Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant began her pop career in 1981 at the age of 17
as the singer for the New York-based, top-selling alternative rock band 10,000
Maniacs. Born on October 26, 1963, in Jamestown, New York, she recorded seven
albums with the group and established herself as a leading figure within the
alternative rock scene. The singer has always been politically active and is
credited by her ex-boyfriend Michael Stipe as the reason his work with R.E.M.
became politicized in the late 1980s. After significant chart success with
10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant quit the...