Michelle Jacquet Branch-Landau (born July 2, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She made her debut in 2000, and released the platinum-selling albums The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper in August 2001 and June 2003 respectively. During this period, she collaborated with Santana on the single "The Game of Love", which won a Grammy Award. In 2004, she formed the musical duo The Wreckers with fellow musician Jessica Harp. Michelle Branch will release her third solo album with Maverick, Everything Comes and Goes, in the summer of 2008.
Michelle was born seven weeks premature in Phoenix, Arizona on July 2, 1983, and was named after the Beatles' song "Michelle". Though the surname Branch is French, her father is of Irish ancestry while her mother was born in the Netherlands; her maternal grandmother was a Dutch Indonesian and was held by the Japanese in an internment camp during World War II, while her maternal grandfather was French and Indonesian. She has an older half-brother, David, and a younger sister, Nicole.
Branch started taking voice lessons at a local university when she was 8 years old. She received a guitar for her fourteenth birthday from her uncle. She locked herself in her room and taught herself chords; within a few days she had composed her first song. She focused on the arts during high school, and was writing songs extensively. She attended Sedona Red Rock High School in Sedona but with the support of her parents, decided to continue her high school education through home schooling, which allowed her to follow her dreams of becoming a singer-songwriter. She had begged her parents to allow her to leave regular high school, and one night at dinner she asked why she had to go back to school, and to her surprise, her father replied with, "Yeah, why does she?" She played at clubs for years and released her debut album Broken Bracelet independently in 2000.
She signed a record deal with Maverick Records while opening for Hanson in December 2000. Her first album under Maverick, The Spirit Room, was released in August 2001 and went on to sell over one million copies in the U.S. The single "Everywhere" became a worldwide top-twenty hit, and was followed by the U.S. top-ten hit "All You Wanted" and the top-forty single "Goodbye to You". Branch was frequently compared (both positively and negatively) to other singer-songwriters like Norah Jones, Avril Lavigne, and Vanessa Carlton who rose to prominence at around the same time as she. In 2002 Branch was the lead vocalist on Carlos Santana's song "The Game of Love", which became her first single to reach the U.S. top five; it went on to win a Grammy Award for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".
In 2003, she released her second full-length album, Hotel Paper, which became her second RIAA-certified platinum album but was met with mixed reviews. The lead single "Are You Happy Now?" became another top-twenty hit for Branch in the U.S., but follow-up singles "Breathe" and "'Til I Get over You" failed to achieve substantial success. In June 2004 she hosted MTV's 'Faking the Video' alongside Nick Lachey and JC Chasez. As of 2006, her biggest hits ("Everywhere", "All You Wanted", and "Are You Happy Now?") continue to be played in recurrent rotation on CHR and Hot AC radio stations.
Aside from her solo work, Branch has written songs for other artists, including one for Mandy Moore's 2007 album Wild Hope. Branch has also appeared on several television shows, performing on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (in the episode "Tabula Rasa") and Charmed (in the episode "Centennial Charmed").
Branch married her bass player, Teddy Landau, 19 years her senior, in Mexico on May 23, 2004. On August 3, 2005, Branch gave birth to a 7lb, 12oz (3.5 kg) baby girl named Owen Isabelle.
In late 2007, Branch sold her home in a Southern California gated community. Branch purchased a home in the elite Belle Meade neighbourhood of Nashville in January 2008.In July 2005, Branch announced the completion of an album with singer/songwriter Jessica Harp. The longtime friends and collaborators were dubbed "The Homewreckers" as a joke by Branch's husband, and they shortened it to The Wreckers. The album combined Branch's pop-rock sensibility with Harp's country-folk style. The album was originally due for release in June 2005 but was delayed because of promotional reasons surrounding Branch's pregnancy.
One of the songs Branch co-wrote with Harp for the album was featured on the original soundtrack to the WB television teen drama One Tree Hill. Branch and Harp made a brief appearance as themselves on One Tree Hill, and then went on a month-long concert tour with Gavin DeGraw.
Branch closed down the message boards for The Wreckers' official website in December 2005 after being displeased by comments posted there.
The Wreckers' first single, "Leave the Pieces", was released in February 2006; the album Stand Still, Look Pretty was released that May. During this period, they joined country music stars Rascal Flatts and Gary Allan on a sold out U.S. tour.
In December 2006, the Wreckers were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the song "Leave the Pieces".
As of early August 2007, Branch and Jessica Harp announced on the band's official message board that they were putting the band on hold while they went forward with solo albums. Subsequent press statements have made it clear The Wreckers, at least as a partnership between Branch and Harp, is no more. Industry rumors have fed speculation that Branch abruptly ended the duo to return to her solo career.
Following the break-up of The Wreckers, Branch's long-time manager Jeff Rabhan parted ways with her. He is now part of Jessica Harp's management team through Three Ring Projects, a partnership of Rabhan, Carl Turner III and Harp's long-time manager Stuart DillOn October 31, 2007, Branch announced that she was working on a new solo album. MTV has confirmed that the album will debut in summer 2008, followed by a tour.
On April 10, 2008, at her first solo concert in almost 4 years, Branch announced the title of her fourth studio album to be Everything Comes and Goes.
As of June 2008, she has played several live shows in preparation for the albums release with her sister Nicole singing backing vocals.
She announced to Billboard Magazine that her new album will stay on the country route, which she is known for through The Wreckers. A few song titles discussed were "Long Goodbye", "Texas In The Mirror", "This Way", and the haunting ballad 'Crazy Ride', which is a lullaby to her daughter, Owen. She also refers to the album as a "break-up album" because she ended her partnership with Wreckers bandmate, Jessica Harp.
As of June 2008, the release date for "Everything Comes and Goes" has been revised by Branch, saying she hopes it will be released "before the end of the year." The reason for the change has not been made public.
As of July 2008, Branch has decided to take a detour in her music, stating that she would like to do an RnB/Hip-Hop record. Rumour has it that Branch is looking to Timbaland who in the pass has worked with Nelly Furtado, Branch states "I want to do something different this time around. I wanna do something thats never been done". When asked about the tracks thats already been recorded that Branch is most known for her response was "We'll see what happends, Afterall Everything Comes and Goes, Right?"Branch writes or co-writes most of her solo material and her music influences are the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Aerosmith, Patsy Cline, Cat Stevens, Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell.[citation needed] While her musical tastes lean more toward older musicians, she also enjoys contemporary bands such as Incubus, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Metallica, and Silverchair and current songwriters including Lisa Loeb, Sheryl Crow, and Patty Griffin. She has also expressed her admiration for classical music, as well as older country music.Branch owns over fourteen guitars but mainly uses a Gibson Hummingbird after retiring her blue Taylor 614ce in 2002. In addition to the guitar, Branch plays other instruments such as the piano, drums and mandolin.
Branch enjoys playing the Hummingbird more for live performances and recordings. As of 2006, she has also been using an electric guitar during live performances of songs such as "Tennessee" and "Cigarettes," both written by Jessica Harp.
