The idea we should be in the kitchen serving our men is enraging': singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan on her long fight for women's voices

"What do I have to say at this point in my life? she says. I'm a 57-year-old white woman of privilege. Does anybody want to hear from me? Looking tanned and relaxed on an early morning video call from Vancouver Island, the Nova Scotia native admits she had stayed busy: she released a Christmas album (2016's Wonderland) and worked as the principal fundraiser and founding board chair for her three namesake music schools, which provide lessons and education to at-risk youth."

"At the same time, she was a self-proclaimed dance mom raising two daughters; the second recently went off to college. But there was still trepidation around being out of the game for so long. McLachlan, though, has never been one for reticence. In the 1990s, with her otherworldly voice and knack for cathartic lyrics, the three-time Grammy winner was part of a galvanising movement of bold female singer-songwriters, from Alanis Morissette to Fiona Apple and Indigo Girls."

"Several years later, she founded Lilith Fair, a revolutionary all-female artists festival that upended the music industry's gendered power dynamics. At this week's premiere of a documentary about the festival, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, McLachlan castigated the insidious erosion of women's rights, of trans and queer rights. A subsidiary of Disney is distributing the documentary, and Disney's temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's talk show over his comments about Charlie Kirk prompted McLachlan to refuse to give a previously announced live performance in solidarity"

Sarah McLachlan had not released an album of original songs for 11 years and worried about what she could contribute at age 57. She remained active with a 2016 Christmas album and running three namesake music schools that provide lessons and education to at-risk youth. She raised two daughters and experienced trepidation after a long absence from the music scene. In the 1990s she became a key figure among bold female singer-songwriters, achieving a US breakthrough with 1994's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy and the single Possession. She founded Lilith Fair, an all-female artists festival that challenged gendered power dynamics. She criticized erosion of women's, trans, and queer rights and declined a performance in protest over Disney's temporary suspension related to Jimmy Kimmel.

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