It’s been twelve years since the release of k.d. lang’s platinum-selling album Ingenue, which taught us that constant craving has always been. In the dozen years since then, lang has released five more albums as well as a soundtrack, won another Grammy Award (for her collaboration with Tony Bennett on the CD A Wonderful World), and been featured in a series of ads for Audi.

Why, then, does it feel like she has vanished from the pop music world?

In a way, lang has disappeared—she has changed musical directions once again, moving away from the top 40 pop sound of Invincible Summer (2000) to take on the role of a more traditional 1950s-era crooner. While this change may at first seem unusual, it makes much more sense in the context of lang’s varied musical background.

Born in Edmonton, Alberta in November 1961, lang grew up in the very small Canadian town of Consort (population 650), the youngest in an artistically-inclined family. Trained in classical piano from an early age, lang began performing with a group of young artists (self-titled GOYA) in Edmonton in her late teens. It was during her years as a performance artist that she began to experiment with country music, and eventually formed a band called the Reclines (named after Patsy Cline, one of her biggest musical influences).

Lang’s first three American albums were country albums with a twist—the main twist being her overtly androgynous appearance and somewhat campy stylings that did not entirely fit into mainstream Nashville. Her third album, Absolute Torch and Twang (1989) garnered her a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female, and a top 25 country hit with the song “Full Moon Full of Love.”

But just as lang’s country career seemed about to take off, she decided to appear in an ad campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in which she declared “If you knew how meat was made, you'd lose your lunch. I know--I'm from cattle country, and that's why I became a vegetarian.” The negative backlash from the country music industry—where beef is king—in part prompted lang to leave country music behind.

This creative choice resulted in the world-wide hit Ingenue in 1992, lang’s first completely pop-oriented album. During the bubble of success around Ingenue, lang became America’s most visible gay icon, and went so far as to pose in drag on the cover of Vanity Fair with Cindy Crawford giving her a shave. It is arguable that lang’s image on Vanity Fair has never been rivaled in terms of its gender-bending daring.

In an interview with The Advocate in 2000, lang exclaimed “That's my job! To transcend gender. There have been many examples of performers who do that--Elvis, Mick Jagger, Madonna. Art transcends gender. As an artist, it's imperative that you go right past the genitals and right into the heart. That's my job, that's why I'm here, it's my assignment.”

Although lang’s subsequent albums have not yet managed to equal the critical and financial success of Ingenue, she has continued to push gender boundaries with her performance art, in particular with her 1997 release Drag. Posing in drag on the album cover, the CD is a compilation of covers about smoking, a double-edged metaphor that is both seductive and provocative.

In a return to mainstream pop music, lang released Invincible Summer in 2000, a summer-themed album about love that was partially inspired by her then-girlfriend, Leisha Hailey (who is now an actor on The L Word). Speaking to The Advocate in 2000 about Invincible Summer, lang explained, “It's a challenge not to let the commercial results kill your art. I'm trying to make art that my mother will like, but to be contemporary and progressive at the same time. It's not easy.”

Lang’s most recent musical move has been the somewhat surprising decision to collaborate with Tony Bennett on a traditional pop album of duets inspired by Louie Armstrong. This decision resulted in the Grammy Award-winning A Wonderful World in 2003. This year lang has begun a world tour in which she is accompanied by full symphonies, which further removes her from the pop music spotlight.

As she explained to The Advocate in 2000, “I've vacillated between different musical styles: I've done the country thing, I've done pop, I've done ballads, but it seems it's my true nature to be a crooner.”

So if you’re looking for lang to belt out another mega-hit like “Constant Craving,” you may be in for a long wait. Lang’s artistic choices, while out of the ordinary for most recording artists, are what make her an interesting performer. Although her musical genre-switching may confuse many listeners, her consistent determination to refuse categorization (both musically and in terms of gender) is inspiring.

In the end, what could be more progressive than a woman dressed in drag belting out pop standards with Tony Bennett backed by a symphony orchestra?

Ingenue / Invincible Summer / Absolute Torch & Twang / A Wonderful World