Anne Murray

Anne Murray, born in 1945, Canadian singer whose rich alto voice propelled her to success in both country and popular music during the 1970s and early 1980s. She has won Grammy and Country Music Association awards, as well as more than 20 Juno Awards.

Born Morna Anne Murray in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Murray studied piano and voice from an early age. While studying physical education at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton in the early 1960s, she tried out for Singalong Jubilee, a Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) production. Turned down for the job initially, Murray was called back two years later. Murray gave up teaching high school gym and began appearing on both Singalong Jubilee and another show, Let's Go.

Murray recorded her first album, What About Me, in 1968. A year later she signed with Capitol Records and released This is My Way, which contained her first million-selling single, 'Snowbird.' Suddenly sought after in the United States, she moved to Los Angeles, California, and became a regular on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour television program. Uncomfortable in Los Angeles, Murray returned to Canada and released a succession of records that failed to produce a single with the appeal of 'Snowbird,' although 'Danny's Song' (1972) and 'Love Song' (1973) reached both the pop and country music charts.

Murray continued to record throughout the 1970s, and in 1978 she released Let's Keep It That Way, which contained the hits, 'Walk Right Back' and 'You Needed Me.' From 1978 to 1986 Murray racked up nine hits that reached number one on Billboard magazine’s popular or country music charts (sometimes on both), including 'I Just Fall in Love Again' (1979), 'Broken Hearted Me' (1979), 'Could I Have This Dance' (1980), 'Blessed Are the Believers' (1981), and 'Now and Forever (You and Me)' (1986).

In 1989 the Anne Murray Centre, a facility housing awards, photographs, memorabilia, and audiovisual highlights of Murray's career, opened in Springhill. Murray's popularity began to decrease in the late 1980s, but she continued to tour and record throughout the 1990s.