Indigo Girls

About

Also known as: インディゴ・ガールズ

Few folk rock duos have had a run quite like Indigo Girls. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers built their reputation playing weekly bar gigs in Atlanta before landing a major label deal in 1988, and their self titled Epic debut cracked the top 25 albums chart on the strength of "Closer to Fine", a track that became one of the defining songs of the era. A Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album followed in 1990, and they kept the momentum going with "Galileo" and "Hammer and a Nail", cementing a sound that blends tight vocal harmonies with sharp, emotionally direct songwriting rooted in folk and rock. After two decades on major labels, they launched their own IG Recordings in 2009 and took full control of their output. Ray runs a non profit label on the side supporting independent artists, while Saliers has branched into restaurants and writing. Both are openly lesbian and long recognised as queer icons, with activism around political and environmental causes woven into everything they do. Their catalog holds up, and live recordings with full orchestras show the songs still carry serious weight.