Daniel Lanois

Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer and musician.

He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Harold Budd. He collaborated with Brian Eno to create the ambient genre and produce several albums for U2, including The Joshua Tree (1987) and Achtung Baby (1991). Three albums produced or co-produced by Lanois have won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Four other albums received Grammy nominations.

Lanois has released several solo albums. He wrote and performed the music for the 1996 film Sling Blade, and provided several vocal tracks for Red Dead Redemption 2.

Biography Early life and career Lanois was born in 1951 in Hull, Quebec, to Guy and Jill Lanois. He began playing music at age nine with the penny whistle, and soon transitioned to pedal steel guitar. Lanois started his production career when he was 17, recording local artists including Simply Saucer with his brother Bob Lanois in a studio in the basement of their mother's home in Ancaster, Ontario. Later, Lanois started Grant Avenue Studio in an old house which he purchased in Hamilton, Ontario. He worked with a number of local bands, including Martha and the Muffins (for which his sister Jocelyne played bass), Ray Materick, Spoons, and the Canadian children's singer Raffi.

Producer In 1981, Lanois played on and produced the album This Is the Ice Age by Martha and the Muffins. In 1985, he and two members of the band earned a CASBY award for their work on the band's (by then going by "M + M") 1984 album Mystery Walk.

Lanois worked collaboratively with Brian Eno on some of Eno's own projects, one of which was the "Prophecy Theme" for David Lynch's film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. Eno invited him to co-produce U2's album The Unforgettable Fire. Along with Eno, he went on to produce U2's The Joshua Tree, the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year winner, and some of the band's other works including Achtung Baby and All That You Can't Leave Behind, both of which were nominated for the same award but did not win. Lanois once again collaborated with U2 and Brian Eno on the band's 2009 album, No Line on the Horizon. He was involved in the songwriting process as well as mixing and production.

Lanois' early work with U2 led to him being hired to produce albums for other top-selling artists. He collaborated with Peter Gabriel on his album Birdy (1985), the soundtrack to Alan Parker's film of the same name, and then spent most of 1985 co-producing Gabriel's album So. The album was released in 1986 and became his best-selling release, earning multi-platinum sales and a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Lanois later co-produced Gabriel's follow-up, Us which was released in 1992 and also went platinum.

Bono recommended Lanois to Bob Dylan in the late 1980s; in 1989, Lanois produced Dylan's Oh Mercy. Eight years later, Dylan and Lanois worked together on Time Out of Mind, which won another Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1997. The iconic Neve 8068, featured on the cover of Time Out of Mind, has a home at the historic The Church Studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Purchased by Teresa Knox, it was carefully restored to factory settings. In his autobiographical Chronicles, Vol. 1, Dylan describes in depth the contentious but rewarding working relationship he developed with Lanois.

Wrecking Ball, his 1995 collaboration with Emmylou Harris, He has since recovered.

Lanois' production is recognizable and notable for its 'big' and 'live' drum sound, atmospheric guitars and ambient reverb. Rolling Stone called Lanois the "most important record producer to emerge in the Eighties."

Recording artist

As well as being a producer, Lanois is a songwriter, musician and recording artist. He has released several solo albums and film scores; his first album, Acadie was released in 1989. A number of Lanois' songs have been covered by other artists, including Dave Matthews, Jerry Garcia Band, Willie Nelson, Tea Party, Anna Beljin, Isabelle Boulay, and Emmylou Harris. His albums have had some success, particularly in Canada. Lanois plays the guitar, pedal steel, and drums. Belladonna, an instrumental album released in 2005 was nominated for a Grammy.

Lanois' song "Sonho Dourado" was included in the 2004 Billy Bob Thornton film, Friday Night Lights. In 2005 with the re-release of his first solo album, Acadie, a late-1980s version of the song appears on the additional tracks called "Early Dourado Sketch". Lanois had performed the song numerous times in the intervening years, including on a Toronto television program in 1993 where it was credited as "Irish Melody" on a recording of the performance. Though the melody does indeed feel Irish, the title is Portuguese and means golden dream. Lanois also provided an instrumental score for LOUDquietLOUD, a 2006 documentary about the Pixies.

Lanois premiered a documentary entitled Here Is What Is at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007. The film chronicles the recording of his album of the same name and includes footage of the actual recording. The album Here Is What Is was released, first by download, then on compact disc, in late 2007 and early 2008. Soon after that, Lanois released a three-disc recording called Omni.

In October 2009, Lanois started a project called Black Dub which features Lanois on guitar, Brian Blade on drums, and Daryl Johnson on bass, along with multi-instrumentalist/singer Trixie Whitley. They released a self-titled album in 2010. In 2014, Lanois played with Emmylou Harris as a sideman and opening act on a tour focused on the Wrecking Ball material he produced.

Solo career On October 28, 2014, Lanois released an album titled Flesh and Machine on ANTI- Records, based on Brian Eno's ambient albums. The instrumental album consists primarily of original atmospheric and process-based sounds, blending pedal steel guitar and a variety of digital and analog sound processing devices. He was assisted by the drummer Brian Blade. In 2016, he released the album Goodbye to Language with Rocco Deluca.

The collaborative album Venetian Snares x Daniel Lanois was released on Venetian Snares' label Timesig in May 2018.

Lanois also contributed to the composition and production of the soundtrack for the 2018 video game Red Dead Redemption 2, released by Rockstar Games. He was given seven composition credits, including one for the song "Table Top".

Awards Lanois was invested in the Order of Canada in 2018. Lanois has received seven Grammy Awards for his work with various artists, including Bob Dylan, U2, Emmylou Harris and Neil Young, and several Juno Awards and nominations. Daniel Lanois' star on Canada's Walk of Fame In 2005, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In June 2013, he received a lifetime achievement award at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.

Discography Studio albums Title Released Label Formats Acadie September 26, 1989 Opal, Warner Bros. LP, streaming, CD, cassette For the Beauty of Wynona March 23, 1993 Warner Bros. LP, streaming, CD, cassette Shine April 22, 2003 Anti- LP, streaming, CD Belladonna July 12, 2005 Anti- LP, streaming, CD Here Is What Is December 15, 2007 Red Floor Digital download, streaming, CD Flesh and Machine October 27, 2014 Anti- LP, digital download, streaming Heavy Sun March 19, 2021 Maker Series Digital download, streaming Player, Piano September 23, 2022 BMG, ADA LP, digital download, streaming, CD Belladonna Nocturne June 19, 2026 Arts Music LP, digital download, streaming, CD

Collaborative albums Title Released Label Formats Black Dub September 2010 Jive Records LP, CD, streaming Goodbye to Language, (with Rocco DeLuca) September 9, 2016 Anti- LP, digital download, streaming, CD Venetian Snares x Daniel Lanois May 4, 2018 Timesig, Planet Mu LP, digital download, streaming, CD

Live albums Title Released Label Formats Harvest Festival 2011 2011 Self-released CD

Compilation albums Title Released Label Formats Rockets 2004 Self-released CD My Music for Billy Bob 2014 Self-released CD

Live Albums Title Released Label Formats Omni Series 2008 Red Floor CD

Soundtracks Trip: Soundtrack Collection (self-released, 1993) – compilation Sweet Angel Mine (1996) Lost in Mississippi (1996) Sling Blade (1996) All the Pretty Horses (unreleased, 2000) Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) – game

Videography

Production credits + Production credits Year Album Artist Notes 1974 Demo Simply Saucer not released commercially until 1989 album Cyborgs Revisited 1976 Blues and Sentimental Jackie Washington As "Dan Lanois" 1977 Hobo's Taunt Willie P. Bennett Engineered as "Dan Lanois," with Bob Lanois 1977 More Singable Songs Raffi Recording credit as "Dan Lanois" 1978 Can't Wait For Summer Ron Neilson 1978 Choice Cuts Crackers As "Dan Lanois" 1979 Desperate Cosmetics Scott Merritt 1980 The Millionaires (EP) The Millionaires As "Danny Lanois", included two members of Teenage Head 1980 Baby Beluga Raffi Mixer, engineer 1981 This is the Ice Age Martha and the Muffins 1981 Dream Away Bernie LaBarge 1982 Mama Quilla, KKK, Angry Young Woman Mama Quilla II 3-song 12" Album 1982 Dance After Curfew Nash the Slash 1982 Ambient 4: On Land Brian Eno Engineered as "Danny Lanois" 1983 Danseparc Martha and the Muffins 1983 Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks Brian Eno 1983 Parachute Club Parachute Club 1984 The Pearl Harold Budd and Brian Eno 1984 Mystery Walk M + M 1984 The Unforgettable Fire U2 1984 Secrets and Sins Luba 1985 Thursday Afternoon Brian Eno 1985 Hybrid Michael Brook 1985 Birdy Peter Gabriel 1985 Voices Roger Eno 1986 Power Spot Jon Hassell 1986 So Peter Gabriel 1987 The Joshua Tree U2 1987 Robbie Robertson Robbie Robertson 1988 Flash of the Spirit Jon Hassell/Farafina 1989 Acadie Daniel Lanois 1989 Oh Mercy Bob Dylan 1989 Yellow Moon Neville Brothers 1990 Home Hothouse Flowers 1991 Achtung Baby U2 1992 Us Peter Gabriel 1992 The Last of the Mohicans movie soundtrack 1993 For the Beauty of Wynona Daniel Lanois 1994 Ron Sexsmith Ron Sexsmith 1995 Wrecking Ball Emmylou Harris 1996 Night to Night Geoffrey Oryema 1996 Fever In Fever Out Luscious Jackson 1997 Time Out of Mind Bob Dylan 1998 Brian Blade Fellowship Brian Blade 1998 12 Bar Blues Scott Weiland 1998 Teatro Willie Nelson 2000 The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture movie soundtrack 2000 All That You Can't Leave Behind U2 2003 La Bella Vista Harold Budd secretly recorded in Lanois Los Angeles living room 2004 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb U2 track "Love and Peace or Else" 2006 Dusk & Summer Dashboard Confessional produced with Don Gilmore 2006 loudQUIETloud movie soundtrack 2007 Back Where You Belong Sinéad O'Connor 2007 Let It Go Mother Superior 2006 Snake Road Bob Lanois 2009 No Line on the Horizon U2 plus songwriting credits 2009 "Mind Games" & "Night Nurse" Sinéad O'Connor 2009 Mercy Rocco DeLuca and the Burden 2010 Flamingo Brandon Flowers 2010 Le Noise Neil Young 2012 Honest Mistake Jim Wilson 2012 Battle Born The Killers co-writer on tracks "The Way It Was", "Heart of a Girl", and "Be Still" 2014 Rocco Deluca Rocco Deluca 2019 Red Dead Redemption 2 video game soundtrack That's The Way It Is various artists produced at Lakeshore Records 2025 Pink Elephant Arcade Fire

Collaborations Peter Gabriel, So (Charisma, 1986) Robbie Robertson, Robbie Robertson (1987) Bob Dylan, Oh Mercy (1989) Peter Gabriel, Us (1992) Emmylou Harris, Wrecking Ball (1995) Ron Sexsmith, Ron Sexsmith (1995) Bob Dylan, Time Out of Mind (1997) Gordon Lightfoot, A Painter Passing Through (1998) Natalie Merchant, Ophelia (1998) Joe Henry, Fuse (1999) Peter Gabriel, Up (2002) Solomon Burke, Don't Give Up on Me (2002) Emmylou Harris, Stumble into Grace (2003) Brandon Flowers, Flamingo (2010) Leonard Cohen, Thanks for the Dance (2019) Annie Barbazza, Vive (2020)