Rhiannon Giddens

Born on February 21, 1977, in Greensboro, North Carolina, Rhiannon Giddens is a singer-songwriter, violinist, and banjo player who garnered acclaim as a founding member of the old-time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops. Her work with the group has earned her a Grammy Award for their album Genuine Negro Jig released in 2011 and, at the time, was a high point in a relatively short professional career that had seen the musician rise steadily up into the elite ranks of US country music. In tandem with her success with the band, Rhiannon Giddens launched a successful solo career that led to appearances on Jools Holland's Hootenanny and an invitation to take part in the BBC-funded Transatlantic Sessions, a coveted honor for any folk and country musician. Produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, her 2015 studio debut Tomorrow Is My Turn soared to the top of the US folk charts, followed by 2017's Freedom Highway, which received a nomination for Album of the Year at the Americana Music Awards & Honors. Over the following years, Rhiannon Giddens continued releasing music at a prolific pace, unveiling the collaborative albums Songs of Our Native Daughters with Allison Russell, Leyla McCalla, and Amythyst Kiah in 2019, and There Is No Other with Francesco Turrisi a few months later. A second LP featuring the Italian musician titled They're Calling Me Home arrived in 2021 and earned her a Grammy award for Best Folk Album. Preceded by the singles "Yet to Be" with Jason Isbell, "You Louisiana Man," and the title track, her album You're the One hit the shelves in 2023. That same year, Omar, an opera co-written by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels won the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

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