American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Gail Ann Dorsey is one of contemporary rock’s top session bass players and background vocalists. Following the release of a pair of early solo albums — The Corporate World in 1988 and Rude Blue in 1992 — Dorsey continued to attract acclaim with her imaginative playing and lush vocals. In addition to working with Gang of Four, The The, and Tears for Fears, Dorsey made important contributions to the music of the Indigo Girls, Dar Williams, and Jane Siberry, as well as being an integral part in David Bowie’s turn-of-the-millennium era. In 2003, she released her third album, I Used To Be.

A native of West Philadelphia, Dorsey grew up eight blocks from the Tower Theater, where Bowie recorded an influential live album in 1974. Playing guitar from the age of nine, she cites Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, the late Terry Kath of Chicago, Jimi Hendrix, and Nancy Wilson of Heart as early influences. Although she acquired a bass shortly after her 14th birthday, she didn’t consider herself a bass player until she was 20. Although her earliest aspirations were to become a screenwriter and she studied film at CalArts, a small arts-oriented college in Santa Clarita, CA, Dorsey turned to music after realizing the difficulties of earning a living in film.

Moving to London, she cut some demos, composed, and collaborated with Boy George, Donny Osmond, Charlie Watts, Eric Clapton, and others. She also released her two solo efforts — 1988’s The Corporate World and 1992’s Rude Blue — before returning to the U.S. in 1994. It was at this time that she was recruited by David Bowie for his Outside Tour and would be a crucial part of his team for almost a decade.

She was featured on his 1997 album Earthling, 2002’s Heathen, 2003’s Reality, and 2013’s The Next Day. She also remained part of his touring lineup from 1995 to 2004. Outside of her work with Bowie, she worked with Sophie B. Hawkins, Zucchero, Dar Williams, Joan Osborne, the B-52s, Michael Hutchence, and many more. In 2003, she released her third solo set, I Used To Be, over a decade since her last release. – Biography by Craig Harris