American singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones ranks among the top female stars in rock and roll with a long list of releases including songs recorded by major artists and two Grammy Awards to her credit. Known for her beatnik approach to music with an engaging mix of jazz, folk, rock and soul, she is regarded as an original voice not easy to categorise. Besides her own material, she has had considerable success recording songs by artists such as Van Morrison, Robbie Robertson, Donovan and The Rolling Stones.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, her father taught her how to sing from a young age. On the singer's website, she describes her family as "lower-middle-class-hillbilly-hipster"; she spent time in various cities and ended up in Los Angeles aged 19 where she began to write songs. One of them, 'Easy Money' was recorded by Little Feat founder Lowell George, who recorded it on a solo album. She landed a recording contract and made her debut on an eponymous album released in 1979, for which she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The album went to number three on the Billboard 200 and single 'Chuck E.'s in Love' reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jones displayed her complex approach to music and lyrics on subsequent albums 'Pirates' (1981) and 'The Magazine' (1984) and the EP 'Girl at Her Volcano' (1983). She toured regularly and in 1989 she sang 'Makin' Whoopee!' with Dr. John on his album 'In a Sentimental Mood', for which they won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group. The track was featured in the 1993 feature film 'Sleepless in Seattle' with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Her 1995 live release, 'Naked Songs', was recorded over two nights at The Fillmore in San Francisco and in '97 her album 'Ghostyhead' featured more original songs. She took a break from recording for five years until 'The Evening of My Best Day' (2003), which sparked renewed interest in her work and the release of a three-disc album 'Duchess of Coolsville: An Anthology', a collection of previous album tracks, covers and demos plus tributes from fellow artists such as Tori Amos, Walter Becker, Quincy Jones and Randy Newman. More albums followed including 'The Sermon On Exposition Boulevard' in 2007, which reached number 12 on Billboard's Independent Albums Chart, 'Balm in Gilead' (2009), which went to number seven on the Americana/Folk Albums Chart, 'The Devil You Know' (2012), which peaked at number eight on the same chart and 'The Other Side of Desire' (2015), which went to number five.