Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter. She has released many popular albums and singles over the course of her career, and has now won 13 Grammys - as of 2014 - as well as numerous other awards.
Her work and recordings include work as a solo artist, bandleader, an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, and a backing vocalist and duet partner. She has worked with numerous leading artists including Gram Parsons, John Denver, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, The Band, Mark Knopfler, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Bright Eyes, Rodney Crowell, John Prine, Neil Young, Brad Paisley, Nick Cave and Steve Earle. She dropped out of college to pursue her musical aspirations, and moved to New York, working as a waitress to support herself while performing folk songs in Greenwich Village coffeehouses during the folkie boom.[1] She married fellow songwriter Tom Slocum in 1969 and recorded her first album, Gliding Bird. Harris and Slocum soon divorced, and Harris and her newborn daughter Hallie moved in with her parents in the Maryland suburbs near Washington D.C.
Harris soon returned to performing as part of a trio with Gerry Mule and Tom Guidera. In 1971, members of the country rock group The Flying Burrito Brothers saw her perform; former Byrds member Chris Hillman had taken over the band after the departure of founder Gram Parsons, was impressed by Harris, and briefly considered asking her to join the Flying Burrito Brothers. Instead, Hillman recommended her to Parsons, who was looking for a female vocalist to collaborate with on his first solo album, GP. Harris toured as a member of Parsons' band, The Fallen Angels in 1973, and the two of them shone during vocal harmonies and duets. Later that year, Parsons and Harris worked on a studio album, Grievous Angel. Parsons died in his motel room near what is now Joshua Tree National Park on September 19, 1973 from an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol. Pa1976. There