Aimee Mann

If you're like most music fans, you best remember Aimee Mann from her days fronting 'Til Tuesday back in the 80's. It should be added, however, that Aimee Mann's fiercely independent attitude towards her singing and songwriting has distinguished her amongst her piers, and has netted her an award-winning career in rock and pop music.

Public domain photo courtesy Wikimusicguide

Aimee in a 2006 Christmas concert in New York

Creative Commons photo courtesy Wikipedia/Pinkbelt

Born on September 8, 1960 in Midlothian, Virginia, Aimee Mann showed an early love for music. After her high school days, Mann enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but that stint ended quickly, as Aimee quit to form her first band, the Young Snakes. The band didn't last long as Mann had her eyes set on another style of music.

In 1983, Aimee and her then-boyfriend Michael Hausman, Robert Holmes, and Joey Pesce formed the band 'Til Tuesday. The band had some early Boston-area success, but nothing like the acclaim they would receive in 1985.

The single, "Voices Carry" off of the album Voices Carry, proved to be a smash hit and an MTV mainstay, helping 'Til Tuesday win the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in '85. The band released two more albums to mixed success and in 1990, Mann left the band to start her solo career, making 'Til Tuesday history.

Released in 1985

I'm in the dark, I'd like to read his mind

but I'm frightened of the things I might find

Oh, there must be something he's thinking of

to tear him away

when I tell him that I'm falling in love

why does he say

For the rest of the lyrics you can visit 'Til Tuesday's official site here.

Whatever, released in 1993, and 1996's I'm With Stupid, were Mann's first two solo albums. Both efforts were widely praised but failed to do well on the charts. In 1999, a year after her marriage to fellow musician Michael Penn, Aimee worked extensively on the soundtrack to the movie Magnolia, which earned nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and three Grammys.

Today, Aimee Mann stays quite busy recording, touring, and occasionally acting. Mann has also worked on a wide variety of soundtracks for both film and television. Since founding her own recording label SuperEgo Records in 1999, Mann has been free to expand her musical creativity, and she does exactly that, as much as humanly possible.

Photo Credits: Creative Commons and Wikipedia