Cat Power: what is her status?

(Photo: Kenneth Cappello)

Have you ever talked to somebody about Cat power and heard the answer "Cat Who?" ? The fact is that Cat Power's status seems paradoxical: if many of us consider the artist as important and maybe even vital, she's still unknown for most people. If you need a proof, just look how few web sites dedicated to Cat Power are out there...

Unlike many of her fellow female singers like Norah Jones, Cat Power doesn't sell millions of albums, she doesn't have gold records (does she?) and she doesn't perform in stadiums. Yet her name seems to be everywhere. There is no newspaper article about a new indie folk/rock female singer without a reference to Cat Power. That's the word: reference. In spite of her small discography, Cat power became a standard for feminine contemporary rock, like PJ Harvey.

For a long time, there used to be a legend about "The Velvet Underground & Nico" album: it said that in spite of it's commercial failure at the time it was released, everybody who bought the record during the 60's created a Rock band afterwards. CaT Power's influence is probably not that big yet, but it seems relevant that you can find an artist who chose "Myra Lee" as her stage name...

In spite of the success of "The Greatest" and "Juno"'s acclaimed soundtrack, Cat Power is still more a "cult artist" than mainstream. Maybe will her soon to be released album bring us the answer: can Chan be commercially successful and remain an Indie icon?

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