Last week, GRAMMY winner and renowned Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the first musical guest on the show after its controversial short-lived suspension and return to the air. McLachlan performed “Better Broken,” the title track from her brand new album – her first in 11 years – which released September 19. In her signature style, simple unadorned piano and vocals in duet, McLachlan reminds the Kimmel audience exactly why she’s so beloved all around the world. Her voice is rich and plaintive, leaning into the sadness and reckoning in the lyric. It’s immediately clear a decade-plus is too long to wait for new music from McLachlan.
Not only was she appearing on late night television to promote Better Broken, but also Lilith Fair: Building A Mystery – The Untold Story, a new documentary directed by Ally Pankiw that celebrates, explores, and canonizes the enormous impact the Lilith Fair all-women festivals had on folk, indie, and popular music in the late ’90s. (Watch the official trailer below.) An excellent and moving documentary, Building A Mystery is available to stream now via Hulu, a film and television streaming platform that, like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is owned by ABC / Disney. At the documentary’s Los Angeles premiere, McLachlan and several of her artist colleagues refused to perform music from the film as previously planned, standing in solidarity with Kimmel as he was mid-suspension for his comedic remarks on the murder of Charlie Kirk.
On Kimmel’s historic first night back on the air, just a few days later, it was a perfect full circle moment as McLachlan performed as if honoring a raincheck for her refusing to play at the documentary premiere in protest. With Margo Price as the final musical guest before Kimmel’s suspension and McLachlan the first after its return, it was a mighty pair of activism-minded artist bookends to help reinforce the importance of freedom of speech and expression for creatives who work in any/all media and formats. From Lilith Fair to Jimmy Kimmel Live!, these rights are vital for everyone in this country and around the world – and for the art that they create.
Photo Credit: Randy Holmes for ABC
