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Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch (born July 2 1983) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She made her debut in 2000, and released the platinum-selling albums The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper in subsequent years. In 2004, she formed the band The Wreckers with fellow musician Jessica Harp.
Biography
Early life and solo career
Branch was born seven weeks premature in Phoenix, Arizona, and was named after The Beatles' song "Michelle". Her father is of Irish ancestry and her mother is of Dutch, Indonesian (Javanese), and French ancestry. She has an older half-brother, David, and a younger sister, Nicole.Branch first wanted to write songs as soon as she hit her teens, beginning to write shortly after that. She received a guitar for her fourteenth birthday, and later signed up for vocal classes. She focused on the arts during high school, and was writing songs extensively. She attended Red Rock High School in Sedona but with the support of her parents, decided to continue her high school education through homeschooling, which allowed her to follow her dreams of becoming a singer-songwriter. She had begged her parents for years to allow her to leave regular high school, and one night at dinner she asked why she had to go back to school, and to her surprise, her father replied with, "Yeah, why does she?" She played clubs for years and released her debut album Broken Bracelet independently in 2000.
She signed a record deal with Madonna's record company Maverick while opening for Hanson in December 2000. Her first album under Maverick, The Spirit Room, was released in August 2001 and went onto sell over one million copies in the U.S. The single "Everywhere" became a worldwide top-twenty hit, and was followed by the U.S. top-ten hit "All You Wanted" and the top-forty single "Goodbye to You". Branch was frequently compared (both positively and negatively) to other singer-songwriters like Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne, and Vanessa Carlton who rose to prominence at around the same time as her. In 2002, Branch was the lead vocalist on Carlos Santana's song "The Game of Love," which became her first single to reach the U.S. top five; it went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration.
In 2003, she released her second full-length album, Hotel Paper, which became her second RIAA-certified platinum album, but was met with mixed reviews. The lead single "Are You Happy Now?" became another top-twenty hit for Branch in the U.S., but follow-up singles "Breathe" and "'Til I Get Over You" failed to achieve substantial success. In Mexico, on May 23 2004, she married her tour band's bass player, Teddy Landau. She gave birth to a 7lb. 12oz. (3.5 kg) baby girl named Owen Isabelle on August 3 2005.
The Wreckers
In July 2005, Branch announced the completion of an album with country singer Jessica Harp. The longtime friends and collaborators dubbed themselves The Wreckers, and created an album combining Branch's pop-rock music with Harp's country-folk style. The album was originally due for release in June 2005 but was delayed due to promotional reasons.One of the songs Branch co-wrote with Harp for the album was featured on the original soundtrack to the WB television teen drama One Tree Hill. Branch and Harp also made a brief appearance as themselves on One Tree Hill, and then went on a month-long concert tour with Gavin DeGraw and One Tree Hill stars Tyler Hilton and Bethany Joy Lenz. She also sang on the television show Charmed in an episode titled "Centennial Charmed."
Branch closed down the message boards for The Wreckers' official website in December 2005, after being displeased by comments posted there. The Wreckers' first single, "Leave the Pieces," was released in March 2006; their first album was released May 23rd of the same year.
Branch has written songs for other artists, including one for Mandy Moore's next album. Her biggest hits ("Everywhere", "All You Wanted", and "Are You Happy Now?") continue to be played in recurrent rotation on CHR and Hot AC radio stations today.
Musical style
Branch writes or co-writes all of her own material, and her music influences are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Aerosmith, Cat Stevens, and Joni Mitchell. While her musical tastes lean more toward older musicians, she also enjoys contemporary bands such as Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Metallica, and Silverchair and current songwriters like Lisa Loeb, Sheryl Crow, and Patty Griffin. She has also expressed her admiration for classical music.
Branch mainly uses Taylor and Gibson guitars. Her favorite is a Taylor 614ce, and she currently uses a Gibson Hummingbird. She owns fourteen guitars. In addition to the guitar, Branch plays instruments such as the cello, the accordion, the drums, the piano, the harmonica, and the mandolin.
Discography
Albums
- Broken Bracelet (2000) (uncertified)
- The Spirit Room (2001) #28 U.S. RIAA Certification: Platinum (1.8 million sold)
- Hotel Paper (2003) #2 RIAA Certification: Platinum
- Stand Still, Look Pretty (2006) - The Wreckers #14 U.S.
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. AC | Hot AC | UK Singles Chart | AU Top 50 | Indonesia Chart | Philippines Chart | |||
| 2001 | "Everywhere" | #12 | -- | #9 | #18 | #19 | #1 (2 weeks) | #1 (3 weeks) | The Spirit Room |
| 2002 | "All You Wanted" | #6 | #30 | #4 | #33 | #25 | #4 | #1 (2 weeks) | The Spirit Room |
| 2002 | "Goodbye To You" | #21 | -- | #15 | -- | -- | #8 | #9 | The Spirit Room |
| 2002 | "The Game Of Love (Santana featuring Michelle Branch)" | #5 | #1 | #1 | #16 | #19 | #1 (2 weeks) | #1 (3 weeks) | Shaman |
| 2003 | "Are You Happy Now?" | #16 | -- | #3 | #31 | #35 | #1 (2 weeks) | #1 (1 week) | Hotel Paper |
| 2003 | "Breathe" | #36 | #27 | #13 | -- | #46 | #1 (2 weeks) | #1 (3 weeks) | Hotel Paper |
| 2004 | "One Of These Days" (Released only in the Philippines) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 15 | Hotel Paper |
| 2004 | "'Til I Get Over You" | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | #40 | -- | Hotel Paper |
| 2005 | "The Good Kind" (The Wreckers) | Promo | -- | -- | -- | -- | #48 | #27 | One Tree Hill Soundtrack |
| 2005 | "I'm Feeling You" (Santana featuring Michelle Branch and The Wreckers) | #55 | #5 | #6 | -- | -- | #1 (1 week) | #10 | All That I Am |
| 2006 | "Leave the Pieces" (The Wreckers) | #58 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Stand Still, Look Pretty |
Quotes
- "...I have a pirate fetish. It started when someone in my band hurt their eye and had to wear an eye patch. I realized that I always thought pirates were sexy. If you want to get my attention, wear a pirate outfit to my show."
- "I'm not a normal girl, I like shopping for guitars more than clothes."
- "Magazines ask me questions like 'What kind of jeans do you wear?' and I'm like, 'I'm a musician. I wear the same clothes everyday. Can we talk about my guitars now?'"
- "My audience is my age, basically, and to have them say 'We're listening to this and we get it' is really cool. They'll grow up when I grow up."
- "Guitars are like shoes. You have to make sure it really fits with you."
- "Oh no, they have no buns, so that means there is no hot dogs! I won't shoot till I get my hot dog."
- "I can't believe some people will think that oh, this girl is going to have brown hair not blonde hair, and she's going to play guitar, and I hope they don't think that because, I really love what I do."
- "Girls come up to me and complain of artists in their videos with perfect bodies and impossible beauty and feel disappointed. Then they look at me and say it's okay, I don't need to be perfect."
- "If I wanna be alone, or if I'm having a bad day, I pick up my guitar. Music is my release"
References
External links
American female singers | American pop singers | American singer-guitarists | American singer-songwriters | American rock guitarists | American child singers | Female guitarists | Grammy Award winners | People with absolute pitch | Arizona musicians | Eurasian singers | High school dropouts | People from Phoenix, Arizona | 1983 births | Living people
Michelle Branch | Michelle Branch | Michelle Branch | Michelle Branch | Michelle Branch | Michelle Branch | ミシェル・ブランチ | Michelle Branch | Michelle Branch
"Michelle Branch"