Daniel Lanois Artistfacts

September 19, 1951
Lanois is best known as a producer, with credits on albums by U2, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and many others. He is also a prolific solo artist, creating his own material between productions for others. When he worked on his first album, Acadie, he was also working with U2 and The Neville Brothers. Members of both acts played on the album.
Raised in Quebec, he spoke only French until his parents split when he was 11 and his mother moved him and his three siblings to Ontario, where they had to learn English.
Of his many collaborations, he lists the 1991 U2 album Achtung Baby as his favorite, telling Songfacts: "What was great about that was there were a lot of very talented, smart people in a room wanting the very best for everybody. That is the true meaning of collaboration."
His older brother Bob (born in 1948) was also his business partner. They set up a studio in their family home in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1968, charging local bands $60 to make recordings. In 1976, they upgraded, setting up Grant Avenue Studio (also in Hamilton), where Johnny Cash and Gordon Lightfoot recorded.
He's often worked with Brian Eno; both have a talent for creating rich, atmospheric textures. Lanois spends a lot of time in the studio experimenting with different sounds to create them.
In the early '90s, he opened Kingsway Studios in New Orleans with a console he bought from the Record Plant in New York City, which had closed. He owned Kingsway for about 15 years; R.E.M., Emmylou Harris, Pearl Jam and Sheryl Crow all recorded there.