Long a best-kept secret, the favorite musician of the „cool kids“ has been preparing for her time in the spotlight her whole life
By the time she took the stage at this year’s Grammys, to perform „The Joke,“ Brandi Carlile had already won three awards out of the six she was nominated for, for her album „By The Way, I Forgive You.“ „The Joke,“ an anthem for outcasts, brought the audience to their feet.
She’d spent the days before planning things like what to wear, but she’d been preparing for her time in the spotlight her whole life. „I mean, it feels like a really big moment to me, it feels really big,“ she said before the show.
She’s had lots of big moments lately, including her sold-out music festival in Mexico, where fans knew every word to her songs.
Truth is, Carlile may be the most popular musician you’ve never heard of… the one all the cool kids already adore. President Obama put her on his 2018 favorites playlist, and Bradley Cooper put her in his movie, „A Star Is Born.“
Correspondent Tracy Smith said, „You seem to be every celebrity’s favorite musician.“
„Really? Everybody loves an underdog!“ she laughed.
It’s a scrappy status she’s quite proud of. The 37-year-old Carlile and her band – identical twins Tim and Phil Hanseroth – have been building a name for themselves for more than a decade. Not a household name, mind you, but that’s OK. „We don’t have the mass appeal or mainstream assimilation that some of these other artists that we’re nominated alongside do. And they deserve it, too, you know?“
Smith asked, „Do you care?“
„No. I don’t care. I mean, I love my life exactly the way it is.“
Her life, when she’s not out touring (or collecting Grammys), is on the rural outskirts of Seattle.
She doesn’t ever think of moving: „Oh, hell no, no way.
