Widely recognised as the compelling vocals of Scots band Capercaillie with whom she has graced the pop charts and featured in blockbuster movies, Karen Matheson’s solo career highlights have included sharing the stage with Pete Seeger in New York and performing at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where her stunning rendition of ‘Ae fond kiss’ stole the show to a televised audience of over 600 million people.
Her life in the limelight began with her performing as a child in her local village hall in Argyll on the West coast of Scotland, where she was brought up immersed in the deep well of traditional songs that have been her inspiration for over 35 years of recording and performing worldwide. She has released several acclaimed solo albums including “Urram”, a musical love letter to her families’ Hebridean roots, with a collection of timeless Gaelic songs that evoke the character and atmosphere of Island life.
She has been involved in various profile projects of collaboration worldwide, including the award winning BBC series Transatlantic Sessions, on which she performed and filmed tracks with James Taylor, Emmylou Harris, The McGarrigle Sisters, Nanci Griffith, and a host of respected Scottish musicians. She has featured with many unique world music stars.
With Capercaillie, Karen has enjoyed a stellar career. The band have sold more than a million albums, performed in over thirty countries and written and featured in the Hollywood movie ‘Rob Roy’, with Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange, in which Karen performed a solo rendition of a Gaelic lament.
She was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Years Honours List. In 2022, Karen sang a psalm in Gaelic in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on the occasion of the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen.
“Karen Matheson has a throat that is surely touched by God’’….Sean Connery.