Mary Hansen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mary Hansen (November 1, 1966 - December 9, 2002) was guitarist and singer with Stereolab. Born in Maryborough near Brisbane in Australia, she moved to London in the late 1980s and became a backing singer with the Essex-based indie band, The Wolfhounds. She met Stereolab founder Tim Gane when the Wolfhounds played with his band McCarthy, and joined Stereolab as second vocalist in 1992. She also played guitar, as well as percussion and keyboards, occasionally sang lead vocals. She was a member of the "groop" until her death in a cycling accident in December 2002. She also sang on records by Brokeback, The High Llamas, Moonshake and Mouse on Mars among others. She was also producer of the London group Chicane. In 2004, Hybird, an album of some of Mary's music was released posthumously. This album, which also featured her artwork, contained three tracks which had been released in limited editions before her death, and a final track which was finished by Andy Ramsay of Stereolab.