Maria McKee

Maria McKee

Maria McKee is an American singer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She is associated with country, country pop, cowpunk, pop and rock, and is best known for work with Lone Justice and for her solo single “Show Me Heaven”.

Early life and Lone Justice

Born Maria Louise McKee in 1964, she grows up in Los Angeles and plays in a duo with her half-brother, Love guitarist Bryan MacLean, while still a teenager. In 1982 she is a founding member of the cowpunk and country rock band Lone Justice. The group releases two albums and opens for acts including U2.

Songwriting and solo career

McKee writes Feargal Sharkey’s UK number one single “A Good Heart” in 1986. She releases her first solo album, Maria McKee, in 1989. “Show Me Heaven”, from the soundtrack to Days of Thunder, reaches number one in the UK for four weeks in 1990.

Her later solo work ranges across styles. You Gotta Sin to Get Saved in 1993 and Peddlin’ Dreams in 2005 draw on rootsy country-folk, while Life Is Sweet in 1996 and High Dive in 2003 move toward experimental rock. “Sweetest Child” is her early-1990s dance music single. “If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)”, a country-tinged song, appears on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack in 1994. Life Is Sweet is seen as a major shift away from her earlier country-rock sound and is her final release for a major label before a seven-year gap in releases.

Later work and movements

In 2007 she releases Late December, an album based on classic 1960s pop songwriting. During the 1990s she lives in Dublin and the East Village.