Sarah McLachlan

Receiving voice, classical piano and guitar lessons as a child, by the time she was 17 Sarah McLachlan was already fronting a short-lived rock band called The October Game. Their first concert resulted in McLachlan being offered a recording contract with Vancouver-based independent record label Nettwerk, but her parents persuaded her to finish high school and complete a year at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. McLachlan recorded her first album, Touch, in 1988, which enjoyed both critical and commercial success and included the hit song Vox. Her 1991 album Solace was her mainstream breakthrough in Canada, spawning the hit singles The Path Of Thorns (Terms) and Into The Fire. By 2006, McLachlan - known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range - had sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, with 1997's Surfacing being her most successful. In 1997, she married her drummer Ashwin Sood, with whom she has two daughters. They separated in September 2008.