You Are Free is the sixth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. It was released in 2003 on Matador Records. Dave Grohl of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters plays the drums and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam provides backing vocals on two tracks. Warren Ellis played violin on two songs.

Online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed You Are Free at number 98 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.

All tracks written by Chan Marshall except where noted.

"You Are Not Alone" is the second single from Michael Jackson's album HIStory. The R&B ballad's composition has been attributed R. Kelly in response to difficult times in his personal life. He then forwarded a bare demo tape to Jackson, who liked the song and decided to produce it with Kelly. Jackson's interest in the song was also linked to recent events in his personal life. However, the song has been faced with allegations of plagiarism by two Belgian songwriters. The song was later covered by R. Kelly himself as a hidden track on his tenth studio album Love Letter.

The vast majority of critical reaction to "You Are Not Alone" was positive, although it did not attain unanimous praise. The song was the recipient of Grammy and American Music Award nominations. The corresponding music video, which featured Jackson and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley was also notable for its scenes of semi-nudity.

Commercially, the song was a significant success. It holds a Guinness World Record as the first song in the 37-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at number one; it was later certified platinum by the RIAA. The song peaked highly in all major markets. "You Are Not Alone" was Michael Jackson's last number one hit song in the United States during his lifetime. It was also the 800th number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart.

Charlyn Marie Marshall (born January 21, 1972), also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands. Over a twenty year career she has produced eight studio albums, one live album and two EPs.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Marshall loved soul, rock 'n' roll and country music from childhood and began to play guitar in experimental bands with friends in her early adult years. After a move to New York at age 20, Marshall recorded two lo-fi, improvised solo albums, Dear Sir (1995) and Myra Lee (1996), collaborating with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. Cat Power then signed to Matador Records to release her third, more focused album, What Would the Community Think? (1996), which united her with notable indie musicians. She followed with Moon Pix (1998) and The Covers Record (2000), receiving notice for her spare, intense originals and radically stripped down takes on folk songs and familiar songs. You Are Free (2003) was more structured indie rock and brought Cat Power wider attention. Marshall followed it up with the one-take performance film, Speaking for Trees (2004), filmed in a forest. The Greatest (2006), in which she worked with classic R&B and gospel musicians, was her most recent collection of original songs, and her best-selling. A second covers collection, Jukebox (2008), with a horn-led backing band, is her most recent album.

Angie Miller is a recording artist who was produced by Mickie Most in the early 1970s on his RAK Records label. She had singles with the songs "Born To Be Loved By You" (RAK 209, 1975) and "Stardust In Your Eyes," (RAK 151, 1973; EMI/Columbia 1C 006-94 545 (Germany)) and released an album "A Woman's mind." (SRAK515, 1975)

According to a 2006 article in the Coventry Telegraph, Angie joined the "New City Sounds" as "Angie O'Keefe", and that band won in two appearances on BBC's Opportunity Knocks program. Angie soon after left the band, and started recording under Mickie Most.

William Melvin "Bill" Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy. In both his stand-up performances and during interviews, he often criticized consumerism, superficiality, mediocrity, and banality within the media and popular culture, describing them as oppressive tools of the ruling class, meant to "keep people stupid and apathetic".

Hicks was 16 years old when he started performing stand-up comedy at the Comedy Workshop in Houston, Texas, in 1978. During the 1980s he toured the United States extensively and performed a number of high profile television appearances. It was in the UK, however, where Hicks first amassed a significant fan base, packing large venues with his 1991 tour. Hicks died of pancreatic cancer in 1994 at the age of 32. In the years after his death, his work and legacy achieved acclaim in creative circles. In 2007 he was voted the fourth-greatest stand-up comic on the UK's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups on Channel 4, and appeared again in the updated 2010 list as the fourth-greatest comic.