Michele Pillar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (January 2008)

Michele Pillar (born July 26, 1955 in Long Beach, California) is a three-time Grammy-nominated Christian singer, songwriter and occasional actress. Despite only a short list of studio albums recorded, she has been a strong influence in contemporary Christian music (CCM) for three decades. In 1987, she married the jazz guitarist and composer Larry Carlton. She has worked with such leading figures in her field of music as Phil Keaggy and Erick Nelson, beginning in 1981. The attention of legendary Christian singer Billy Ray Hearn led her to sign a contract with Sparrow Records, that same year, where she released three albums, before disappearing into the limelight in 1984. Her 1991 studio album Love Makes All the Difference was considered a major event and her return to recording as a solo artist after working on her husband's music and a variety of other projects. Pillar's album Reign On Me and her project with Erick Nelson, The Misfit, are now considered classics of the CCM genre. The Misfit has recently been re-issued on compact disc. When not recording, she also teamed up with Steve Camp on the song "Love's Not a Feeling" (from Camp's 1983 album, Fire and Ice). She also appeared with Camp on "Do Something Now," in 1985, and also served as the background vocalist (from Camp's 1987 album, After God's Own Heart).

After a successful 1991 comeback, her career came to a standstill when her husband was nearly killed in a random gang-related shooting in front of their Los Angeles house. Though her husband had to learn to play the guitar all over again, doctors removed the .357 magnum bullet in his neck that nearly paralyzed him. It narrowly missed his spinal cord. Pillar recorded again in 2007 with the Christmas Cd (335 Records) "I Hear Angels Calling". The title track (by: Pillar, Nathan East and Jeff Babko)is a popular spin on Nashville's #1 AC Pop station, Mix 92.9 during the Holidays. In 2008 she signed with a book agent to write an autobiography.

Pillar's voice was featured on The Simpsons on a number of occasions imitating the voice of Karen Carpenter and others.

Closer To Home is a Charity started by Michele Pillar and Larry Carlton in Fall of 2000. Closer To Home benefits residents of Williamson County, Tennessee. Fund raising shows have been headlined by Vince Gill, Jo Dee Messina, Steve Winwood, Michael McDonald, Wynonna, Ricky Skaggs, Phil Vassar, and Larry Carlton. These shows have included a variety of other artists and songwriters from many styles of music.