Lana Cantrell
Lana Eleanor Cantrell[1] AM (born 7 August 1943)[2] is an Australian-American singer and entertainment lawyer.[3] She was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in the Grammy Awards of 1968.[4][5][6]
Lana Cantrell
- Musician
- lawyer
Transition to law career[edit]
Cantrell eventually decided to make a transition out of music in the 1980s due to a decline in the number of venues where she could sing in her preferred style, the size of her audiences, and her working conditions.[3][9] Although she had once been able to tour at supper clubs that would furnish a 20-piece orchestra for her and her conductor, in later years she toured with only a five-piece band that she had to pay herself.[3] She decided to pursue a law career in part because a former manager had spent much of her earnings over the years and she wanted to protect other performers from similar experiences.[3][9]
In 1986, Cantrell enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College, where she majored in history.[9] After receiving her bachelor's degree, she attended Fordham University School of Law.[9] After graduation, she began practicing law with the firm of Ballon Stoll Bader & Nadler in New York City.[3]
In 2019, Cantrell's license to practice law in the state of New York was suspended due to an undisclosed medical condition.[12] Before having her license suspended, she operated a private practice in Mattituck, NY.[13]
Honours and awards[edit]
In 1966, Cantrell won the Amber Nightingale award for singing at a festival in Sopot, Poland.[14]
In 2003, Cantrell was named a member of the Order of Australia.[15] The honour was conferred for "service to the entertainment industry, and for assistance to the Australian community in New York."[1]
Personal life[edit]
It was reported in 1973 that Cantrell was engaged to Australian television personality Graham Kennedy.[16] This turned out to be a hoax.[17] Kennedy later claimed that his romance with Cantrell was purely an invention of the Sunday Observer, although Kennedy himself had confirmed publicly at the time that the relationship was real.[18] Judy Carne, of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In claimed she had a love affair with Cantrell.[19]
Reissues[edit]
Beginning in 2017, Lana Cantrell's RCA Victor albums have been reissued for the first time on compact disc in Hi-Res audio, replacing years of poor quality bootlegs on YouTube. Her six studio albums have been reissued from 2017 to 2019. All reissues were published by the RCA-Legacy label. Singles or B-sides that did not appear on her albums are not available at the moment.