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Mulatto is a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry.^[1] Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black ancestry choose to self-identify as mulatto.^[2] Some reject the term because of its association with slavery and colonial and racial oppression, preferring terms such as "mixed" and "biracial"^{[citation needed]}. Mulattos may also be an admixture of Native American, South American native and African Americans^[3] according to Henings Statutes of Virginia 1705, which reads as follows: "And for clearing all manner of doubts which hereafter may happen to arise upon the construction of this act, or any other act, who shall be accounted a mulatto, Be it enacted and declared, and it is hereby enacted and declared, That the child of an Indian and the child, grand child, or great grand child, of a negro shall be deemed, accounted, held and taken to be a mulatto."^[4] In colonial Latin America, mulato could also denote an individual of mixed African and Native American ancestry.^[5] However, today those who are mixtures of Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Black Africans are called Zambos while those who are mixtures of African American and Native American are called Black Indians and sometimes are solely classified or identify as African American.^[3] To further complicate matters, in early American history, the term mulatto is also seen regarding Native American and European mixed offspring, and certain tribes of Indians of the Inocoplo family referred to themselves as mulato as well.^[6][7]

Etymology[link]

Juan de Pareja by Diego Velázquez, 1650

The etymology of the term may derive from the Spanish and Portuguese word mulato, which is itself derived from mula (from old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin mūlus), meaning mule, the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey.^[8][9][10] Some dictionaries and scholarly works trace the word's origins to the Arabic term muwallad, which means "a person of mixed ancestry".^[11] Muwallad literally means "born, begotten, produced, generated; brought up," with the implication of being born and raised among Arabs, but not of pure Arab blood. Muwallad is derived from the root word WaLaD (Arabic: ولد direct Arabic transliteration: waw, lam, dal), and colloquial Arabic pronunciation can vary greatly. Walad means, "descendant, offspring, scion; child; son; boy; young animal, young one." Muwallad referred to the offspring of Arab men and foreign, non-Arab women. The term muwalladin is still used in Arabic to describe children of Arab fathers and foreign mothers. According to Julio Izquierdo Labrado,^[12] the nineteenth-century linguist Leopoldo Eguilaz y Yanguas, as well as some Arabian sources^[13] muwallad is the etymological origin of mulato. These sources specify that mulato would have been derived directly from muwallad independently of the related word muladí, a term that was applied to Iberian Christians who had converted to Islam during the Moorish governance of Iberia in the Middle Ages.

However, the Real Academia Española (Spanish Royal Academy) casts doubt on the muwallad theory. It states, "The term mulata is documented in our diachronic data bank in 1472 and is used in reference to livestock mules in Documentacion medieval de la Corte del Justicia de Ganaderos de Zaragoza, whereas muladí (from mullawadí) does not appear until the 18th century, according to [Joan] Corominas".^[14]

Africa[link]

In Portuguese-speaking Africa, the term mestiço is used officially to describe people of mixed European and African ancestry.

Of São Tomé and Príncipe's 193,413 inhabitants, the largest segment is defined as mestiço^[15] and 71% of the population of Cape Verde is also classified as such.^[16] The great majority of their current populations descend from the mixing of the Portuguese that initially settled the islands from the 15th century onwards and the black Africans brought from the African mainland to work as slaves.

In Angola and Mozambique, they constitute smaller but still important minorities; 2% in Angola^[17] and 0.2% in Mozambique.^[18]

In Namibia a current day population of between 20,000 and 30,000 people, known as Rehoboth Basters, descend from liaisons between the Cape Colony Dutch and indigenous African women. The name Baster is derived from the Dutch word for ‘bastard’ (or ‘crossbreed'). While some people consider this term demeaning, the Basters proudly use the term as an indication of their history.

In South Africa the term Coloured (also known as Bruinmense, Kleurlinge or Bruin Afrikaners in Afrikaans) used to refer to individuals who possess some degree of sub-Saharan ancestry, but not enough to be considered Black under the Law of South Africa. In addition to European ancestry, they may also possess ancestry from India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, China and Saint Helena. Besides the extensive combining of these diverse heritages in the Western Cape, in other parts of southern Africa, their development has usually been the result of the meeting of two distinct groups. Thus, in KwaZulu-Natal, most coloureds come from British and Zulu heritage, while Zimbabwean coloureds come from Shona or Ndebele mixing with British and the Afrikaner settlers. Griqua, on the other hand, are descendants of Khoisan and Afrikaner trekboers. Despite these major differences, the fact that they draw parentage from more than one "naturalised" racial group means that they are "coloured" in the southern African context. This is not to say that they necessarily identify themselves as such – with a small number preferring to call themselves "black" or "Khoisan" or just "South African." The Coloureds comprise 8.8% (about 4.4 million people) of South Africa's population.^{[citation needed]}

In Swaziland, although a subdued aspect of their history, many ethnic Swazi descend from mulatto offspring born to native women by way of rape during the British colonial rule of the country.^{[citation needed]}

In Mauritius, Réunion and the Seychelles, there are many people of mixed white and black ancestry. In Mauritius, these are called creoles and in Réunion they are called cafres.^{[citation needed]}

Latin America and the Caribbean[link]

Studies carried out by the geneticist Sergio Pena conclude the average white Brazilian is 80% European, 10% Amerindian, and 10% African/black.^[19] Another study, carried out by the Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, concludes the average white Brazilian is (>70%) European.^[20] Mulattoes represent a significant part of the population of various Latin American and Caribbean countries:^[21] Dominican Republic (73%) (all mixed race people),^[21][22] Brazil (49.6% mulattoes, mestizos/mamelucos and blacks),^[23] Belize (25%), Cuba (24.86%),^[21] Colombia (25%),^[21] Haiti (15-20%).^[21]

The Barbadoes mulatto girl ca. 1764

The roughly 200,000 Africans brought to Mexico were for the most part absorbed by the mestizo populations of mixed European and Amerindian descent. The state of Guerrero once had a large population of African slaves. Other Mexican states inhabited by people with some African ancestry, along with other ancestries, include Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Yucatán.^{[citation needed]}

Other sources cite that more than 50% of Cubans are mulatto, about 40 percent of Brazilian people are mulatto/mestizo, and 67% of Venezuelans mestizo with African ancestry.^[24]

In one recent genetic study of 800 Puerto Ricans, 61% had mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from an Amerindian female ancestor, 27% inherited mitochondrial DNA from a female African ancestor and 12% had mitochondrial DNA from a female European ancestor.^[25] Conversely, patrilineal input as indicated by the Y chromosome showed that 70% of Puerto Rican males in the sample have Y chromosome DNA from a male European ancestor, 20% inherited Y chromosome DNA from a male African ancestor and less than 10% inherited Y chromosome DNA from male Amerindian ancestor.^[26] As these tests measure only the DNA along the direct matrilineal and patrilineal lines of inheritance, they cannot tell with certainty what percentage of European or African ancestry someone has.

During this whole period, Puerto Rico had laws like the Regla del Sacar or Gracias al Sacar where a person of black ancestry could be considered legally white so long as he could prove that at least one person per generation in the last four generations had also been legally white. Therefore people of black ancestry with known white lineage were classified as white, the opposite of the "one-drop rule" in the United States.^[27][28]

Portrait "Redenção do Can" (1895), showing a Brazilian family each generation becoming "whiter".

According to an autosomal DNA study conducted on a school in the poor periphery of Rio de Janeiro, the "pardos" (including mulattos) there were found to be on average over 80% European. "The results of the tests of genomic ancestry are quite different from the self made estimates of European ancestry", say the researchers. In general, the test results showed that European ancestry is far greater than the students thought it would be. The "pardos", for example, thought of themselves as 1/3 European, 1/3 African and 1/3 Amerindian before the tests.^[29][30] Along the same vein, it turned out that white students had overestimated their ratio of African and Amerindian genetic ancestry.^[29]

Brazil[link]

According to the IBGE 2000 census, 38.5% of Brazilians identified themselves as pardo, i.e. of mixed ancestry.^[31][32] This figure not only includes mulatto people but also includes other multiracial people, such as people who have European and Amerindian ancestry (called caboclos), as well as assimilated, westernized Amerindians and mestizos with some Asian ancestry. A majority of mixed-race Brazilians have all three origins: European, African, and Amerindian ancestry. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics census 2006, some 42.6% of the Brazilians have identified themselves as pardo.^[33]

The majority of White Brazilians (48.4%) are of mixed-race (both Subsaharan African and Amerindian ancestry), but also the average ancestry of the Afro-Brazilians self-identified as de raça negra or de cor preta i.e. Brazilians of Black African origin (6.9%) and not self-perceived multiracials (42.6%), is 50% European, 10% Amerindian and 40% African. If so, a much larger number of Brazilians (about 80% to 95%) are "mulattoes and mestizos" in a broader meaning, although their constructed identity can be based in many another factors.

The term mulatto (mulato in Portuguese) does not carry a racist connotation and is used along with other terms like moreno, light-moreno and dark-moreno. These focus more on the skin color than on the ethnicity, although they can refer to hair color alone - e.g. "light-moreno" would be "caucasian brunette". Such terms are also used for other multiracial people in Brazil, and they are the popular terms for the pardo skin color used on the 2000 official census.^{[citation needed]}

United States of America[link]

Colonial Era[link]

During the European colonization of the Americas, the rape of African slave women was not held to be a crime under Colonial Law. Under chattel slavery, white slave masters often raped their female subjects, producing varying degrees of mulatto offspring. Depending on the offspring's phenotype, they would continue living as slaves (as their mothers), specifically in the Southern United States, mulattoes inherited slave status if their mothers were slaves. Some offspring were afforded the life of passing for white. This practice continued throughout the course of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, involving many generations, producing posterity with varying degrees of sub-Saharan and European genetic ancestry and a very broad range of phenotypes. For example, present-day descendants of these offspring can appear solely sub-Saharan in lineage, including having extremely afro-textured hair, or possess purely Nordic physical traits. This type of legacy has produced the debatable sub-Saharan/Caucasian admixture that exists among Americans today, as well as in populations in other parts of the world. As for free mulattoes, in Spanish- and French-influenced areas of the South prior to the Civil War (particularly New Orleans, Louisiana^{[citation needed]}), a number of mulattoes were free and slave-owning.^[34] Some white slave owners, who continued the legacy of slave rape, were also of mixed ancestry. This posterity, enduring changing social and political climates in American history, often interbred and intermarried among other populations, such as Native Americans; and some resulting from miscegenation, such as Black Indians (see Melungeon). These circumstances further contributed to the modern day genetic melting pot in America.

Contemporary Era[link]

Mulatto existed as an official census category until 1930. Although it is sometimes used to describe individuals of mixed European and African descent, it originally referred to anyone with mixed ethnicities; in fact, in the United States, "mulatto" was also used as a term for those who were African American and Native American ancestry during the early census years.^{[35][36][37][38]} Mulatto was also used interchangeably with terms like "turk", leading to further ambiguity when referring to many North Africans and Middle Easterners.^[39] In the 2000 United States Census 6,171 Americans self-identified with mulatto ancestry.^[40]

In addition, the term "mulatto" was also used to refer to the offspring of whites who intermarried with South Asian indentured servants brought over to the British American colonies by the East India Company. For example, a Eurasian daughter born to an South Asian father and Irish mother in Maryland in 1680 was classified as a "mulatto" and sold into slavery.^[41] Although still in use by some, the term mulatto has fallen out of favor, and it may be considered offensive in the United States.^[42] Today, more popular terms include biracial, multiracial, mixed-race, and multi-ethnic.

See also[link]

• Afro Argentine: Colonial racial categories
• Afro-American peoples of the Americas
• Afro-Hispanic people
• Afro-Latin American
• Cafres
• Casta
• Chindian
• Cholo
• Melungeon
• Multiracial
• Tragic mulatto
• Latin Americans
• Rhineland Bastard

Colonial references[link]

• Fernandinos
• Quadroon, Octoroon, Quintroon, and Hexadecaroon
• Métis
• Mestizo
• Zambo

Afro-European clans[link]

• Sherbro Hubbards
• Sherbro Tuckers
• Sherbro Caulkers
• Sherbro Rogerses
• Sherbro Clevelands

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Eguilaz y Yanguas, Leopoldo (1886) (in Spanish). Glosario de las palabras españolas (castellanas, catalanas, gallegas, mallorquinas, portugueses, valencianas y bascongadas), de orígen oriental (árabe, hebreo, malayo, persa y Turco). Granada: La Lealtad. 
• Ho, Engseng, an anthropologist, discusses the role of the muwallad in the region Freitag, Ulrike; Clarence-Smith, William G., ed. (1997). Hadhrami Traders, Scholars and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean, 1750s-1960s. Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia. 57. Leiden: Brill. pp. 392. ISBN 90-04-10771-1. http://www.aiys.org/webdate/frei.html. Retrieved 2008-07-14.  The term muwallad, used primarily in reference to those of 'mixed blood,' is analyzed through ethnographic and textual information.
• Freitag, Ulrike (December 1999). "Hadhrami migration in the 19th and 20th centuries". The British-Yemeni Society. http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/freitag99.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-14. 
• Myntti, Cynthia (1994). "Interview: Hamid al-Gadri". Yemen Update (American Institute for Yemeni Studies) 34 (44): 14–9. http://www.aiys.org/webdate/gadr.html. Retrieved 2008-07-14. 

External links[link]

Look up mulatto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• An article on the mulatto depictions in fiction
• At Race Relations, in depth research on Mulattos
• Encarta's breakdown of Mulatto people (Archived 2009-11-01)
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "mulatto". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Amy Grant
Grant performing in October 2008
Background information
Birth name	Amy Lee Grant
Born	(1960-11-25) November 25, 1960 (age 51) Augusta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee
Genres	Contemporary Christian, pop rock, soft rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, author, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano/keyboard
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Myrrh, A&M, Word, Sparrow
Associated acts	Vince Gill, Gary Chapman, Michael W. Smith
Website	amygrant.com

Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop". As of 2009, Grant remains the best-selling contemporary Christian music singer ever, having sold over 30 million units worldwide.

Grant made her debut as a teenager, and gained fame in Christian music during the 1980s with such hits as "Father's Eyes," "El Shaddai", and "Angels". In 1986, she scored her first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song in a duet with Peter Cetera The Next Time I Fall. During the 1980s and 1990s, she became one of the first gospel artists to cross over into mainstream pop on the heels of her successful albums Unguarded and Heart in Motion, the latter of which included the No. 1 single "Baby Baby."

Grant has won six Grammy Awards, 25 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, and had the first Christian album ever to go Platinum.^[1] Heart in Motion is her highest-selling album, with over five million copies sold in the United States alone. She was honored with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005 for her contributions to the entertainment industry.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Grant (born in Augusta, Georgia) is the youngest of four sisters. She and her family settled in Nashville, Tennessee in 1967.^[2]

During 1976, Grant wrote her first song ("Mountain Man"), performed in public for the first time—at Harpeth Hall School—the all-girls school she attended, recorded a demo tape for her parents with church youth-leader Brown Bannister, then later when Bannister was dubbing a copy of the tape, Chris Christian, the owner of the recording studio, heard the demo and called Word Records. He played it over the phone, and she was offered a recording contract, five weeks before her 16th birthday. In 1977, she recorded her first album titled Amy Grant, produced by Brown Bannister (who would also produce her next 11 albums). It was released in the Spring of 1978, one month before her high school graduation. That fall she performed her first ticketed concert—in Fort Worth, Texas—after beginning her freshman year at Furman University. In May 1979, while at the album release party for her second album, My Father's Eyes, Grant met Gary Chapman, writer of the title track (and future husband). Grant & Chapman toured together the summer of 1979. In the fall of 1980, she transferred to Vanderbilt University, where she was a member of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta.^[2] Grant then made a few more albums before dropping out of college to pursue a career in music—Never Alone, followed by a pair of live albums in 1981 (In Concert and In Concert Volume Two), both backed by an augmented edition of the DeGarmo & Key band. It was during these early shows that Grant also established one of her concert trademarks: performing barefoot. To date, Grant continues to take off her shoes midway through performances, as she has said "it is just more comfortable."^[3][4]

1982 saw the release of her breakthrough album Age to Age. The album contains the signature track, "El Shaddai" (written by Michael Card) and the Grant-Chapman penned song, "In a Little While". "El Shaddai" was later awarded one of the "Songs of the Century" by the RIAA in 2001. Grant received her first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Gospel Performance, as well as two GMA Dove Awards for Gospel Artist of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year. Age to Age became the first Christian album by a solo artist to be certified gold (1983) and the first Christian album to be certified platinum (1985).^[1]

In the mid-1980s, Grant began touring and recording with young up-and-coming songwriter Michael W. Smith. Grant and Smith continue to have a strong friendship and creative relationship, often writing songs for or contributing vocals to each other's albums. During the 1980s, Grant was also a backup singer for Bill Gaither.^[5]

Grant followed up this album with the first of her Christmas albums—albums that later would be the basis for her holiday shows. In 1984, she released another pop-oriented Christian hit, Straight Ahead, earning Grant her first appearance at the Grammy Awards show in 1985. The head of NBC took notice of Grant's performance and called her manager to book her for her own Christmas special.^[2]

Widening audience[link]

Hardly had Grant established herself as the "Queen of Christian Pop" when she changed directions to widen her fan base (and hence her musical message). Her goal was to become the first Christian singer-songwriter who was also successful as a contemporary pop singer.^[6] Unguarded (1985) surprised some fans for its very mainstream sound (and Grant's leopard-print jacket, in four poses for four different covers). "Find a Way", from Unguarded, became the first Christian song to hit Billboard's Top 40 list, also reaching No. 7 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Amy Grant scored her first Billboard No. 1 song in 1986 with "The Next Time I Fall", a duet with former Chicago singer/bassist Peter Cetera. That year, she also recorded a duet with singer Randy Stonehill for his Love Beyond Reason album, entitled "I Could Never Say Goodbye", and recorded The Animals' Christmas with Art Garfunkel.

Lead Me On (1988) contained many songs that were about Christianity and love relationships, but some interpreted it as not being an obviously "Christian" record. Years later, Lead Me On would be chosen as the greatest Contemporary Christian album of all time by CCM Magazine. The mainstream song "Saved by Love" was a minor hit, receiving airplay on radio stations featuring the newly emerging Adult Contemporary format. The album's title song received some pop radio airplay and crossed over to No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "1974 (We Were Young)" and "Saved By Love" also charted as Adult Contemporary songs. In 1989 she appeared in a Target ad campaign, performing songs off the album.^[7]

In the mainstream[link]

Grant during her Behind the Eyes tour in 1998.

When Heart in Motion was released in 1991, many fans were surprised that the album was so clearly one of contemporary pop music. Grant's desire to widen her audience was frowned upon by the confines of the popular definitions of ministry at the time.^[8] The track "Baby Baby" (written for Grant's newborn daughter, Millie, whose "six-week-old face was my inspiration,") became a pop hit (hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100), and Grant was established as a name in the mainstream music world. "Baby Baby" received Grammy nominations for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Record and Song of the Year (although it failed to win in any of those categories). Four other hits from the album made the Pop top 20: "Every Heartbeat" (No. 2), "That's What Love Is For" (No. 7), "Good For Me" (No. 8), and "I Will Remember You" (No. 20). On the Adult Contemporary chart, all five songs were top 10 hits, with two of the five ("Baby Baby" and "That's What Love Is For") reaching No. 1. Many Christian fans remained loyal, putting the album atop Billboard's Contemporary Christian Chart for 32 weeks. Heart in Motion is Grant's best-selling album, having sold over 5 million copies according to the RIAA.^[9] Grant followed the album with her second Christmas album, Home For Christmas in 1992, which included the song "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)", written by Chris Eaton and Grant, and would later be covered by many artists, including Donna Summer, Jessica Simpson (who acknowledged Grant as one of her favorite artists), Vince Gill, Sara Groves, Point of Grace, and Broadway star Barbara Cook.

House of Love in 1994 continued in the same vein, boasting catchy pop songs mingled with spiritual lyrics. The album was a multi-platinum success and produced the pop hit "Lucky One" (No. 18 pop and No. 2 AC; No. 1 on Radio & Records) as well as the title track (a duet with country music star and future husband Vince Gill) (No. 37 pop) and a cover of Joni Mitchell's frequently covered "Big Yellow Taxi" (No. 67 pop) (in which she changed the line "And they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see em" to "And then they charged the people 25 bucks just to see em").

Grant participated in Lifetime's 1st Annual "Girls & Guitars" benefit, singing numerous songs, including a duet with Melissa Etheridge on "You Can Sleep While I Drive".

After she covered the 10cc song "The Things We Do For Love" for the Mr. Wrong soundtrack, Behind the Eyes was released in September 1997. The album struck a much darker note, leaning more towards downtempo, acoustic soft-rock songs, with more mature (yet still optimistic) lyrics. She called it her "razor blades and Prozac" album.^[10] Although "Takes A Little Time" was a moderate hit single, the album failed to sell like the previous two albums, which had both gone multi-platinum. Behind The Eyes was eventually certified Gold by the RIAA. The video for "Takes A Little Time" was a new direction for Grant; with a blue light filter, acoustic guitar, the streets and characters of New York City, and a plot, Grant was re-cast as an adult light rocker. She followed up "Behind The Eyes" with A Christmas To Remember, her third Christmas album, in 1999. The album was certified Gold in 2000.

In 2001, Grant sang God Bless America in front of a sellout crowd at the Owen County Fair Grounds in Spencer, Indiana. She dedicated her performance to the victims of 9/11, and officially started the Demolition Derby. Following the 9/11 attacks, Grant's "I Will Remember You" saw a resurgence in popularity as many radio DJs mixed a special tribute version of the song. That same year, Grant won $125,000 for charity on the "Rock Star Edition" of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".^[11]

Return to gospel[link]

Grant returned to her gospel music roots with the 2002 release of Legacy... Hymns and Faith. The album featured a Vince Gill-influenced mix of bluegrass and gospel and marked Grant's 25th anniversary in the music industry. Grant followed this up with the pop release Simple Things in 2003. The album did not have the success of her previous pop or gospel efforts. However, soon after Simple Things, Grant and Interscope/A&M parted ways. The same year, Grant was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame by the Gospel Music Association, an industry trade organization of which she is a longstanding member, in her first year of eligibility. Grant released a sequel to her hymns collection in 2005 titled Rock of Ages... Hymns & Faith.

Looking ahead[link]

Although neither of her latest hymn releases have captured the popularity of her previous gospel career, Grant still remains a popular concert draw and enjoys popularity amongst both fan bases. For years in the 1990s and early 2000s, she toured in November and December for her Christmas and holiday tours. Often her husband and many special guests performed along with her on stage.

Grant joined the reality television phenomenon by hosting Three Wishes, a show in which she and a team of helpers make wishes come true for small-town residents.^[12] The show debuted on NBC in the fall of 2005 and was canceled at the end of its first season because of high production costs. After Three Wishes was canceled, Grant won her 6th Grammy Award for Rock of Ages... Hymns & Faith. In a February 2006 webchat, Amy stated she believes her "best music is still ahead".

In April 2006, a live CD/DVD entitled Time Again...Amy Grant Live was recorded in Fort Worth, Texas, at Bass Performance Hall. (Grant's first paid public performance was at the Will Rogers Auditorium in Fort Worth, TX.) The concert was released on September 26, 2006. In addition to receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, media appearances included write-ups in CCM Magazine, and a performance on The View.

In a February 2007 web chat on her web site, Amy discussed a book she was working on entitled Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far: "It's not an autobiography, but more a collection of memories, song lyrics, poetry and a few pictures." The book was released on October 16, 2007. In November, it debuted at No. 35 on the New York Times Best Seller list.^[13] In the same web chat, Amy noted that she is "anxious to get back in the studio after the book is finished, and reinvent myself as an almost-50 performing woman."

2007 was Grant's 30th year in music. She left Word/Warner, and contracted with EMI CMG who re-released her regular studio albums as remastered versions on August 14, 2007. Marking the start of Grant's new contract is a career-spanning greatest hits album, with all the songs digitally remastered. The album was released as both a single-disc CD edition, and a 2-Disc CD/DVD Special Edition, the DVD featuring music videos and interviews.^[14]

Grant appeared with Gill on The Oprah Winfrey Show for a holiday special in December 2007.^[15] Grant has plans to appear on CMT, a Food Network special, the Gospel Music Channel, and The Hour of Power.^[16]

In February 2008, Grant joined the writing team from Compassionart as a guest vocalist at the Abbey Road studios, London, to record a song called "Highly Favoured", which was included on the album CompassionArt.

On June 24, 2008, Grant re-released her 1988 album, Lead Me On, in honor of its 20th anniversary. The two-disc release includes the original album and a second disc with new acoustic recordings, live performances from 1989, and interviews with Amy. Grant recreated the Lead Me On tour in the fall of 2008.

On June 27, 2008, Grant surprised everyone at the Creation Northeast Festival by being the special guest. She performed "Lead Me On" and a few other songs backed with the Hawk Nelson band. At the end of the concert, Grant returned to the stage and sang "Thy Word". She appeared on the 2008 album Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends singing "Could I Have This Dance".

In May 2009 for Mother's Day, Amy released an EP on iTunes containing two new songs, "She Colors My Day," and "Unafraid," as well as the older songs "Baby Baby" and "Oh How The Years Go By."

During Disney's D23 Expo in September 2009, Imagineer Steven Davison announced Amy Grant as the "signature voice" for the World of Color hydrotechnic show at Disney's California Adventure theme park.

In 2010, Grant released Somewhere Down the Road, featuring the hit single "Better Than a Hallelujah", which peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Top Christian Songs chart. When asked about the new album during an interview with CBN.com, Grant says, "...my hope is just for those songs to provide companionship, remind myself and whoever else is listening what’s important. I feel like songs have the ability to connect us to ourselves and to each other, and to our faith, to the love of Jesus, in a way that conversation doesn’t do. Songs kind of slip in and move you before you realize it."^[17]

Personal life[link]

Grant married fellow Christian musician Gary Chapman on June 19, 1982. Their marriage produced three children: Matthew Garrison Chapman (born 1987), Gloria Mills Chapman (called "Millie", born 1989), and Sarah Cannon Chapman (born 1992), who was named after country legend Minnie Pearl, a family friend. (Pearl's real name was Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon.)^[18] Citing "irreconcilable differences", Grant filed for divorce from Chapman in March 1999, and the divorce was final in June 1999.^[18]

On March 10, 2000, Grant married Vince Gill, who had been previously married to country singer Janis Oliver of Sweethearts of the Rodeo.^[19] Grant and Gill have a daughter together, Corinna Grant Gill, born March 12, 2001.^[20]

In the December 1999 Baptist Standard, Grant explained why she left Chapman and married Gill:

"I didn't get a divorce because I had a great marriage and then along came Vince Gill. Gary and I had a rocky road from day one. I think what was so hard—and this is (what) one of our counselors said—sometimes an innocent party can come into a situation, and they're like a big spotlight. What they do is reveal, by comparison, the painful dynamics that are already in existence."^[21]

Public views and perception[link]

Among praise for her contributions to the Contemporary Christian genre, Amy Grant has also generated controversy within the Christian community, from "complaints that she was too worldly and too sexy" to a "barrage of condemnation" following her divorce and remarriage.^[22]

In an interview early in her career, Grant stated, "I have a healthy sense of right and wrong, but sometimes, for example, using foul, exclamation-point words among friends can be good for a laugh." Within the same article, Grant expressed an opinion that those most opposed to premarital sex and rock music often base their views in part on having experienced emotional distress. "'It seems to me,' she says as an after-thought, 'that people who are most adamantly against premarital sex have experienced some kind of pain in their own lives. Like the people who say absolutely no to rock 'n' roll. Chances are it has something to do with a past sadness."^[23]

Discography[link]

Studio Albums[link]

• 1977: Amy Grant
• 1979: My Father's Eyes
• 1980: Never Alone
• 1982: Age to Age
• 1984: Straight Ahead
• 1985: Unguarded
• 1988: Lead Me On
• 1991: Heart in Motion
• 1994: House of Love
• 1997: Behind the Eyes
• 2002: Legacy...Hymns and Faith
• 2003: Simple Things
• 2005: Rock of Ages...Hymns and Faith
• 2010: Somewhere Down The Road

Holiday Albums[link]

• 1983: A Christmas Album
• 1992: Home for Christmas
• 1999: A Christmas to Remember
• 2008: The Christmas Collection

Bibliography[link]

Grant is the author of several books, including a memoir, Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far, and a book based on the popular Christmas song Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song).

Awards and achievements[link]

Grammy Awards[link]

Wins[link]

• 1982: Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary or Inspirational – Age to Age^[24]
• 1983: Best Gospel Performance, Female – "Ageless Medley"
• 1984: Best Gospel Performance, Female – "Angels"
• 1985: Best Gospel Performance, Female – Unguarded
• 1988: Best Gospel Performance, Female – Lead Me On
• 2006: Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album – Rock of Ages…Hymns & Faith

Nominations[link]

• 1979: Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary or Inspirational – My Father's Eyes
• 1980: Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary or Inspirational – Never Alone
• 1981: Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary or Inspirational – Amy Grant In Concert
• 1990: Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Female – "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus"
• 1992: Album of the Year – Heart in Motion^[25] (lost to Unforgettable... with Love by Natalie Cole)
• 1992: Song of the Year – "Baby Baby"^[25]
• 1992: Record of the Year – "Baby Baby"^[25] (both lost to "Unforgettable" by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole)
• 1992: Pop Performance Female – "Baby Baby"^[25] (lost to "Something to Talk About" by Bonnie Raitt)
• 1994: Children Spoken Word – Lion & the Lamb^[25]
• 2011: Best Gospel Song – "Better Than a Hallelujah"^[26]
• 2012: Best Country Song – "Threaten Me with Heaven"^[27]

GMA Dove Awards[link]

*Inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2003

• 1983: Artist of the Year
• 1983: Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year – Age to Age
• 1983: Recorded Music Packaging – Age to Age
• 1984: Recorded Music Packaging – A Christmas Album
• 1985: Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year – Straight Ahead
• 1986: Artist of the Year
• 1986: Recorded Music Packaging – Unguarded
• 1988: Short Form Music Video of the Year – "Stay For a While"
• 1989: Artist of the Year
• 1989: Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year – Lead Me On
• 1989: Short Form Music Video of the Year – "Lead Me On"
• 1990: Country Song of the Year – "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus"
• 1992: Song of the Year – "Place in This World"
• 1992: Artist of the Year
• 1994: Praise and Worship Album of the Year – Songs from the Loft
• 1996: Special Event Album of the Year – My Utmost for His Highest
• 1998: Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year – Behind the Eyes
• 2000: Special Event Album of the Year – Streams
• 2003: Inspirational Album of the Year – Legacy...Hymns & Faith
• 2003: Song of the Year – "The River's Gonna Keep On Rolling"
• 2006: Inspirational Album of the Year – Rock of Ages...Hymns & Faith
• 2007: Long Form Music Video of the Year – Time Again...Amy Grant Live

Special awards and recognitions[link]

• 1992: Junior Chamber of Commerce Young Tennessean of the Year
• 1994: St. John University Pax Christi Award
• 1994: Nashville Symphony Harmony Award
• 1996: Sarah Cannon Humanitarian Award – TNN Awards
• 1996: Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award – Columbia Hospital
• 1996: Voice of America Award – ASCAP
• 1996: Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award
• 1999: “An Evening with the Arts” Honor – The Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Symphony and Tennessee Performing Arts Center
• 1999: The Amy Grant Room for Music and Entertainment – The Target House at St. Jude's Children's Hospital
• 2001: Easter Seals Nashvillian of the Year Award
• 2003: Summit Award – Seminar in the Rockies
• 2005: Hollywood walk of fame induction
• 2006: Amy Grant Performance Platform – Nashville Schermerhorn Symphony Center
• 2007: Charter member of Tiffany Circle – Red Cross
• 2007: Inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame^[28]
• 2012: Honorary Doctorate Degree of Music and Performance – Grand Canyon University

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amy Grant

• Official Amy Grant website
• Amy Grant at the Internet Movie Database
• Amy Grant at Allmusic
• Amy Grant Media Gallery
• Amy Grant Partners with Compassion International
• Amy Grant, "Somewhere Down the Road" by Billboard

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2009)

Dr. John
Dr. John at the 2007 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Background information
Birth name	Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr.
Also known as	Dr. John Creaux Mac Rebennack
Born	(1940-11-21) November 21, 1940 (age 71)
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Genres	Blues, rock, New Orleans rhythm and blues
Occupations	Vocalist, musician
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active	1950s–present
Labels	Atco, Blue Note, Nonesuch, GRP, Trip, United Artists
Associated acts	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Van Morrison, Dan Auerbach, Curious George (TV series), Eric Clapton, Bob Seger, Joe Walsh
Website	http://www.nitetripper.com/

Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. (born November 21, 1940), better known by the stage name Dr. John (also Dr. John Creaux, or Dr. John the Night Tripper), is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.^[1]

Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider prominence in the early 1970s with a wildly theatrical stage show inspired by medicine shows, Mardi Gras costumes and voodoo ceremonies. Rebennack has recorded over 20 albums and in 1973 scored a top-20 hit with the jaunty funk-flavored "Right Place Wrong Time", still perhaps his best-known song.

The winner of five Grammy Awards, Rebennack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by singer John Legend on Monday, March 14, 2011.^[2]

Early life and career[link]

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Dr. John's Acadian ancestry traces back to the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. He claims that his lineage took root in New Orleans sometime in the early 1800s. Growing up in the Third Ward, Dr. John found early musical inspiration in the minstrel tunes sung by his grandfather and a number of aunts, uncles, and cousins who played piano. He did not take music lessons before his teens, he only endured a short stint in choir before getting kicked out.^[3] His father, the owner of an appliance store and record shop, exposed him as a young boy to prominent jazz musicians like King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. Throughout his adolescence his father's connections enabled him access to the recording rooms of burgeoning rock artists such as Little Richard and Guitar Slim. From these exposures he advanced into clubs and onto the stage with varying local artists, most notably, Professor Longhair. ^[4]

Dr. John met Professor Longhair when he was about 13 or 14 years old, the start to a period in his life that would mark rapid growth as a musician and the beginnings of his entry into professional music. He describes his initial impression of Professor Longhair with note, not only of his musical prowess, but of his style: "I was also fascinated that he was sitting out there in a turtleneck shirt with a beautiful gold chain with a watch hangin’ on it, and an Army fatigue cap on his head. And I thought, Wow, I never seen nobody dressed like this guy. Just everything about the man was totally hip. And he had gloves on him, too, beautiful silk gloves. I’ll never forget this^[5]."

At age 16 he was hired by Johnny Vincent as a producer at Ace Records. There, he worked with artists like James Booker and Earl King, his musical experience expanding notably. He struggled through intermittent years of high school, eventually focusing entirely on music. Thereafter an entry into heavy narcotics use would fuel his desire to get out of New Orleans and move to California where his character, Dr. John, was born.^[6]

In late 1950s New Orleans, Dr. John originally concentrated on guitar and he gigged with local bands including Mac Rebennack and the Skyliners, (Paul Staele/Dennis "Bootsie" Cuquet, drums; Earl Stanley, bass; Charlie Miller, trumpet; Charlie Maduell, sax; Roland "Stone" LeBlanc, vocals), Frankie Ford and the Thunderbirds, and Jerry Byrne and the Loafers. He had a regional hit with a Bo Diddley-influenced instrumental called "Storm Warning" on Rex Records in 1959. During these days he was an A&R man producing, with Charlie Miller, monophonic singles on 45s for Johnny Vincent and Joe Corona for such local labels as ACE, RON, RIC and others. For these sessions he oversaw A&R and the rhythm section while Miller wrote the horn arrangements and headed up the horns. It was a productive team until Miller decided to move to New York and to study music formally.

Rebennack's career as a guitarist came to an end when his left ring finger was injured by a gunshot while he was defending singer/keyboardist Ronnie Barron, his bandmate, Jesuit High School classmate, and longtime friend. After the injury, Rebennack concentrated on bass guitar before making piano his main instrument; pianist Professor Longhair was an important influence on Rebennack's piano-playing style.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1963 where he became a "first call" session musician on the booming Los Angeles studio scene in the 1960s and 1970s, providing backing for Sonny & Cher (and some of the incidental music for Cher's first film, Chastity), and for Canned Heat on their albums Living the Blues (1968) Future Blues (1970), and Freak Out! for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1966); along with many other acts.

HANDCUFFED[link]

Dr. John grew up with full exposure to the realities of New Orleans. Prostitutes, pimps, thieves and addicts all marked the same nightlife scene that contributed to his development as a musician.^[7] He was introduced to marijuana at a young age, among other drugs, ultimately gaining an addiction to heroin in his teen years. He recalls being "loaded" the first time while at high school, identifying the high he would chase for all of his life. Not so fondly, Dr. John looks back on the shortsighted moneymaking schemes he would devise through his teens and twenties, all to pay only for the next dose of heroin. He sold narcotics, ran a whorehouse, and even opened a business offering abortions (illegal at the time) during the 1950s. Drug-induced nightclub furies throughout Louisiana and into Florida would result in frequent shootouts and bouts with the police, and he picked up a list of arrests that finally led to prison time in Texas. His sentence ended in 1965 and he left for Los Angeles.

His characteristic, nameless genre of jazzy funk, emphasized with a flair of psychedelic rock, was a direct image of his drug habit throughout his hoodoo albums of the 1960s and up through the 1970s. He failed to heed the warnings of friends and paid no attention to his mother's concern; through the 1980s he continued his habit, failing to beat addiction after numerous stays at rehabilitation. Finally, after experiencing cardiac problems in New York, Dr. John exited his final rehabilitation stint, sober, in December, 1989. He went on to struggle with psychiatric problems through the 1990s, but, today, is sober and mentally stable with the help of medication.^[8]

TRYING TO ESCAPE THE HANDCUFFS (NO WAY)[link]

Dr. John was always fascinated with New Orleans voodoo, and in Los Angeles he developed the idea of the Dr. John persona for his old friend Ronnie Barron. He imagined it as an interesting stage show and an emblem to their New Orleans heritage. "Well, there was a guy the name of Dr. John, a hoodoo guy in New Orleans. He was competition to Marie Laveau. He was like her opposite. I actually got a clipping from the Times Picayune newspaper about how my great-great-great-grandpa Wayne was busted with this guy for runnin’ a voodoo operation in a whorehouse in 1860. I decided I would produce the record with this as a concept." Of course, he would assume the role of Dr. John himself, which he claims, came apprehensively.^[9]

He recalls reading about the original Doctor John in his youth, a purported Senegalese prince who came to New Orleans from Haiti, a medicinal and spiritual healer. The Doctor was a free man of color who lived on Bayou Road and claimed to have fifteen wives and over fifty children. He maintained a fascination with reptiles and kept an assortment of snakes and lizards, along with embalmed scorpions and animal and human skulls. His specialization was healing, and as such, in selling Gris-Gris, voodoo amulets that protected the wearer from harm. Gris Gris, would, of course, become of the name of Dr. John, the musician's famed debut album, his own form of "voodoo medicine."^[10]

1968-1971: HANDCUFFED AGAIN[link]

Beginning in the late 1960s, Rebennack gained fame as a solo artist after adopting the persona of "Dr. John, The Night Tripper". Dr. John's act combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues with psychedelic rock and elaborate stage shows that bordered on voodoo religious ceremonies, including elaborate costumes and headdress (reflecting and presumably inspired by Screamin' Jay Hawkins's stage act). The name "Dr. John" came from a legendary Louisiana voodoo practitioner of the early 19th century.^[11] On the earliest Dr. John records, the artist billing was "Dr. John, The Night Tripper", while the songwriting credits billed him as "Dr. John Creaux". Within a few years the "Night Tripper" subtitle was dropped, and Rebennack resumed using his real name for writing and producing/arranging credits.

Gris-Gris, his 1968 debut album combining voodoo rhythms and chants with the New Orleans music tradition, was ranked 143rd on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. Three more albums, 1969's Babylon, 1970's Remedies, and 1971's The Sun, Moon, And Herbs were released in the same vein of Gris-Gris, but none of them have enjoyed the popularity of his first album.

During early-to-mid-1969, Dr. John toured extensively, backed by supporting musicians Richard "Didymus" Washington (congas), Richard Crooks (drums), David Leonard Johnson (bass), Gary Carino (guitar), and singers Eleanor Barooshian, Jeanette Jacobs from The Cake, and Sherry Graddie. A second lineup formed later in the year for an extensive tour of the East Coast with Crooks and Johnson joined by Doug Hastings (guitar) and Don MacAllister (mandolin). Also in 1969, Dr. John contributed to the Music from Free Creek "supersession" project, playing on three tracks with Eric Clapton. Washington and Crooks also contributed to the project.

By the time The Sun, Moon, and Herbs was released, he had gained a notable cult following, including artists such as Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger, who both took part in the sessions for that album. This album would serve as a transition from his Night Tripper voodoo, psychedelic persona to one more closely associated with traditional New Orleans R&B and funk. His next album, Dr. John's Gumbo, proved to be a landmark recording which is one of his most popular to this day; with drummer Fred Staehle serving as the band's backbone.

[edit] 1972-1974: Gumbo, In the Right Place, and Desitively Bonnaroo

Along with Gris-Gris, Dr. John is perhaps best known for his recordings during 1972-1974. 1972's Dr. John's Gumbo, an album covering several New Orleans R&B standards with only one original, is considered a cornerstone in New Orleans music. In his 1994 autobiography, Under a Hoodoo Moon, Dr. John writes, "In 1972, I recorded Gumbo, an album that was both a tribute to and my interpretation of the music I had grown up with in New Orleans in the 1940s and 1950s. I tried to keep a lot of the little changes that were characteristic of New Orleans, while working my own funknology on piano and guitar." The lead single from the album, "Iko Iko", broke into the Billboard top 40 singles chart. In 2003, Dr. John's Gumbo was ranked number 402 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It also earned a place on Offbeat magazine's 1999 listing of the Top 100 Louisiana CDs.

With Gumbo, Dr. John expanded his career beyond the psychedelic voodoo music and theatrics that had driven his career since he took on the Dr. John persona, although it has always remained an integral part of his music and identity. It wasn't until 1998's Anutha Zone that he would again concentrate on this aspect of his music wholly for a full album. "After we cut the new record", he wrote, "I decided I'd had enough of the mighty-coo-de-fiyo hoodoo show, so I dumped the Gris-Gris routine we had been touring with since 1967 and worked up a new act—a Mardi Gras revue featuring the New Orleans standards we had covered in Gumbo."

In early 1973 Thomas Jefferson Kaye produced an album featuring a collaboration with Dr. John, Mike Bloomfield and John Paul Hammond. This album, Triumvirate, was recorded in Columbia Studios, San Francisco, and Village Recorders, Los Angeles.

In 1973, with Allen Toussaint producing and The Meters backing, Dr. John released the seminal New Orleans funk album, In the Right Place. In the same way that Gris-Gris introduced the world to the voodoo-influenced side of his music, and in the manner that Dr. John's Gumbo began his career-long reputation as an esteemed interpreter of New Orleans standards, In the Right Place established Dr. John as one of the main ambassadors of New Orleans funk. In describing the album, Dr. John states, "The album had more of a straight-ahead dance feel than ones I had done in the past, although it was still anchored solid in R&B." It rose to #24 on the Billboard album charts, while the single "Right Place Wrong Time" landed at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. A second single, "Such a Night", peaked at #42. Still in heavy rotation on most classic rock stations, "Right Place Wrong Time" remains his single most recognized song. Artists such as Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, and Doug Sahm contributed single lines to the lyrics, which lists several instances of ironic bad luck and failure.

Dr. John attempted to capitalize on In the Right Place's successful formula, again collaborating with Allen Toussaint and The Meters for his next album, Desitively Bonnaroo, released in 1974. Although similar in feel to In the Right Place, it failed to catch hold in the mainstream like its predecessor. It would be his last pure funk album until 1994 with Television, although like his voodoo and traditional New Orleans R&B influences, funk has continued to heavily influence most of his work to the present day, especially in his concerts. While Dr. John stated in an interview during 1990s that he'd like to work with Toussaint again for a full album, this has yet to come to fruition.

In the mid-1970s Dr. John began an almost twenty-year-long collaboration with the R&R Hall of Fame/Songwriters Hall of Fame writer Doc Pomus to create songs for Dr. John's releases City Lights and Tango Palace and for B.B. King's Stuart Levine-produced There Must Be a Better World Somewhere, which won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording in 1982. Dr. John also recorded "I'm On a Roll", the last song written with Pomus prior to Pomus' death in 1991, for the now out-of-print Rhino/Forward Records 1995 tribute to Pomus titled Til the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus that also included covers of Pomus-penned songs by Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Brian Wilson, the Band, Los Lobos, Dion, Rosanne Cash, Solomon Burke and Lou Reed. According to Doc Pomus' daughter, Dr. John and her father were very close friends as well as writing partners; Dr. John delivered one of a number of eulogies and performed with singer Jimmy Scott at Pomus' funeral on March 17, 1991, in New York City.

On Thanksgiving Day 1976 he performed at the farewell concert for the Band, which was filmed and released as The Last Waltz. In 1979, he collaborated with the legendary Professor Longhair on Fess's (another nickname for Henry Byrd) last recording Crawfish Fiesta as a guitarist and co-producer. The album was awarded the first W.C. Handy Blues Album of the Year in 1980, and was released shortly after Longhair's death in January, 1980.

Later work[link]

Dr. John at the 2006 Jazz à Vienne festival, in Vienne, France.

By the mid-1970s, Rebennack began focusing on a blend of music that touched on blues, New Orleans R&B, Tin Pan Alley standards and more.

In 1975 Dr. John's manager, Richard Flanzer, hired legendary producer Bob Ezrin. Hollywood Be Thy Name was recorded live at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California. The studio was transformed into a New Orleans nightclub for the sessions.

In 1981 and 1983 Dr. John recorded two solo piano albums for the Baltimore-based Clean Cuts label. In these two recordings Dr. John plays many of his own compositions in boogie-woogie.

He has also been a prominent session musician throughout his career, playing piano on the Rolling Stones' 1972 song "Let It Loose", as well as backing Carly Simon and James Taylor in their duet of "Mockingbird" in 1974 and Neil Diamond on 1976's Beautiful Noise. He also contributed the song "More and More" to Simon's Playing Possum album. He played on three songs on Maria Muldaur's 1973 solo debut album, including his composition "Three Dollar Bill". He sang on four songs and played piano on two songs on Muldaur's 1992 Louisiana Love Call. He was co-producer on Van Morrison's 1977 album A Period of Transition and also played keyboards and guitar. He contributed three songs as writer or co-writer ("Washer Woman", "The Ties That Bind", and "That's My Home") and also played guitar and keyboards on Levon Helm's 1977 release, Levon Helm and the RCO Allstars. He performed on the March 19, 1977 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live. He played keyboards on the highly successful 1979 solo debut album by Rickie Lee Jones and has toured with Willy DeVille and contributed to his Return to Magenta (1978), Victory Mixture (1990), Backstreets of Desire (1992), and Big Easy Fantasy (1995) albums. His music has been featured in many films including "Such a Night" in Colors in 1988. In 1992 Dr. John released the album Goin' Back to New Orleans which included many classic songs from New Orleans and many great New Orleans based musicians like Aaron Neville, the Neville brothers, Al Hirt and Pete Fountain backed up Dr. John on this album. He performed as the first American artist at the Franco Follies festival in 1992.

Dr. John has also done vocals for Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits' "Luv dat chicken..." jingle, as well as the theme song ("My Opinionation") for the early-1990s television sitcom Blossom. A version of "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" with Harry Connick, Jr. was released on Connick's album 20 and VHS Singin' & Swingin' in 1990. Dr. John's longtime confidant and personal manager, Paul Howrilla was responsible for moving Dr. John from Los Angeles, California to New York, New York and securing the "crossover" work, as well as modifying Dr. John's image from the 1970's to the 1990's. Paul Howrilla was the brains behind the scenes, as Dr. John would attest. They remain very close friends to the present day.

His movie credits include Martin Scorsese's documentary The Last Waltz (in which he joins the Band for a performance of his song "Such a Night"), the 1978 Beatles-inspired musical "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", and Blues Brothers 2000 (in which he joins the fictional band the Louisiana Gator Boys to perform the songs "How Blue Can You Get" and "New Orleans"). His version of the Donovan song "Season of the Witch" was also featured in this movie and on the soundtrack.

He also wrote and performed the score for the film version of John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" released in 1982. In 1993, his hit song "Right Place Wrong Time" was used extensively in the movie Dazed and Confused.

Dr. John has also been featured in several video and audio blues and New Orleans piano lessons published by Homespun Tapes. In addition to the instructional value, there is historical context about many other blues artists. Other documentary film scores include the New Orleans dialect film Yeah You Rite! (1985) and American Tongues in 1987.

Between July and September 1989 Dr. John toured in the first Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, alongside Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Nils Lofgren, Jim Keltner, Joe Walsh, Billy Preston and Clarence Clemons. The tour produced the 1990 live album Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band.

Dr.John at the Liri Blues Festival, Italy.

In 1997, he appeared on the charity single version of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day". In the same year, he played piano on the Spiritualized song "Cop Shoot Cop...", from their critically acclaimed album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. Frontman Jason Pierce, a fan of John's music, reciprocated by guesting on John's 1998 album Anutha Zone along with drummer Damon Reece and guitarist Thighpaulsandra.

He recorded the live album Trippin' Live with drummer Herman Ernest, David Barard, bass, Tommy Moran, guitar, trumpeter Charlie Miller, tenor Red Tyler, and baritone sax Ronnie Cuber.

In September 2005 he performed Fats Domino's "Walkin' to New Orleans", to close the Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon. This was for the relief of Hurricane Katrina victims; following the devastation of his hometown of New Orleans.

In November 2005, he released a four-song EP, Sippiana Hericane, to benefit New Orleans Musicians Clinic, Salvation Army, and the Jazz Foundation of America. On February 5, 2006, he joined fellow New Orleans native Aaron Neville, Detroit resident Aretha Franklin and a 150-member choir for the national anthem at Super Bowl XL as part of a pre-game tribute to New Orleans. On February 8, 2006, he joined Allen Toussaint, Bonnie Raitt, The Edge, and Irma Thomas to perform "We Can Can" as the closing performance at the Grammy Awards of 2006.

On May 12, 2006, Dr. John recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road. His performance was aired alongside those of LeAnn Rimes and Massive Attack on the Sundance Channel in the USA and Channel 4 in the UK.

Dr. John performing at Le Poisson Rouge, New York City, 2011.

On July 30, 2006, Dr. John performed a solo piano benefit for New Orleans composer and arranger Wardell Quezergue (King Floyd's "Groove Me") at a New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund benefit at the Black Orchid Theatre in Chicago.^[12] Special guest Mike Mills of R.E.M. was in attendance, along with an all-star funk band.