Folk Singer, Songwriter. One of her country's most popular artists, she joined with her sister Anna to produce a number of best-selling albums. Raised in Quebec, she was the youngest of three sisters in a musical family. Kate learned the piano from local nuns, taught herself guitar, took up the banjo after watching Pete Seeger and joined Anna and two friends in 1962 to form the Mountain City Four, a group specializing in country-folk, particularly songs by the Carter Family. After earning an engineering degree from McGill University, Kate moved to New York to continue her musical career while Anna stayed in Montreal. She performed in the clubs of Greenwich Village and in 1971 married singer Loudon Wainwright who was to use her song "We've Come a Long Way" on his album "Attempted Mustache". Maria Muldaur had a hit with her "The Work Song", while Linda Ronstadt used "Heart Like a Wheel" for the title track on her 1975 record; after Anna cut a successful demo, the sisters released their first joint venture, the 1975 "Kate and Anna McGarrigle", the disc including the chart-topper "Talk to Me of Mendicino" and winning Melody Maker's Album of the Year Award. The pair followed with "Dancer With Bruised Knees" (1977), and 1978's "Pronto Monto", then in 1981 released "The French Album", a show of support to Quebec sepatatists. Following the 1982 "Love Over and Over", Kate and Anna took time off to raise their children before returning in 1990 with "Heartbeats Accelerate", a disc featuring the first vocals by Kate's son Rufus Wainwright. The 1996 "Matapedia" focused on lost youth and middle age, while "The McGarrigle Hour" (1998) showcased the entire extended family in a series of covers. Kate joined in a second all-French collection in 2003, accompanied Rufus on piano when he sang at Carnegie Hall in 2006, and continued performing to the end of her life despite being progressively ill with clear cell sarcoma since 2006. She was, along with Anna, honored with the Order of Canada in 1993, and received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 2004. At her demise, most of her recorded legacy remained in print.