Rhiannon Giddens

Rhiannon Giddens was born on February 21, 1977, in Greensboro, North Carolina. She is of multiracial heritage, with her father being European-American and her mother a descendant of African Americans and various Native American tribes including the Lumbee, Occaneechi, and Seminole. Her parents separated shortly after her birth. Giddens, along with her sister Lalenja, grew up in Greensboro and Gibsonville. She graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in 1995 and pursued opera studies at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, graduating in 2000.

Giddens’ musical career began to take shape in the mid-2000s. In 2005, she attended the Black Banjo Then and Now Gathering, which led to the formation of Sankofa Strings with Dom Flemons and Súle Greg Wilson. This group later evolved into the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, where Giddens served as lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player. The band released their debut album “Dona Got Ramblin’ Mind” in 2006 on the Music Maker Foundation label, which sold 30,000 copies and paved the way for their signing with Nonesuch Records. Their second album, “Genuine Negro Jig” (2010), earned a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. In 2013, Giddens became the sole original member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and began to focus more on her solo career, participating in high-profile projects like “Another Day, Another Time,” a concert inspired by the Coen brothers’ film “Inside Llewyn Davis.” She also contributed to “Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes” in 2014, an album featuring newly composed music for unreleased Bob Dylan lyrics, alongside artists such as Elvis Costello and Marcus Mumford.

Her debut solo album, “Tomorrow Is My Turn,” was released in February 2015 on Nonesuch Records, produced by T Bone Burnett. The album featured covers of songs by influential artists like Patsy Cline, Odetta, and Nina Simone, receiving critical acclaim. Giddens continued to achieve significant recognition, becoming the first American to be honored as Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2016, and the first woman and person of color to receive the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. That same year, she and the Carolina Chocolate Drops were inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. In 2017, she was named a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, acknowledging her work in exploring and connecting diverse musical traditions. Her accomplishments extend beyond music, with an acting role in the TV series “Nashville” and co-writing the opera “Omar,” which won a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2023. Giddens’ commitment to historical research and cross-cultural music has defined her artistic path, leading to her appointment as Artistic Director of the Silkroad Ensemble in 2020 and the release of acclaimed albums such as “Freedom Highway” (2017) and collaborations with Francesco Turrisi, “There Is No Other” (2019) and “They’re Calling Me Home” (2021).