Daniel Lanois

Daniel Roland Lanois (, ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer and musician.

He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Spoons, and Brandon Flowers.

Lanois was born in 1951 at Hull, Quebec to Jill and Guy Lanois.

Lanois started his production career when he was 17, recording local artists including Simply Saucer with his brother Bob Lanois in a studio in the basement of their mother's home in Ancaster, Ontario.

Later, Lanois started Grant Avenue Studio in an old house which he purchased in Hamilton, Ontario.

He worked with a number of local bands, including Martha and the Muffins (for whom his sister Jocelyne played bass), Ray Materick, Spoons, and the Canadian children's singer Raffi.

Lanois attended Ancaster High School.

Bono recommended Lanois to Bob Dylan in the late 1980s; in 1989, Lanois produced Dylan's Oh Mercy.

In 1981, Lanois played on and produced the album This Is the Ice Age by Martha and the Muffins.

In 1985, he and two members of the band earned a CASBY award for their work on the band's (by then going by "M + M") 1984 album Mystery Walk.

Lanois worked collaboratively with Brian Eno on some of Eno's own projects, one of which was the "Prophecy Theme" for David Lynch's film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune.

Eno invited him to co-produce U2's album The Unforgettable Fire.

He collaborated with Peter Gabriel on his album Birdy (1985), the soundtrack to Alan Parker's film of the same name, and then spent most of 1985 co-producing Gabriel's album So.

The album was released in 1986 and became his best-selling release, earning multi-platinum sales and a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

He collaborated with Brian Eno to produce several albums for U2, including The Joshua Tree (1987) and Achtung Baby (1991).

Three albums produced or co-produced by Lanois have won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

Four other albums received Grammy nominations.

Lanois has released several solo albums.

Along with Eno, he went on to produce U2's The Joshua Tree, the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year winner, and some of the band's other works including Achtung Baby and All That You Can't Leave Behind, both of which were nominated for the same award but did not win.

He has released several solo albums and film scores; his first album, Acadie was released in 1989.

A number of Lanois' songs have been covered by other artists, including Dave Matthews, Jerry Garcia Band, Willie Nelson, Tea Party, Anna Beljin, Isabelle Boulay, and Emmylou Harris.

His albums have had some success, particularly in Canada.

Lanois plays the guitar, pedal steel, and drums.

Lanois later co-produced Gabriel's follow-up, Us which was released in 1992 and also went platinum.

Wrecking Ball, his 1995 collaboration with Emmylou Harris, won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

He wrote and performed the music for the 1996 film Sling Blade.

Performed the song "One" with U2 live at their last show at The Sphere in Las Vegas on March 2, 2024.

Eight years later, Dylan and Lanois worked together on Time Out of Mind, which won another Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1997.

In his autobiographical Chronicles, Vol. 1, Dylan describes in depth the contentious but rewarding working relationship he developed with Lanois.

In 1998, he produced and appeared on Willie Nelson's album Teatro.

Lanois' song "Sonho Dourado" was included in the 2004 Billy Bob Thornton film, Friday Night Lights.

Belladonna, an instrumental album released in 2005 was nominated for a Grammy.

Lanois once again collaborated with U2 and Brian Eno on the band's 2009 album, No Line on the Horizon.

He was involved in the songwriting process as well as mixing and production.

Lanois' early work with U2 led to him being hired to produce albums for other top-selling artists.

Lanois was working on Neil Young's record Le Noise in June 2010 when he was hospitalized after suffering multiple injuries in a motorcycle crash in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles.

He has since recovered.

Lanois' production is recognizable and notable for its 'big' and 'live' drum sound, atmospheric guitars and ambient reverb.

Rolling Stone called Lanois the "most important record producer to emerge in the Eighties."

As well as being a producer, Lanois is a songwriter, musician and recording artist.