Feist (singer)
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Background information | |
Birth name | Leslie Feist |
Born | Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada | February 13, 1976
Origin | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
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Years active | 1991–present |
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Formerly of | |
Website | listentofeist |
Leslie Feist (born February 13, 1976), known
Feist launched her solo music career in 1999 with the release of Monarch. Her subsequent studio albums, Let It Die, released in 2004, and The Reminder, released in 2007, were critically acclaimed and commercially successful, selling over 2.5 million copies. The Reminder earned Feist four Grammy nominations, including a nomination for Best New Artist.[2] She has received 11 Juno Awards, including two Artist of the Year.[3] Her fourth studio album, Metals, was released in 2011. In 2012, Feist collaborated on a split EP with metal group Mastodon, releasing an interactive music video in the process.[4]
She has released six studio albums as of 2023, Feist received three Juno awards at the 2012 ceremony: Artist of the Year, Adult Alternative Album of the Year for Metals, and Music DVD of the Year for her documentary Look at What the Light Did Now.,[5] additionally she was nominated for four Grammy Awards including Best Pop Vocal Album for The Reminder and Best New Artist.
Early life
Leslie Feist was born on February 13, 1976, in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her parents are both artists. Her father, Harold Feist, was an American-Canadian abstract expressionist painter who taught fine arts at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick.[6] Her mother, Lyn Feist, was a student of ceramics from Saskatchewan. After their first child, Ben, was born, the family moved to Sackville.[7]
Feist is also the niece of guitarist Dan Achen, who played in the 1990s rock band Junkhouse and had also produced for numerous artists (Achen died in 2010 due to a heart attack).[8]
Feist's parents divorced soon after she was born and Ben, Feist and their mother moved to
As her father is American, Feist has dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship, joking later that she was given U.S. citizenship as part of a deal with Apple.[10][11]
Music career
In 1991, at age 15, Feist got her start in music when she founded and was the lead vocalist for a Calgary punk band called Placebo (not to be confused with the English band
In 1995, Feist was forced to take time off from music to recover from vocal cord damage. She moved from Calgary to Toronto in 1996. That year she was asked by
In 1999, Feist moved into a
Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down) (1999–2001)
Feist's solo debut album, Monarch, was released in 1999. It is composed of ten songs, including "Monarch" and "That's What I Say, It's Not What I Mean". The album was produced by Dan Kurtz, who would later form Dragonette.
Let It Die (2001–2006)
In the summer of 2001, Feist self-produced seven songs at home which she called The Red Demos, which have never been released commercially. She spent more than two years touring throughout Europe with Gonzales. In that same year she joined a group of old friends in forming a new version of Toronto indie rock group Broken Social Scene, adding vocals to many tracks after being forbidden to play guitar by de facto bandleader Kevin Drew.[19] She subsequently recorded You Forgot It in People with the band. While on tour in Europe with Gonzales, they began recording new versions of her home recorded Red Demos, which would later become her major label debut Let It Die. Let It Die featured both original compositions and covers, and Feist has been noted both as a songwriter and as an innovative interpreter of other artists' songs.[citation needed]
After the recording of Let It Die, Feist moved to Paris. While in Europe, she collaborated with Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience as co-writer and guest vocalist on their album Riot on an Empty Street, singing on "Know How" and "The Build Up". She also co-wrote and sang "The Simple Story" as a duet with Jane Birkin on her album Rendezvous.[citation needed]
Feist toured during 2004, 2005 and 2006 through North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia supporting
In 2005, Feist contributed to the UNICEF benefit song "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" The track "Mushaboom" was used in an advert for a Lacoste men's fragrance, as well as in the film 500 Days of Summer. An album of remixes and collaborations, Open Season, was released on April 18, 2006. She lent her voice to the two tracks "La Même Histoire" and "We're All in the Dance" for the soundtrack to the 2006 film Paris, je t'aime [citation needed]
The Reminder (2006–2007)
In early 2006, Feist moved to Paris,
Feist's third solo album,
Videos for many of the singles were directed by
"
Prior to the airing of an Apple iPod nano commercial featuring this song, The Reminder was selling at approximately 6,000 copies per week, and "1234" at 2,000 downloads per week. Following the commercial, the song passed 73,000 total downloads and reached No. 7 on Hot Digital Songs and No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100; The Reminder jumped from No. 36 to No. 28 on the Billboard 200, with sales of 19,000.[22]
Following the television advertisement for the iPod nano in the UK, the single beat its original chart position of 102 to become number 8 in the UK charts. Time magazine named "1234" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at No. 2. Writer Josh Tyrangiel called the song a "masterpiece", praising Feist for singing it "with a mixture of wisdom and exuberance that's all her own".[23][24] On April 6, 2008, Feist won a Juno Award for the single as "Single of the Year".
Feist performed an alternate version of "1234" on Sesame Street during its 39th season (2008), teaching children to count to the number four.[25] She said working with the Muppets was a career highlight.[26]
In 2009, Feist appeared in a short film directed by Broken Social Scene bandmate Kevin Drew that focused on her song "The Water". Feist appears alongside Cillian Murphy and David Fox in the silent role of "Mother". This film was streamed from Pitchfork.com for a week starting on March 2, 2009. In an interview with the site, Feist described the experience of being in this movie as "watching a movie while being in a movie."[27]
Metals (2007–2013)
In 2007, Feist was placed No. 9 on Spinner.com's 2007 Women Who Rock Right Now.[28] and named both Spin's and Blender's Breakout Artist of the Year.[29][30] After taking Bob Wiseman on the road as her opening act in Europe she acted in his video Who Am I and joined him on drums for You Don't Love Me.
Feist was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the November 2007 issue of Vanity Fair as part of a photo essay on folk music.[31] On November 3 that year, she performed "1234" and "I Feel It All" on Saturday Night Live.[32]
Feist was on the cover of the Spring 2008 edition of Naked Eye. On April 28, Feist was interviewed by Stephen Colbert. At the end of the show she performed "I Feel It All", while Colbert donned Feist's blue, sequined, strapless jumpsuit from the "1234" video. Feist joined Colbert again on his first-ever Christmas special, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, which first aired on November 23, 2008. She played an angel working for Heaven's overloaded phone (prayer) service. She also accompanied the Disko Bay Expedition of Cape Farewell.[33] On October 20, 2008, she told The Canadian Press that, following the success of her last album, The Reminder, she felt she needed to step away from the pressures of the music industry to consider her next career move and "rest for a minute".[34]
In March 2009, it was announced that she would make a guest appearance on the track "You and I" on Wilco's seventh album.[35]
In 2009, Feist was featured in the CTV television film "My Musical Brain" with neuroscientist and writer Daniel Levitin, based on Levitin's bestselling book This Is Your Brain on Music.
Feist collaborated with Brooklyn band
In June 2009, she re-joined
Feist joined
She also contributed vocals on Constant Companion the second album from Canadian songwriter Doug Paisley. Feist sings on the tracks "What I Saw" and the duet "Don't Make Me Wait". The album was released October 12, 2010.
Her song "Limit to Your Love" was covered by British post-dubstep artist James Blake and later remixed as a dubstep track by Benny Benassi and played to high acclaim at the 2011 Ultra Music Festival. I
On July 7, 2011, Feist with
In 2011 Leslie Feist contributed two songs to Sarah Polley's film
Her album Metals was released on September 30, 2011. Collaborators include Valgeir Sigurðsson, Chilly Gonzales, and Mocky.[42] The album received widespread acclaim from music critics [43] and appeared on the !earshot Campus and Community National Top 50 Albums chart in January 2012.[44] Feist recorded Metals in a custom-built studio on a cliff in Big Sur, California.[45]
In 2012, Feist covered a song by the progressive metal band Mastodon, and they in turn covered one of hers, with both songs released on a split 7-inch on Record Store Day.[46] They also released a crossfading interactive video for the track "A Commotion".[4]
In 2012, she wrote the song "Fire in the Water" exclusively for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Her song "The Water" was covered on American jazz violinist Zach Brock's 2012 album Almost Never Was. In January 2013, it was announced Feist would headline, along with labelmate Broken Social Scene, the Arts & Crafts Field Trip Music Festival to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Arts & Crafts.
Look at What the Light Did Now and Pleasure (2013–2021)
In September 2010, Feist announced through her website the release of a documentary film about the creative process of making of The Reminder, called
Bonus materials on the DVD include "This One Jam", an early performance of Feist with Gonzales at Trash Club; live performances from the Reminder tour; and two short films: "The Water" starring Feist and "Departures" starring Kevin Drew and based on an idea by Feist. A CD is also included that contains the documentary soundtrack (tracks from The Reminder re-interpreted and performed by Gonzales), live performances by Feist, as well as two versions of the title track, "Look at What the Light Did Now", one of which was recorded as a duet with the song's writer, American musician Kyle Field.[citation needed]
In April 2017, Feist released Pleasure, preceding it with the release of the title track "Pleasure" as a single in March 2017.[48] On April 27, 2017, she introduced the album (a day ahead of its release) at Trinity St. Paul, Toronto. She performed the entire content of the album (in reverse order) as well as some of her earlier work including, "I Feel It All".[citation needed]
At the Juno Awards of 2021, Feist performed with the surviving members of The Tragically Hip on their 2002 single "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken", which marked the band's first televised performance since Gord Downie's death.[49][50] In a promotional interview on CBC Radio's Q before the ceremony, the band stated that they agreed to perform specifically because Feist had been proposed as the vocalist, with Langlois stating that "OK, so that's not going to be some guy trying to sing like Gord or some guy trying not to sing like Gord. It was a 'no' until Feist came up."[51]
Multitudes (2021–present)
In June 2021, Feist announced that her live Multitudes residency would begin in Europe in summer 2021.[52] It included performances in Hamburg, Ottawa and Toronto,[53] and featured new songs without the release of a new album.[54] Initially intended to accompany the release of Pleasure,[55] the style of Multitudes as a traditional, intimate and communal experience for smaller audiences was a concept that Feist and designer Rob Sinclair co-designed.[56][57]
On September 1, 2022, Feist announced that she would withdraw from opening for Arcade Fire on their tour after their frontman Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct.[58]
On February 14, 2023, Feist released three new songs, "Hiding Out In The Open", "In Lightning" and "Love Who We Are Meant To", from her sixth studio album, Multitudes, announcing its scheduled release on April 14, 2023.[59] In the same year, she appeared on Hayden's album Are We Good, as a duet vocalist on the single "On a Beach".[60] Feist also announced a North American and European tour to promote Multitudes.[61]
Personal life
Feist has one adopted daughter, who was born at the end of 2019.[55]
Discography
- Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down) (1999)
- Let It Die (2004)
- The Reminder (2007)
- Metals (2011)
- Pleasure (2017)
- Multitudes (2023)
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | Departures | Herself | Is in the process of filming the video for "My Moon My Man"; does not speak |
Saturday Night Live | Herself | "Brian Williams/Feist" (Season 33, Episode 4) | |
Grey's Anatomy | Soundtrack | "Sealion Woman" (Season 3, Episode 22)
"My Moon My Man" (Season 4, Episode 3) | |
Gossip Girl | Soundtrack | "I Feel It All" (Season 1, Episode 3) | |
2008 | Sesame Street | Herself | "The Golden Triangle of Destiny" (Season 39, Episode 1), performed an alternate version of "1234" |
A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! | Angel/Herself | ||
2009 | The Musical Brain | Herself | Documentary |
In the Corner. | Herself | Documentary | |
Burning Ice | Herself | Documentary | |
Love Shines | Herself | Documentary | |
The Water |
The Mother | ||
2010 | Ivory Tower[63] | Unknown | |
Look at What The Light Did Now[64] | Herself | ||
2011 | The Muppets |
Smalltown Resident | Performs "Life's A Happy Song" with Jason Segel, Amy Adams, "Walter" (Peter Linz), and Mickey Rooney |
Grey's Anatomy | Soundtrack | "How Come You Never Go There" (Season 8, Episode 8) | |
Gossip Girl | Soundtrack | "The Bad In Each Other" (Season 5, Episode 8) | |
2012 | Grey's Anatomy | Soundtrack | "Cicadas and Gulls" (Season 8, Episode 16)
"Graveyard" (Season 8, Episode 23) |
Gossip Girl | Soundtrack | "Graveyard" (Season 5, Episode 16) | |
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 | Soundtrack | "Fire in the Water" | |
2017 | Legion | Soundtrack | "The Undiscovered First" (Season 1, Episode 4) |
2024 | The Bachelor | Herself | "Week 6: Montreal" (Season 28, Episode 6) |
Awards
See also
- Music of Canada
- Canadian rock
- List of Canadian musicians
- List of bands from Canada
- Mononymous persons
References
- ^ "A Completely Biased Ranking of the 60 Best Canadian Indie Rock Songs of the 00s Part II". Vice, Cam Lindsay April 10, 2017
- ^ hermesauto (September 13, 2017). "The Esplanade's Mosaic Series returns with Feist, Shugo Tokumaru". The Straits Times. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
- ^ "Feist returns to New Zealand for one-off show". Stuff. September 20, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
- ^ a b "Feist and Mastodon release crossfading interactive new video". The Line of Best Fit. August 1, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
- ^ Bain, Becky (April 2, 2012). "Juno Awards 2012: Feist, Drake And Justin Bieber Win Big | Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on". Idolator.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
- ^ Higgs, Jennifer (March 22, 2015). "Feist". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
The pair met while Harold was teaching at the Alberta College of Art, but later moved to the Maritimes after he accepted a teaching position at Mount Allison University.
- ^ Farrow, Johnston. "Feist Club". The Coast Halifax. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
- ^ "Music community says goodbye to Dan Achen". The Hamilton Spectator. March 23, 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ a b Stren, Olivia (July 2007). "Dream girl". Toronto Life. 41 (7): 58–62. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007.
- ^ In an appearance on The Colbert Report on April 28, 2008, Feist joked that she is a dual citizen and holds a U.S. passport, having been offered American citizenship "as part of the iPod deal."
- ^ "Transcript of episode 4056 of The Colbert Report". Nofactzone.net. April 28, 2008. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
- ^ "Kicking off the 2017-18 Taylor Centre Concert Series at MRU". CBC News. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
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- ^ "Feist Inside and Out". Toronto Star, April 21, 2007.
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- ^ ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
- ^ Everett-Green, Robert (9 February 2008). "Grammy girl: Feist". The Globe and Mail. pp. R1, R19. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009.
- ^ Feist (May 5, 2005). "A Torch Singer with an ancient sound". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
- This Book is Broken
- ^ Siddiqui, Tabassum. "Feist Delights • Interview". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
- ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database". RIAA. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2009. Note: reader must define search parameter as "Feist".
- ^ "Feist gets big boost from little iPod". Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
- ^ Tyrangiel, Josh; "The Best Top 10 Lists of the Year"; "The 10 Best Songs"; Time magazine; December 24, 2007; Page 39.
- ^ Tyrangiel, Josh (December 9, 2007). "Time magazine's Top 10 Songs of 2007 at". Time.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
- ^ Agrell, Siri (July 16, 2008). "Will Feist's famous number be a monster hit with children?". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. A1. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
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- ^ "Women who rock right now: Number 9". spinner.com. July 15, 2007. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
- ^ "Breakout of the Year: Feist". Spin. January 4, 2008. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
- idiomag. December 19, 2007. Archived from the originalon December 28, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
- ^ Meagher, John (December 21, 2007). "Unforgettable: Feist". Irish Independent. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ^ Pupo, Mark (January 1, 2008). "Feist Club". enRoute. Air Canada. Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ^ "F-ice-t goes to the land of Eist tomorrow". September 24, 2008. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
- ^ "Feist to take a break from music | News". Nme.Com. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
- idiomag. March 6, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- ^ [2] [permanent dead link]
- ^ Katzif, Mike (April 18, 2010). "First Listen: Broken Social Scene, 'Forgiveness Rock Record'". NPR. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- ^ Mazdawg. "Beck's Record Club draws Wilco, Feist, and others for Skip Spence remake " Consequence of Sound". Consequence.net. Retrieved February 21, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "LISTEN: Feist & Friends Cover Velvet Underground". SPIN. August 16, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
- ^ "Listen: Feist Covers the Velvet Underground". Pitchfork. August 16, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
- ^ "Take This Waltz (2011) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
- Pitchfork.com. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
- ^ "Reviews of Metals collated by AnyDecentMusic?". Anydecentmusic.com. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- ^ "The National Top 50 For the Week Ending: Tuesday, January 3, 2012", Earshot-online.com. January 3, 2012.
- ^ "Feist: Metals". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
- ^ "Feist and Mastodon to Release Split 7". Pitchfork. November 29, 2011. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ "Look at What The Light Did Now – Feist". Listentofeist.com. September 22, 2010. Archived from the original on December 27, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (March 17, 2017). "Hear Feist's Return With Guitar-Driven New Song 'Pleasure'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
- ^ Huddleston, Jess (May 13, 2021). "The Tragically Hip set to perform with Feist at the 2021 Juno Awards". CBC News.
- ^ Bloom, Madison (June 7, 2021). "Watch the Tragically Hip and Feist Perform at 2021 Juno Awards". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
- ^ "The Tragically Hip on reuniting for the band's 1st performance since Gord Downie's death". Q, June 4, 2021.
- ^ Legaspi, Althea (June 16, 2021). "Feist to Debut New Music During 'Multitudes' Residency". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ Stevenson, Jane (October 23, 2021). "Feist tours during COVID-19 in unique way". Healthing. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ Siddiqui, Tabassum (October 29, 2021). "Feist At 45: The Singer/Songwriter On New Motherhood, Losing Her Father And Returning To The Stage". Chatelaine. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ a b Hannah, Lesa (September 30, 2021). "The Return of Feist". The Kit. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ Bell, Kaelen (September 10, 2021). "Feist on How Becoming a Mom and Losing Her Dad Inspired Her to Write a New Album Live | Exclaim!". exclaim!. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ Saxberg, Lynn. "NAC preview: Feist returns to the road as a mother". ottawacitizen. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ Minsker, Evan (September 1, 2022). "Feist Leaves Arcade Fire Tour, Citing Win Butler Allegations". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
- ^ Blistein, Jon (February 14, 2023). "Feist Teases First Album in Six Years With Three New Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Kaelen Bell, "Hayden Announces New Album, Shares Video for "On a Beach" Starring Feist, Steve Buscemi and Matt Berninger". Exclaim!, February 28, 2023.
- ^ "Multitudes Feist". Listentofeist.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
- ^ "Feist Songs". TV Fanatic. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ Harper, Kate (April 7, 2010). "Peaches, Feist, Gonzales, Tiga in Indie Flick". Chart Attack. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Look at What the Light Did Now – Feist". Feist (website). October 3, 2010. Archived from the original on December 27, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
External links
- Official website
- Feist's Arts & Crafts artist page Archived October 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- Leslie Feist at IMDb
- Feist's road to success, Canada.com. Accessed February 26. 2024.
- Feist On Making Metals and Feeling It All, HuffingtonPost.com. Accessed February 26, 2024.