Mary Chapin Biography

Mary Chapin (born Mary Chapin Carpenter) is an American rock, folk, and country music singer-songwriter.

Mary Chapin Age

Chapin is 64 years old as of 2019, he was born on February 21, 1958, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. She celebrates her birthday on 21 February every year and his birth sign is Pisces.

Mary Chapin Height and Weight

Chapin stands at a height of 6 feet 0 inches (1.80 meters), weighs 70 Kg (154 lbs), wears shoe size 8 (UK), and has blonde hair and brown eyes. However, details regarding her other body measurements are currently not publicly available. We will update this section when the information is available.

Mary Chapin Family, Parents and Siblings

Carpenter was born in Princeton, New Jersey, to Chapin Carpenter Jr., a Life Magazine executive, and Mary Bowie Robertson. Her siblings are Camilla Carpenter, Mackenzie Carpenter, Sophie Speidel, Chip Chamberlain, Carolyn Nazdin, Allison Basil.

Mary Chapin Husband

Despite a series of relationships, including one with John Jennings, the media made much of Carpenter’s single status throughout the ’90s; in a 1994 profile, Entertainment Weekly even dubbed her “a spokes-singer for the thirtysomething single woman”. In 2002 Carpenter married contractor Tim Smith. They divorced in 2010.

Mary Chapin Salary

Details about Chapin’s salary are not yet disclosed. However, information about how much she makes will be updated as soon as it is available.

Mary Chapin Net Worth

Chapin’s net worth is estimated to be between $1 million and $5 million. This includes her assets, money, and income. Her primary source of income is her career as a singer-songwriter. Through his various sources of income, Chapin has been able to accumulate a good fortune but prefers to lead a modest lifestyle.

Mary Chapin Measurements and Facts

Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Mary Chapin.

Mary Chapin Wiki

• Full Names: Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Popular As: Chapin
• Gender: Female
• Occupation / Profession: Singer-songwriter
• Nationality: American
• Race / Ethnicity: White
• Religion: Christianity
• Sexual Orientation: Straight

Mary Chapin Birthday

• Age / How Old?: 64 (2021)
• Zodiac Sign: Pisces
• Date of Birth: February 21, 1958
• Place of Birth: Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
• Birthday: February 21st

Mary Chapin Body Measurements

• Body Measurements: Not Available
• Height / How Tall?: 6 feet 0 inches (1.80 meters)
• Weight: 70 Kg (154 lbs)
• Eye Color: Blonde
• Hair Color: Brown
• Shoe Size: 8 (UK)
• Dress Size: Not Available
• Breast Size: Not Available
• Waist Size: Not Available
• Hip Size: Not Available

Mary Chapin Family and Relationship

• Father (Dad): Chapin Carpenter Jr.
• Mother: Mary Bowie Robertson
• Siblings (Brothers and Sisters): Camilla Carpenter, Mackenzie Carpenter, Sophie Speidel, Chip Chamberlain, Carolyn Nazdin, Allison Basil
• Marital Status: Divorced
• Ex-Husband/Spouse: Timmy Smith (m. 2002–2010)
• Children: Not Available

Mary Chapin Net Worth and Salary

• Net Worth: $1 million and $5 million
• Salary: Under Review
• Source of Income: Singer-songwriter

Mary Chapin Career and Education

Carpenter spent time in Japan from 1969 to 1971 before relocating to Washington, D.C. Before graduating from The Taft School in 1976, she attended Princeton Day School, a private coeducational prep school.

Carpenter described her childhood as “pretty typical suburban,” with her musical tastes shaped primarily by her sisters’ albums featuring artists such as The Mamas & the Papas, The Beatles, and Judy Collins. Carpenter’s parents divorced when she was 16, an event that affected her and inspired her song “House of Cards.”

Carpenter spent a lot of her high school years playing the guitar and piano; at Princeton Day School, her “classmates threatened to cut her guitar strings if she played ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ one more time.”

Despite her interest in music, Carpenter never considered performing publicly until, shortly after graduating from Taft, her father suggested that she perform at a local open-mic bar, a stressful experience for the shy Carpenter, who recalled, “I thought I was going to barf.”

Carpenter also hosted an open-mic night at a bar in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, DC for a number of years. Carpenter graduated from Brown University in 1981 with a degree in American Civilization.

Carpenter played some summer sets in Washington’s music scene, where she met guitarist John Jennings, who would become her producer and long-time collaborator.

She, on the other hand, saw music as a hobby and intended to get a “real job.” She took a break from performing for a while, but after several job interviews, she decided to return to music. Jennings persuaded Carpenter to play original material rather than covers. Within a few years, she had a manager and recorded a demo tape, which led to a contract with Columbia Records.

Early records and “country” label

Carpenter’s debut album, Hometown Girl, was released in 1987 and was produced by John Jennings. Though songs from Hometown Girl were played on public and college radio stations, Carpenter did not find a wider audience until Columbia began promoting her as a country artist.

Carpenter was ambivalent about this labeling for a long time, saying she preferred the terms “singer-songwriter” or “slash rocker” (as in country/folk/rock). “I’ve never approached music from a categorization process, so to be a casualty of it is really disconcerting to me,” she told Rolling Stone in 1991.

Some music critics argue that Carpenter’s style incorporates influences that go beyond “country” and “folk.” The songs on her album A Place in the World were described by Time critic Richard Corliss as “reminiscent of early Beatles or rollicking Motown,” and one reviewer of Time* Sex* Love* noted the “wash of Beach Boys-style harmonies… backwards guitar loops” and use of a sitar on one track, all elements not commonly found on a country or folk album.

Following 1989’s State of the Heart, Carpenter released Shooting Straight in the Dark in 1990, yielding her biggest single to that point, the Grammy Award-winning “Down at the Twist and Shout.” Two years later, Carpenter released Come On Come On, her biggest commercial success to date (1992).

The album went quadruple platinum, spending more than 97 weeks on the Country Top 100 chart, and spawned seven charting singles. The New York Times’ Karen Schoemer wrote that Carpenter had “risen through the country ranks without flash or bravado: no big hair, sequined gowns, teary performances… Enriched with Ms. Carpenter’s subtlety, Come On Come On grows stronger and prettier with every listen.”

Come On Come On’s songs possessed the characteristics that would come to characterize her work: humorous, fast-paced country-rock songs with themes of perseverance, desire, and independence, interspersed with slow, introspective ballads that addressed social or relational issues.

The album’s third single was “Passionate Kisses,” a cover of fellow singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams’ 1988 song. Carpenter’s version peaked at No. 4 on the US Country chart and was the first of Carpenter’s songs to chart on mainstream pop and adult contemporary charts, reaching No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 11 on Adult Contemporary.

“He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” Carpenter’s sixth single from Come On Come On, was her biggest hit off the album, charting at No. 2 on Billboard’s Country chart and No. 1 on Radio & Records’ Country chart.

The fast-paced song, written by Carpenter and Don Schlitz, follows a 36-year-old homemaker who leaves her husband and was inspired by a 1970s series of Geritol commercials in which a man boasts of his wife’s seemingly limitless energy and her many accomplishments, then concludes, “My wife… I think I’ll keep her.”

Carpenter stated: “That line has stayed with me ever since. It’s a complete farce.” The song was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys.

Continued 1990s success

Following the success of Come On Come On, Carpenter wrote songs for a variety of artists, including Joan Baez, who recorded “Stones in the Road” for her 1992 album Play Me Backwards after hearing Carpenter perform it live. She also wrote the song “John Wilkes Booth” for Tony Rice’s 1988 album Native American.

Cyndi Lauper, a pop singer, co-wrote “Sally’s Pigeons” with Carpenter and included it on her 1993 album Hat Full of Stars. On her 1993 album Tell Me Why, country singer Wynonna Judd recorded Carpenter’s composition “Girls with Guitars.”

Judd released the song as a single in 1994, calling it “the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me as a songwriter,” and it peaked at No. 10 on the U.S. Country chart. Later, Carpenter co-wrote “Where Are You Now,” which Trisha Yearwood recorded on her 2000 album Real Live Woman and peaked at No. 45 on the Country chart.

Carpenter also sang backup for Radney Foster’s “Nobody Wins,” Dolly Parton (on Parton’s 1993 singles “Romeo” & “More Where That Came From”), and Joan Baez on a 1995 live recording of “Diamonds & Rust” in the 1990s.

Carpenter also shared the stage with Joan Baez and the Indigo Girls as The Four Voices in the mid- to late-1990s. Carpenter’s next album, Stones in the Road, was released in 1994, and at the time, USA Today wrote, “without sounding anything like a country star was previously expected to sound, [Carpenterone ]’s of the genre’s biggest stars.”

Stones in the Road only sold about two million copies, but it produced three charting singles, including “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” which reached number one on the Billboard Country Charts and was a crossover success with non-country audiences.

Carpenter also contributed the song “Willie Short” to the Red Hot Organization’s AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country in 1994. Carpenter’s sixth studio album, A Place in the World, was released in 1996 to “raves” from Time, People, Elle, the New York Post, and USA Today.

According to the Boston Globe, the album is more “”[A]ll I’ve wanted to get out of songwriting is a sense of growth…. I’m not shying away from any issues or subjects,” Carpenter said. I don’t believe there is anything I can’t handle.”

Carpenter’s cover of John Lennon’s “Grow Old With Me,” from the Lennon tribute album Working Class Hero, was an Adult Contemporary chart hit in 1996. The song “10,000 Miles” served as the theme song for the 1996 family film Fly Away Home.

Carpenter was hired in 1998 to write the music and lyrics for a Broadway musical adaptation of the 1953 western film Shane. After Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks left the project, producers suggested Shane to Carpenter.

Carpenter claims that the producers singled out “Songs like ‘I Am a Town’ and ‘John Doe No. 24,’ which are character-driven story songs, were the key that piqued their interest in seeing if this was something I was interested in. That surprised and intrigued me.” Carpenter left the project in the year 2000.

21st-century work

Carpenter released Time*Sex*Love, her first studio album in five years, in 2001. Carpenter was “harder than ever to define stylistically,” according to the New York Times, and the album was a departure, “essentially a concept album about middle age.” Carpenter espoused taking life at one’s own pace in songs like “The Long Way Home,” rather than indulging in rampant goal-driven materialism.

Time*Sex*Love sold fewer copies than Carpenter’s previous work and produced only one charting single, “Simple Life,” which peaked at No. 53 on the U.S. Country chart. “When the record was released, I really believed there were several radio-friendly songs… it has since been proven to me that is not exactly the case,” Carpenter explained.

Carpenter released Between Here and Gone in 2004, a somber album that addressed events such as September 11th and the death of singer-songwriter Dave Carter. The album received some of Carpenter’s best reviews to date.

Carpenter’s ninth studio album, The Calling, was released in 2007 by Rounder Records’ rock/pop imprint Zo and featured political commentary, including reactions to Hurricane Katrina (“Houston”) and the agreement with the Dixie Chicks (“On With the Song”).

The Calling sold over 100,000 copies in the United States in less than three months, despite receiving little airplay on commercial country radio.

This was followed by a Christmas album, Come Darkness, Come Light, on the Zo label, which mixed original and traditional material. The Age of Miracles, Carpenter’s tenth studio album, was released on April 27, 2010. It debuted at No. 28, her highest chart position since 1996.

Carpenter announced on Facebook and Twitter in late 2011 that she was hard at work on a follow-up album to The Age of Miracles. The initial recording sessions took place at AIR Studios in London, England.

Carpenter announced on her official Facebook page on February 14, 2012, that her new album, Ashes and Roses, would be released on June 12, 2012. Carpenter’s management announced in October 2013 that her debut orchestral recording, Songs from the Movie, would be released on January 14, 2014.

She performed the album songs with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on January 24 at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, Scotland. Carpenter’s fourteenth studio album, The Things That We Are Made Of, was released in 2016. Carpenter released Sometimes Just the Sky in early 2018.

With the exception of one new song, the rest of the album is a re-recording of one song from each of her twelve studio albums, all with a new band and slightly different arrangements.

Carpenter claims that the title track was inspired by a Patti Smith interview in which Smith stated – “You don’t have to look far or wide, and it doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive, or insane to find things to be happy about in life. Sometimes just looking at the sky puts everything into perspective.”

Whistle Down the Wind, Joan Baez’s studio album released in March 2018, features Carpenter’s song “The Things That We Are Made Of.” Carpenter released The Dirt and the Stars in August 2020, a collection of 11 songs written at her Virginia farmhouse and recorded live at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios near Bath, England.

Mary Chapin Awards and Achievements

Academy of Country Music

• 1990 Top New Female Vocalist
  1992 Top Female Vocalist

Americana Music Honors & Awards

• 2010 Spirit of Americana/Free Speech Award

Country Music Association

• 1992 Female Vocalist of the Year
• 1993 Female Vocalist of the Year

Grammy Awards

• 1992 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female – “Down at the Twist and Shout”
• 1993 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female – “I Feel Lucky”
• 1994 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female – “Passionate Kisses”
• 1995 Best Country Album – “Stones in the Road”
• 1995 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female – “Shut Up and Kiss Me”

Honorary Degree

• 1996 Brown University

Frequently Asked Questions About Mary Chapin

Who is Mary Chapin?

Mary Chapin is an American rock, folk, and country music singer-songwriter.

How old is Mary Chapin?

Chapin is an American national born on February 21, 1958, in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.

How tall is Mary Chapin?

Chapin stands at a height of 6 feet 0 inches (1.80 meters).

Is Mary Chapin married?

Carpenter was born in Princeton, New Jersey, to Chapin Carpenter Jr., a Life Magazine executive, and Mary Bowie Robertson. Her siblings are Camilla Carpenter, Mackenzie Carpenter, Sophie Speidel, Chip Chamberlain, Carolyn Nazdin, Allison Basil.

How much is Mary Chapin worth?

Chapin has an approximate net worth of $1 million and $5 million. This amount has been accrued from her leading roles in the singer-songwriter industry. Chapin has not yet revealed her net worth. We will update this section when we get and verify information about the wealth and properties under her name.

How much does Mary Chapin make?

Details about Chapin’s salary are not yet disclosed. However, information about how much she makes will be updated as soon as it is available.

Where does Chapin live?

Because of security reasons, Chapin has not shared her precise location of residence. We will update this information if we get the location and images of her house.

Is Chapin dead or alive?

Chapin is alive and in good health. There have been no reports of her being sick or having any health-related issues.

Mary Chapin Contacts

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