006. The book contains 12 interview transcriptions from the talk show called ''Stage Talks'' that regularly runs in the Švandovo divadlo (Švandovo Theatre) in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Vega introduced the book to the audience of the Švandovo divadlo (Švandovo Theatre), and together with some other Czech celebrities gave a signing session. She signed a new recording contract with

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

in the spring of 2006, and released '' Beauty & Crime'' on July 17, 2007. The album, produced by Jimmy Hogarth, won a

Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: * In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical * In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...

. Her contract was not renewed and she was released in June 2008. In 2007, Vega followed the lead of numerous other mainstream artists and released her track "Pornographer's Dream" as podsafe. The song spent two weeks at number-one during 2007 and finished as the No. 11 hit of the year on the PMC Top10's annual countdown. In 2015, Vega joined The 14th Annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers. She was also a judge for the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Independent Music Awards. In 2008, fire at a

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

vault in Los Angeles County resulted in the loss or damage of some Vega recordings.

2010s

A partial cover version of her song "Tom's Diner" was used to introduce the 2010 British movie '' 4.3.2.1.'', with its lyrics largely rewritten to echo the plot. This musical hybrid was released as " Keep Moving". Vega participated in the Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse studio album '' Dark Night of the Soul'' (2010). She wrote both melody and lyrics for her song, which is titled "Man Who Played God", inspired by a biography of Spanish artist

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. Vega sang lead vocals on the song "Now I Am an Arsonist" with singer-songwriter

Jonathan Coulton Jonathan William Coulton (born December 1, 1970), often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Cod ...

on his studio album, ''

Artificial Heart An artificial heart is a artificial organ, device that replaces the human heart, heart. Artificial hearts are typically used as a bridge to heart transplantation, but ongoing research aims to develop a device that could permanently replace the ...

'' (2011). Vega has re-recorded her back-catalogue, both for artistic and commercial (and control) reasons, in the ''Close-up'' series. Vol. 1 (''

Love Songs A love song is a song about love, falling in love, broken heart, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sa ...

'') and Vol. 2 ('' People & Places'') appeared in 2010 while Vol. 3 ('' States of Being'') was released in July 2011 followed by Vol. 4 ('' Songs of Family'') in September 2012. Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of the ''Close-Up'' albums included previously unrecorded material; Volumes 2 and 3 each included one new collaboratively written song, while Volume 4 included three songs that Vega had written years earlier, but had not previously gotten around to recording. In all, Vega's ''Close-Up'' series features 60 re-recorded songs and five new compositions, representing about three-quarters of her lifetime songwriting output. While performing live, Vega and long-term collaborator Gerry Leonard began to introduce a number of new songs into the setlist, including the live favorite "I Never Wear White". Over the course of a year, the songs were completed and recorded in a live-studio setting with the help of a number of guests. Produced by Leonard, '' Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles'' was released in February 2014. It was her first album of new material in seven years and became Vega's first studio album to reach the UK Top 40 since 1992, peaking at No. 37. Vega's ninth studio album, '' Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers'', was released on October 14, 2016.

2020s

In February and March 2023, Vega was to tour the UK. On May 2, 2025, Vega released the album "Flying With Angels".

Songwriting

At the age of nine she began to write poetry. She was encouraged to do so by her stepfather. It took her three years to write her first song, "Brother Mine", which was finished at the age of 14. It was first published on '' Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family'' (2012), along with her other early song, "The Silver Lady". Vega has not learned to read musical notation; she sees the melody as a shape and chords as colors. She focuses on lyrics and melodic ideas; for advanced features – like intros or

bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...

– she relies on other artists with whom she works. Most of her albums, except the first one, were made in such cooperation. Vega finishes 80% of the songs she starts writing. She got the melody of "Tom's Diner" while walking down Broadway in New York. She was thinking of

French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...

films. The most important artistic influences on her work come from

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

. Some other important artists for her are

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

and

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...

Guitars

Suzanne Vega currently plays Furch guitars, a brand made in the Czech Republic and was the focus of a win-a-guitar competition run by Furch in 2021. In the mid-1980s she played Guild guitars, and in the 1990s she played Yamaha and Taylor guitars at different times.

Theater

Vega and

Duncan Sheik Duncan Sheik (born November 18, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has com ...

wrote a play ''Carson McCullers Talks About Love'', about the life of the writer

Carson McCullers Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, ''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...

. In the play directed by Kay Matschullat, which premiered in 2011, Vega alternates between monologue and songs. Vega and Sheik were nominated for Outstanding Music in a Play for the 57th annual Drama Desk awards. The album '' Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers'', based on this play, was released in 2016. Vega considers it to be a third version, because it's rewritten, and she made the first version in college. In early 2020, Vega played the role of "Band Leader" in an

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 tha ...

musical based on the 1969 movie ''

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky, written by Mazursky and Larry Tucker (screenwriter), Larry Tucker, who also produced the film, and starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, ...

'', directed by Scott Elliott and produced at The New Group in New York City. She replaced Sheik, who wrote the show's music and co-wrote the lyrics with

Amanda Green Amanda Green (born December 29, 1963) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. In 2021, she was elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America, the first woman to hold the role in the Guild's 100-year history. Early life and edu ...

. In his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', critic

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher, and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 t ...

called the "brandy-voiced" Vega "a delightful, smoothly sardonic presence."

Amanuensis Productions

Vega established her own recording label after the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. From that point, she stopped working for

and started thinking about re-recording her back catalog with new arrangements and gaining control over her works (which she eventually did with the 2014 '' Close-Up Series''). The name "Amanuensis Productions" was meant as a private joke about "servant" (

amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...

) owning the "masters" ( recording masters), also a pun at A&M still legally owning her previous master tapes. Running the label proved to be harder than she expected. In 2015, it barely "broke even", but new licenses were coming for " Tom's Diner".

Personal life

On March 17, 1995, Vega married

, a musician and a record producer (who played on and produced and '' Nine Objects of Desire''). They have a daughter, Ruby Froom (born July 8, 1994). The alternative rock band Soul Coughing's debut studio album '' Ruby Vroom'' (1994) was named for her, with Vega's approval. Vega and Froom separated and divorced in 1998. On February 11, 2006, Vega married Paul Mills, a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, "22 years after he first proposed to her." Beginning in 2010, Ruby has occasionally performed with her mother on tour. Vega practices

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period school ...

and is a member of the American branch of the worldwide Buddhist association

Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organization founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai. It is run by two vice-presidents, including Hiromasa Ikeda, son of the founder. It c ...

Awards and nominations

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result , - , 1985 , rowspan=8, ''Billboard'' Music Awards , rowspan=5, Herself , rowspan=2, Top ''Billboard'' 200 Artist - Female , , - , rowspan=8, 1987 , , - , Top ''Billboard'' 200 Artist , , - , Top Hot 100 Artist , , - , Top Hot 100 Artist - Female , , - , rowspan=2, '' Solitude Standing'' , Top ''Billboard'' 200 Album , , - , Top Pop Compact Disk , , - , " Luka" , Top Hot 100 Song , , - , ''NME'' Awards , rowspan="2" , Herself , Best Female Singer , , - , rowspan="8" , 1988 ,

Pollstar ''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017. ''Pollstar'' holds an annual award ce ...

Concert Industry Awards , Small Hall Tour of the Year , , - , ASCAP Pop Music Awards , rowspan="7" , " Luka" , Most Performed Song , , - , rowspan="3" ,

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

, Best Female Video , , - , Breakthrough Video , , - , Best Cinematography , , - , rowspan="5" ,

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, Song of the Year , , - ,

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

, , - , Best Female Pop Vocal Performance , , - , rowspan="2" , 1990 , rowspan="2" , '' Days of Open Hand'' , Best Contemporary Folk Recording , , - , Best Album Package , , - , rowspan=1, 1992 , ''Billboard'' Music Video Awards , " Blood Makes Noise" , Best Pop/Rock Female Video , , - , rowspan=2, 1993 , New York Music Awards , , Best Rock Album , , - , Hit Awards (Hong Kong) , rowspan=4, Herself , Top Female Artist , , - , 1996 , Žebřík Music Awards , Best International Female , , - , 2003 , Glamour Awards , Woman of the Year , , - , 2004 ,

Peabody Awards The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

, Entertainment , , - , 2008 ,

, '' Beauty & Crime'' , Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical , , - , 2010 , New York Music Awards , '' Close-Up Vol. 1, Love Songs'' , Best Pop/Rock Compilation , , - , 2012 , Drama Desk Awards , ''Carson McCullers Talks About Love'' , Outstanding Music in a Play ,

Discography

Studio albums * ''

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of Folk music, folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the ...

'' (1985) * '' Solitude Standing'' (1987) * '' Days of Open Hand'' (1990) * (1992) * '' Nine Objects of Desire'' (1996) * '' Songs in Red and Gray'' (2001) * '' Beauty & Crime'' (2007) * '' Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles'' (2014) * '' Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers'' (2016) * '' Flying with Angels'' (2025) Live albums * '' Live in London 1986'' (1986) * '' Sessions at West 54th'' (1997) * '' Solitude Standing: Live at the Barbican'' (2013) * '' Live at the Speakeasy'' (2014) * '' An Evening of New York Songs and Stories'' (2020)

Books

* ''The Passionate Eye: The Collected Writing of Suzanne Vega'' (1999) .

References

External links

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Suzanne Vega
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

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Stories told by Suzanne Vega
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The Moth The Moth is a nonprofit group based in New York City, dedicated to the craft of storytelling. Founded in 1997, the organization presents a wide range of theme-based storytelling events across the United States and abroad, often featuring promine ...

Suzanne Vega recording of 'Streets of Laredo'
for Pioneers for a Cure {{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Suzanne 1959 births A&M Records artists American women rock singers American women singer-songwriters American folk rock musicians American folk singers American people of German descent American people of Swedish descent American people of Irish descent American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent American rock guitarists Barnard College alumni Blue Note Records artists Fast Folk artists American feminist musicians Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Folk musicians from New York (state) Grammy Award winners Living people Members of Sōka Gakkai American Nichiren Buddhists Musicians from Santa Monica, California Singer-songwriters from California Singers from New York City American rock songwriters 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from California Guitarists from New York City 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers Musicians from Manhattan People from the Upper West Side People from East Harlem Cooking Vinyl artists 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American Buddhists