Natalie Merchant has always resisted definition, marching (or dancing) to the beat of her own drummer, so to speak. Now, decades after her stint as the singer for 10,000 Maniacs — and her first critically-acclaimed, chart-topping solo album, 1995’s Tigerlily — Merchant is still blowing audiences away by being herself.
In a clip shared to TikTok from a recent NYC performance, Merchant looked as stunning as ever while singing “Life Is Sweet,” which appeared on her 1998 album Ophelia. The 62-year-old singer was dressed in a dark jacket and pants for the occasion, and wore her gray hair long and loose.
Fans in the comments couldn’t get over how amazing the singer looked — and sounded.
“She sounds awesome and looks great. I love her hair,” one person wrote, with a second agreeing, “Voice is still there! Love it!”
“Saw her with 10000 Maniacs and REM 38 years ago. Her voice is just as brilliant as back then. And she is beautifully gifted,” another fan added.
Natalie Merchant recalled being ‘reduced to a catchphrase’ by critics
In a 2023 interview with The New Yorker, Merchant looked back on the earlier days of her career, admitting that critics didn’t know how to classify her, often calling her “preachy” or “cause-y.”
“I got that for many years,” Merchant explained. “I was young, but I took my role as a public person very seriously. I was writing songs about some weighty topics — teen-age pregnancy, nuclear proliferation, the Trail of Tears, Agent Orange, adult illiteracy, poverty, homelessness, inequity, alcoholism, colonialism. None of these were pop-song themes. I can understand how it confused or frustrated critics.”
“Everyone is reduced to a catchphrase, right?” she continued. “And there are far worse things than being ‘too serious.’ But there were other songs, which were more personal than soapbox speeches.”
As Merchant explained, she left 10,000 Maniacs “at the height of our popularity.”
“The machine was primed to churn me into a formulaic superstar,” she explained. “Instead, I recorded Tigerlily with a band of not-so-experienced musicians, without a producer, and with my own money. I put a black-and-white photograph of myself on the cover. I don’t think I was even wearing makeup, and the video for my first single was just me wandering the streets of New York, taking pictures of other people. That album was intentionally understated. When I got responses like ‘shallow production,’ I wanted to yell, ‘There was no production. There was no producer!'”
Clearly, Merchant’s songs — both personal and otherwise — are still resonating with fans, who appreciate the fact that the singer never changed herself to fit the pop star mold.
Related: This ’80s Chart-Topper Nearly Replaced David Lee Roth in Van Halen: ‘I Would’ve Made So Much Money’
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.