64 Facts About Alison Krauss

Alison Maria Krauss was born on July 23,1971 and is an American bluegrass-country singer and fiddler.

Alison Krauss entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at 14.

Alison Krauss signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987.

Alison Krauss was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989.

Alison Krauss was the singer and female artist with the most awards in Grammy history until Beyonce won her 28th Grammy in 2021.

Alison Krauss was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in September 2021.

Alison Maria Krauss was born in Decatur, Illinois, to Fred and Louise Krauss.

Alison Krauss's father was a German immigrant who came to the United States in 1952 at age 12, and taught his native language while he earned a doctorate in psychology.

Alison Krauss later went into the business of real estate.

Alison Krauss's mother played banjo and acoustic guitar, so Alison Krauss was exposed to folk music at home, and she heard rock and pop music on the radio: She liked Gary Numan's synth-pop song "Cars", and rock bands such as Foreigner, Bad Company, and Electric Light Orchestra.

At her mother's insistence, Alison Krauss began studying classical violin at age five.

Alison Krauss was reluctant to spend time practicing, but she continued with classical lessons until she was eleven.

Alison Krauss said her mother "tried to find interesting things for me to do" and "wanted to get me involved in music, in addition to art and sports".

Alison Krauss was very active in roller skating, and in her teens she finally decided on a career in music rather than roller derby.

In mid-1979, Alison Krauss's mother saw a notice for an upcoming fiddle competition at the Champaign County Fair, so she bought a bluegrass fiddle instruction book and the 1977 bluegrass album Duets by violinist Richard Greene.

Alison Krauss learned by ear to play several songs from the album, including "Tennessee Waltz", which she practiced on violin with her mother accompanying on guitar.

Alison Krauss entered the talent contest in the novice category at the age of eight, placing fourth.

Alison Krauss first met Dan Tyminski around 1984 at a festival held by the Society.

Alison Krauss made her recording debut in 1986 on the independent album, Different Strokes, in collaboration with Swamp Weiss and Jim Hoiles, and featuring her brother Viktor Alison Krauss.

Alison Krauss then joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1993 at the age of 21.

Alison Krauss was the youngest cast member at the time, and the first bluegrass artist to join the Opry in 29 years.

Alison Krauss collaborated on a project with the Cox Family in 1994, a bluegrass album called I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.

Late in the year, Alison Krauss recorded with the band Shenandoah on its single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart", which brought her to the country music Top Ten for the first time and it won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

Also in 1994, Alison Krauss collaborated with Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to contribute "Teach Your Children" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Alison Krauss was nominated for four Country Music Association Awards and won all of them.

Alison Krauss believes the group "was probably the most unprepared we've ever been" for the album and that songs were chosen as needed rather than planned beforehand.

Alison Krauss performed a duet with Brad Paisley on his album Mud on the Tires in the single "Whiskey Lullaby".

Alison Krauss received two nominations at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Country Solo Performance and Best American Roots Performance.

Alison Krauss has made guest appearances on other records on lead vocals, harmony vocals, and fiddle.

Alison Krauss had her only number one hit in 2000, receiving vocal credit for "Buy Me a Rose".

Alison Krauss has said that she believes Americans already liked bluegrass and other less-heard musical genres, and that the film merely provided easy exposure to the music.

Alison Krauss did not appear in the movie, at her own request, because she was pregnant during its filming.

In 2007, Alison Krauss released A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection, an album of new songs, soundtrack tunes, and duets with artists such as John Waite, James Taylor, Brad Paisley, and Natalie MacMaster.

Alison Krauss appeared on Heart's March 2010 concert DVD Night at Sky Church, providing the lead vocals for the song "These Dreams".

Alison Krauss contributed "Jubilee" to the 2004 documentary Paper Clips.

Alison Krauss performed both songs at the 76th Academy Awards, the first with Costello and Burnett, and the other with Sting.

Alison Krauss produced Nickel Creek's debut album and the follow-up This Side, which won Krauss her first Grammy award as a producer.

Alison Krauss performed on Moody Bluegrass: A Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues.

Alison Krauss participated in Billy Childs' 2014 tribute album to Laura Nyro, Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, performing on the track "And When I Die".

Alison Krauss appears on Def Leppard's twelfth studio album, Diamond Star Halos, released March 2022, as a featured vocalist on the songs "This Guitar" and "Lifeless".

Alison Krauss duetted with High Valley on the group's 2023 single "Do This Life".

Alison Krauss cites Dolly Parton, with whom she has since collaborated a number of times, as a major influence.

Alison Krauss's work has been compared to that of the Cox Family, Bill Monroe, and Del McCoury, and has in turn been credited with influencing various "Newgrass" artists including Nickel Creek, for which she acted as record producer on two of their albums.

Alison Krauss possesses a soprano voice, which has been described as "angelic".

Alison Krauss has said her musical influences include JD Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, and Tony Rice.

Alison Krauss has described her general approach to constructing an album as starting with a single song and selecting other tracks based on the first, to give the final album a somewhat consistent theme and mood.

Alison Krauss did not think she would make music videos at the beginning of her career.

Alison Krauss has made suggestions on the style or theme to some videos, though she tends to leave such decisions to the director of the particular video.

The director for a video to "If I Didn't Know Any Better" from Lonely Runs Both Ways, for example, was selected because Alison Krauss enjoyed work he had done with Def Leppard and, she wondered, what he could do with their music.

Alison Krauss has said she used to dislike working in the studio, where she had to perform the same song repeatedly, but has come to like studio work roughly the same as live stage performances.

Alison Krauss appeared on Austin City Limits in 1992 and opened the show in 1995 with Union Station.

Alison Krauss took part in the Down from the Mountain tour in 2002, which featured many artists from the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.

Alison Krauss has given several notable smaller performances including at Carnegie Hall, on Lifetime Television in a concert of female performers, on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion, where she sang two songs not previously recorded on any of her albums, and a performance at the White House attended by then-President Bill Clinton and then-Vice President Al Gore.

Alison Krauss has been in the White House again, performing the song "When You Say Nothing at All" at country music performances.

Alison Krauss performed a tribute to the Everly Brothers at which she sang "All I Have to Do is Dream" with Emmylou Harris and "When Will I Be Loved" with Vince Gill.

Alison Krauss was invited by Taylor Swift to perform with her at the 2013 CMA's and by Joshua Bell to perform with him on a Christmas album; Bell said that "she is someone I've adored for so many years now".

Alison Krauss performed at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC on January 10,2015, as a part of "The Life and Songs of Emmylou Harris: An All Star Concert Celebration" which is a tribute to Emmylou Harris.

Alison Krauss has won twenty-seven Grammy Awards over the course of her career as a solo artist, as a group with Union Station, as a duet with Robert Plant, and as a record producer.

Alison Krauss overtook Aretha Franklin for the most female wins at the 46th Grammy Awards, where Krauss won three, bringing her total at the time to seventeen.

Alison Krauss has won 14 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, 9 Country Music Association Awards, 2 Gospel Music Association Awards, 2 CMT Music Awards, 2 Academy of Country Music Awards, and 1 Canadian Country Music Award.

The shoes were returned, but Alison Krauss kept the crystal-covered phone.

Weitzman chose Alison Krauss to show off his fashions at the urging of his daughters, who are fans of Alison Krauss' music.

In May 2012, Alison Krauss was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.

Alison Krauss was married to musician Pat Bergeson from 1997 to 2001.