Canadian k.d. lang was a fan of Patsy Cline's during college, and it was her portrayal of the country singer in a college play that inspired her to start her own band, the Reclines. The group's releases attracted the attention of Sire and led to a record contract with the label in 1986. Lang released Angel With a Lariat the same year, which received attention from college radio, but it wasn't until 1988's Shadowlands and her single "I'm Down to My Last Cigarette" that she broke Top 40 on the country charts. Following her Grammy win in 1989 for Best Country Vocal Performance, lang switched gears from country to adult-contemporary pop, came out as a lesbian and recorded her first pop album, 1992's Ingenue. The album won her another Grammy. Since Ingenue, lang has toured with Tony Bennett and released a handful of albums, all of which have broken into the Top 100 on the Billboard charts.

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• Hymns of the 49^th Parallel