Indigo Girls#Singles

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers first met and got to know each other as students at Laurel Ridge Elementary School in DeKalb County, Georgia, just outside Decatur, Georgia,{{cite journal| journal= Atlanta Magazine| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qOECAAAAMBAJ&q=Laurel+Ridge+Elementary+indigo&pg=PA72| title= From Brenda Lee to Ludacris: A Sonic Portrait of Our City| first= Rebecca | last= Burns| page= 80| date= June 2003|volume= 43| number= 2|issn= 0004-6701| publisher= Emmis Communications| access-date= December 2, 2016}} but were not close friends because Saliers was a grade older than Ray. While attending Shamrock High School (now Druid Hills Middle School), they became better acquainted, and started performing together, first as "The B-Band" and then as "Saliers and Ray".

Saliers graduated and began attending Tulane University in Louisiana. A year later, Ray graduated high school and began attending Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Homesick, both returned to Georgia and transferred to Emory University in Atlanta (where Saliers' father was a professor).{{cite web| title= Biographical Sketch: Don E. Saliers |url= http://alumni.iws.edu/Saliers_Biographical_Sketch.htm| website=IWS.edu | publisher= The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies| access-date= December 5, 2016}}

File:Emory Village.JPG.]]

By 1985, they had begun performing together again, this time as Indigo Girls. Saliers stated in a March 2007 National Public Radio Talk of the Nation interview, "we needed a name and we went through the dictionary looking for words that struck us and indigo was one."{{cite web|url=http://everything2.com/title/Indigo%2520Girls |title=Indigo Girls |website=Everything2.com |date=August 6, 2001 |access-date=August 17, 2011}}

Their first release in 1985 was a seven-inch single named "Crazy Game", with the B-side "Everybody's Waiting (for Someone to Come Home)".

That same year, the Indigo Girls released a six-track extended play album named Indigo Girls, and in 1987 released their first full-length album, Strange Fire, recorded at John Keane Studio in Athens, Georgia, and including "Crazy Game". With this release, they secured the services of Russell Carter, who remains their manager to the present; they had first approached him when the EP album was released, but he told them their songs were "immature" and they were not likely to get a record deal. Strange Fire apparently changed his opinion.{{Cite web|url=https://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2011/10/06/indigo-girls-latest/|title=Indigo Girls' latest album cliché, but still hanging on|date=October 6, 2011}}

The success of 10,000 Maniacs, Tracy Chapman, and Suzanne Vega encouraged Epic Records to enlist other folk-based female singer-songwriters; Epic signed the duo in 1988. Their first major-label release, also named Indigo Girls, which scored No. 22 on the album chart, included a new version of "Land of Canaan", which was also on their 1985 EP album and on Strange Fire. Also on the self-titled release was their first hit "Closer to Fine" (a collaboration with Irish band Hothouse Flowers), which scored No. 52 on the popular music chart and No. 26 on the modern rock chart. They even managed one week on the mainstream rock album-oriented rock music chart at No. 48.{{cite web|url=http://www.horizonmag.com/1/amy-ray.asp |title=horizonmag.com |publisher=horizonmag.com |access-date=August 17, 2011}} In 1990, they won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Their second album, Nomads Indians Saints, went gold in December 1991 and included the hit song "Hammer and a Nail", a No. 12 modern rock music track; it was not as successful as their first, which was certified platinum at about the same time. The Indigo Girls followed it with the live Back on the Bus, Y'all and 1992's album Rites of Passage, featuring the song "Galileo", the duo's first top 10 modern rock music track (#10). During the accompanying tour in December, they invited on a few dates Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees as special guest to sing a couple of songs with them.Zarker, Karen. [http://www.popmatters.com/feature/amy-ray/ "20 Questions Amy Ray"]. Popmatters. July 20, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
Catlin, Roger. [https://archive.today/20240119021624/https://www.courant.com/1992/12/09/guests-complement-crowd-pleasing-indigo-girls/ "Guest Complement Crowd-pleasing Indigo Girls" [live review]] Hartford Courant. December 9, 1992. Retrieved July 15, 2015 They then recorded Swamp Ophelia in 1994, which went platinum in September 1996, and charted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

In 1995, the Indigo Girls released a live, double CD, 1200 Curfews. Shaming of the Sun was released in 1997 followed by Come on Now Social in 1999. Shaming of the Sun debuted at number seven on the Billboard charts, driven by the duo's contribution to the Lilith Fair music festival tour. The track "Shame on You" received more airplay on adult alternative, top 40 and adult top 40 radio stations than any of their previous singles, although this seemed to be a peak in their crossover success.

Retrospective, a compilation album with two new tracks, was released in 2000 and Become You followed two years later. Their last Epic studio album was All That We Let In, released in 2004 with an accompanying tour. On June 14, 2005, they released Rarities, a collection of B-sides and rare tracks partially decided by fans' input, which fulfilled the album count obligation for their contract with Epic.

File:Indigo Girls 2005 01.jpg

After departing Epic, the Indigo Girls signed a five-record deal with Hollywood Records. Their first (and only) Hollywood album, Despite Our Differences, produced by Mitchell Froom, was released on September 19, 2006. John Metzger from MusicBox Online described Despite our Differences as "the most infectious, pop-infused set that the duo ever has managed to concoct.{{cite web |last1=Metzger |first1=John |title=Indigo Girls - Despite Our Differences (Album Review) |url=http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2006/indigogirls-despiteourdifferences.html#axzz1jNfb45tg |website=www.musicbox-online.com}} In fact, its melodies, harmonies, and arrangements are so ingratiating that the album carries the weight of an instant classic." Thom Jurek from AllMusic wrote: "part of an emotional journey as complete as can be. More relevant than anyone dared expect. It's accessible and moving and true. It's their own brand of rock & roll, hewn from over the years, that bears a signature that is now indelible. A moving, and utterly poetic offering."{{cite web |last1=Jurek |first1=Thom |title=Despite Our Differences - Indigo Girls {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/despite-our-differences-mw0000727180 |website=AllMusic |access-date=12 January 2022 |language=en}}

After releasing Despite Our Differences, the Indigo Girls' contract was terminated by Hollywood Records during their 2007 tour.{{Cite web|url=https://www.press-citizen.com/things-to-do/events/|title=Things To Do in Des Moines Iowa|website=Press-citizen.com|access-date=March 1, 2025}}

File:Indigo Girls Fillmore.jpg in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2018]]

Following their break with Hollywood Records, the Indigo Girls announced their next record would be released independently. Poseidon and the Bitter Bug was released on March 24, 2009, from IG Recordings, the Indigo Girls' label, and distributed through Vanguard Records. This album is their first fully independent release since 1987's Strange Fire, and their first two-CD set since 1995's live album 1200 Curfews; the first disc has the 10 tracks accompanied by a backing band, and the second includes the same 10 songs with only Ray and Saliers on vocals and acoustic guitars, and an additional track. On June 29, 2010 Indigo Girls' second full-length live album, Staring Down the Brilliant Dream, was released on IG Recordings/Vanguard Records. This was followed on October 12, 2010 with their first holiday album Holly Happy Days. Indigo Girls' thirteenth studio album, Beauty Queen Sister, was released on October 4, 2011, and their fourteenth studio album, One Lost Day, was released on June 2, 2015 (both on IG Recordings/Vanguard Records).

Beginning in 2017, the Indigo Girls have toured the United States performing their music arranged for symphony orchestra. After more than 50 performances, in 2018 they released a live double album entitled Indigo Girls Live with the University of Colorado Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, they followed this with the studio album Look Long.

Ray and Saliers do not ordinarily collaborate in writing songs.{{Cite news|title=Indigo Girls' New Song Is About Patience And Fortitude In The COVID-19 Era|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/901831062/indigo-girls-new-song-is-about-patience-and-fortitude-in-the-covid-19-era|access-date=2021-03-09|website=NPR.org|language=en}} Saliers described herself as "a lyric person. [...] I’ve always respected Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan". Saliers said: "Amy is much more a combination of music and lyrics. She really likes alternative rock a lot, and she likes the feel of certain kinds of music as well as the lyrics. Amy is more stream-of-consciousness. She doesn’t censor herself at all; she just channels it through herself, so in her lyrics, she has tons of different kinds of images, sensual images, things of the earth, that connection to nature. Mine is a much more singer-songwriter intellectual narrative style. I take an idea and try to really pinpoint it, make it as clear as possible".{{cite web |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1992/07/17/indigo-but-not-blue/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240119025115/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1992/07/17/indigo-but-not-blue/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2024-01-19|title=Indigo But Not Blue |publisher=Orlando Sentinel |date=17 July 1992 |access-date=19 January 2024}}

They write separately and work out the arrangements together.{{cite web |last1=MacIntosh |first1=Dan |title=Amy Ray of Indigo Girls |url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/amy-ray-of-indigo-girls |website=www.songfacts.com |access-date=12 January 2022}} There are a few exceptions, mostly unreleased songs from their early, pre-Epic days: "I Don't Know Your Name" and "If You Live Like That." "Blood Quantum", which appears on Honor: A Benefit for the Honor the Earth Campaign featured Ray's verses and chorus and Saliers's bridge. Finally, "I'll Give You My Skin", which appears both on Tame Yourself (a benefit album for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and on the Indigo Girls release Rarities, is a collaborative work by Ray, Saliers, and Michael Stipe, which is doubly rare because Saliers and Ray usually write their songs without outside collaborators. For their 2002 release, 'Become You,' Ray reported that they handed instruments back and forth to compose leads collaboratively, something they had never done before.{{cite magazine |last1=Devenish |first1=Colin |title=Indigo Girls get back to basics: Ray and Saliers true to acoustic roots on "Become You" |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/indigo-girls-get-back-to-basics-180432/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=January 16, 2002 |access-date=31 May 2024}} In September 2020, the Indigo Girls released "Long Ride", the first song Ray and Saliers had written together in 30 years.{{cite magazine |last=Shaffer |first=Claire |date=16 September 2020 |title=Indigo Girls Stay Resilient Through Covid-19 on New Song 'Long Ride' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/indigo-girls-long-ride-covid-19-1061029/|magazine=Rolling Stone |publisher=Penske Media Corporation |access-date=12 January 2022}}

The Indigo Girls have toured as a duo and with a band. In 1990, they toured with Atlanta band the Ellen James Society backing them; they have also toured with side players, with one distinct group from 1991 to 1998, a second from 1999 to 2009, members of which appeared on all of the Girls' subsequent albums and which re-formed as a live band in 2023, and a third from 2012 to 2016. Names in bold are of mainstays of the touring band.

;First touring band

• Sara Lee – bass guitar (1991–98)
• Jerry Marotta – drums, percussion (1992–98)
• Budgie – drums (1992)
• Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar, support vocals (1994)
• Scarlet Rivera – violin (1992-3)
• Jane Scarpantoni – cello (1992-3, 1995)
• Joshua Segal – guitar, violin, mandolin, vocals (1997)

;Second touring band

• Brady Blade – drums (2002–04, 2023)
• Matt Chamberlain – drums (2006–2009, 2024)
• Lyris Hung – violin (2012–present)
• Carol Isaacs – keyboards, accordion (1999–2007, 2015-16, 2023-4)
• Clare Kenny – bass guitar (1999–2007, 2023-4)
• Blair Cunningham – drums (2000, 2024)
• Caroline Dale – cello (1999)
• Jeff Fielder – guitar (2023-4){{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Sam |title=Indigo Girls Announce 2023 Tour Dates |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/indigo-girls-2023-tour-dates/ |website=U-discover music |date=May 18, 2023 |access-date=23 May 2023}}
• Caroline Lavelle – cello (2000)
• Matt Brubeck - cello, percussion, vocals (2000)
• John Reynolds – drums (1999)
• Julie Wolf – keyboards, accordion (2007–11)

;2012-6 touring band

• Jaron Pearlman – drums (2012–2016)
• Benjamin Ryan Williams – bass (2012–2016)
• Lyris Hung – violin (2012–present)
• Carol Isaacs – keyboards, accordion (1999–2007, 2015-6, 2023-4)

In 1990, Ray founded Daemon Records, which has signed Magnapop, Ellen James Society, New Mongrels, Kristen Hall, Rose Polenzani, Girlyman, Athens Boys Choir, and James Hall among others.

Saliers was a founding co-owner of Watershed Restaurant{{cite web|url=http://www.watershedrestaurant.com |title=Decatur, GA |publisher=Watershed Restaurant |access-date=August 17, 2011}} in Decatur, Georgia. She sold Watershed in 2018. Saliers was an initial investor in the Flying Biscuit Cafe{{cite web|url=http://www.flyingbiscuit.com |title=The Flying Biscuit Cafe |publisher=Flyingbiscuit.com |access-date=August 17, 2011}} in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2005, Saliers and her father, Don Saliers, a theology professor at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, released the book A Song to Sing, a Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice. They promoted the release of the book together including several days of speaking and performing together at the Washington National Cathedral College in Washington D.C.

Ray has put out six solo albums, entitled Stag, Prom, Live from Knoxville, Didn't It Feel Kinder, Amy Ray: Live MVP, Lung of Love, Goodnight Tender and Holler through Daemon. She has toured with both The Butchies and her bands The Volunteers and the Amy Ray Band. Saliers also released a solo album, Murmuration Nation, in 2017.

Ray and Saliers appeared in the 1995 film Boys on the Side, playing short excerpts from their songs "Joking" and "Southland in the Springtime", as well as singing "Feliz Cumpleaños" ("Happy Birthday" in Spanish) with the gathered group of friends during the birthday cake scene, and standing on the far side of several shots over the next few scenes. Neither had spoken lines. The duo also appear in the 2006 documentary Wordplay, where they discuss their reaction to appearing in a New York Times crossword puzzle and then begin to solve one together.

They performed onstage in the 1994 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar in Atlanta, titled Jesus Christ Superstar: A Resurrection. Ray starred as Jesus with Saliers as Mary Magdalene. They later reprised their roles in stagings in Austin, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, and in Seattle.

Ray and Saliers made several cameo appearances on the sitcom Ellen; in the episode "Womyn Fest", Ellen and her friends attend a feminist music festival and catch the end of a performance by the Indigo Girls.

The girls are mentioned multiple times in Stephen King's 1995 novel Rose Madder, and Curtis Sittenfeld's 2023 novel Romantic Comedy, as well as being name-dropped in various TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Will and Grace, South Park, 30 Rock, The Office, Squidbillies, The Big Bang Theory, Saturday Night Live, Harley Quinn and Nip\Tuck.

Their posters are seen on the British soap Brookside and the 1996 slasher film Scream.

The duo appeared onstage alongside standup comedian Tig Notaro during Notaro's 2018 show "Happy to be Here" at The Heights in Houston, Texas, as a closing bit, performing one song.

In the 2023 film Barbie, Barbie sings along to "Closer to Fine." The song appears three times in the film, as well as in its trailer.{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Mary Louise |date=July 25, 2023 |title=The Indigo Girls find themselves in a Barbie world |work=NPR News |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/07/25/1190066375/the-indigo-girls-find-themselves-in-a-barbie-world |access-date=2023-07-25}}{{Cite news |last=Bendix |first=Trish |date=July 24, 2023 |title=How the Indigo Girls Brought Barbie 'Closer to Fine' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/arts/music/barbie-indigo-girls-closer-to-fine.html |access-date=2023-07-25 |issn=0362-4331}}

A collection of Indigo Girls' songs is used in the jukebox musical movie Glitter and Doom, which has been touring movie festivals across North America. The film has no confirmed release date.{{cite news |url=https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2023/09/28/indigo-girls-jukebox-musical-glitter-doom-premieres-at-out-on-film-festival/ |title=Indigo Girls jukebox musical 'Glitter & Doom' plays at Out on Film festival |website=roughdraftatlanta.com |date=2023-09-28 |access-date=2023-10-16}}

Indigo Girls are featured in "Foreword: A Conversation with the Indigo Girls, Kathy Mattea, and Lyle Lovett" in Brian T. Atkinson's Love at the Five and Dime: The Songwriting Legacy of Nanci Griffith (Texas A&M University Press, 2024).

Both Ray and Saliers use she/her pronouns.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JmMEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22indigo+girls%22+lesbian&pg=PA79|title=No News is Good News|publisher=The Advocate|date=February 22, 1994|access-date=July 10, 2013}} They long identified themselves as lesbians, but more recently, Ray{{cite web |last1=Masters |first1=Jeffrey |title=We Sat Down with Amy Ray to Talk about the Last 35-years of Making Music — and Magic — with the Indigo Girls |url=https://glaad.org/we-sat-down-amy-ray-talk-about-last-35-years-making-music-and-magic-indigo-girls/ |website=Glaad.org |date=April 6, 2021 |access-date=26 May 2024}} and Saliers{{cite AV media | people=Bombach, Alexandria (director) | date=2023 | title=Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All | type=Documentary }} have publicly commented that they are or previously have been sexually attracted to men in their lives, and that they identify as queer. More specifically, Ray has openly talked about her gender dysphoria and identifying as gender fluid, and the challenges she has felt in her own body. “I definitely still feel like a guy a lot of the time, but I guess I’ve just gotten to a place where like, ‘Well, I have fought really hard to be in this body and I’m just gonna stay here,’ and also felt somewhat evenly split between male and female to the point where I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can choose, like I think I’m gonna have to just live in the center,’” Ray said. Both Saliers and Ray have spoken openly about having internalized homophobia. Because of their engagements for LGBT rights, they are regarded as icons of the movement.{{cite web |url=http://www.hofstra.edu/Academics/Colleges/HCLAS/LGBT/lgbt_symposium08.html |title=LGBT Studies – Symposium: Queer Iconography – Hofstra University |publisher=Hofstra.edu |date=May 15, 2008 |access-date=August 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222024637/http://www.hofstra.edu/Academics/Colleges/HCLAS/LGBT/lgbt_symposium08.html |archive-date=February 22, 2012 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/5821236 |title=Wanda Sykes, Natash Bedingfield, Indigo Girls Headline Milwaukee's Pride Lineup (ChicagoPride.com : Milwaukee, WI News) |publisher=ChicagoPride.com |date=June 3, 2008 |access-date=August 17, 2011 |archive-date=October 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017180824/http://www.chicagopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/5821236 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |first=Mike |last=Seely |url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-07-02/music/mark-knopfler-a-bigger-gay-icon-than-george-michael/ |title=Mark Knopfler a Bigger Gay Icon Than George Michael? Ten Reasons Why |work=Seattle Weekly |date=July 2, 2008 |access-date=August 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080715081515/http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-07-02/music/mark-knopfler-a-bigger-gay-icon-than-george-michael/ |archive-date=July 15, 2008 |quote=The Indigo Girls, both proven lesbian icons, liked Romeo and Juliet (Dire Straits song) so much they recorded it themselves.}}

Amy Ray has long lived in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains with her longtime partner, filmmaker Carrie Schrader from Seattle, whom she’s been with since 2001. In November 2013, Schrader gave birth to the couple’s child, Ozilline “Ozie” Graydon. Ozie is named after Ray’s grandmother, who was also the inspiration for the 1999 Indigo Girls song “Ozilline,” penned by Ray.{{cite news|title=Amy Ray talks new country album, new baby and Indigo Girls|last=Ruggieri|first=Melissa|date=January 10, 2014|publisher=Access Atlanta|url=http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs/atlanta-music-scene/2014/jan/20/amy-ray-talks-new-country-album-new-baby-and-indig/|access-date=November 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928194037/http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs/atlanta-music-scene/2014/jan/20/amy-ray-talks-new-country-album-new-baby-and-indig/|archive-date=September 28, 2016|url-status=dead}}

Saliers married her longtime girlfriend,{{cite web| url= http://americansongwriter.com/2014/05/indigo-girl-emily-saliers-parenthood-mary-j-blige-naps/| website=AmericanSongwriter.com| title= The Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers On Parenthood, Mary J. Blige and Naps| first= Amy |last= Rogers Nazarov |date= May 20, 2014 | access-date= December 5, 2016}} former Indigo Girls tour manager Tristin Chipman, at New York City Hall{{cite web| url= http://revuewm.com/music/item/2815-indigo-girls-emily-saliers-talks-motherhood-marriage-and-yelawolf| website=ReviewWM.com| place= Michigan| date= June 2, 2015| title= Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers Talks Motherhood, Marriage and Yelawolf| first= Rich |last= Tupica| access-date= December 5, 2016}} in 2013.{{Cite web|url= http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/24/indigo-girls-emily-saliers-marriage-tristin-chipman_n_3978877.html |title= Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers Announces Marriage To Canadian Girlfriend at Vancouver Gig|work=The Huffington Post|access-date= September 24, 2013|date= September 24, 2013|first= Jason| last= MacNeil}} Chipman, a Canadian, is from Calgary, "but she spent most of her adult life in Toronto," according to Saliers between songs when performing onstage in Vancouver in 2013. The couple have a daughter, Cleo, born in November 2012.{{cite news| title= Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers talks about motherhood, her solo record and more| url= http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/06/indigo_girls_emily_saliers_tal.html| website=MLive.com| first= Jenn| last= McKee |date= June 18, 2015| location= Ann Arbor, Michigan| access-date= December 5, 2016}}

The Indigo Girls have been politically active, championing the causes of and held benefit concerts for the environment, gay rights, the rights of Native Americans, and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. For many years they incorporated a recycling and public outreach program into their road tours by including Greenpeace representative Stephanie Fairbanks in their road crew. They helped Winona LaDuke establish Honor the Earth, an organization dedicated to creating support and education for native environmental issues. After performing on the activist-oriented Spitfire Tour in 1999, Ray and Saliers joined forces with The Spitfire Agency to develop the Honor The Earth Tour, which visits colleges and Native communities, and raises money for their non-profit of the same name. Ray and Saliers have also appeared at the annual SOA Watch rallies, the March for Women's Lives, and several other rallies and protests.

In 2006 the Indigo Girls were featured in artist Pink's album I'm Not Dead in the song "Dear Mr. President", which Pink says{{cite news |last=Haddon |first=Cole |url=http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/Issues/2006-07-20/music/music.html |title=Simple Girl: Pink just wants to rock out — and rock the boat |work=Broward-Palm Beach New Times |date=July 20, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224021853/http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2006-07-20/music/simple-girl/ |archive-date=December 24, 2007 }} is a political confrontation with George W. Bush about war, poverty, LGBT rights, abortion rights, and the No Child Left Behind Act. Returning the favor, Pink performed on the Indigo Girls' "Rock and Roll Heaven's Gate," which is about, among other things, sexism and heterosexism in the music industry.

In June 2007 the Indigo Girls were part of the multi-artist True Colors Tour 2007,{{cite web |url=http://www.truecolorstour.com/ |title=Home |publisher=True Colors Tour |access-date=June 29, 2014}} on the tour's Las Vegas stop which benefited the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations that provide support to the LGBT community. The Indigo Girls performed again on the True Colors Tour 2008.

In April 2013, in response to criticism from transgender activists, the Indigo Girls issued a statement that they would play at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, but would protest the festival's "womyn-born womyn" policy from the stage, would donate any money received to trans activism, and would not return to the festival without "visible and concrete signs" that the policy would be changed.{{cite web|date=April 14, 2013|title=A Note from Amy and Emily|url=http://indigogirls.com/?p=2079|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002064542/http://indigogirls.com/?p=2079|archive-date=October 2, 2018|access-date=October 1, 2018|website=IndigoGirls.com}}

In November 2017, the Indigo Girls were nominated to Out magazine's "OUT100" for 2017 in recognition of their work and their visibility.{{cite web |url=https://www.out.com/out100-2017/2017/11/08/out100-2017#slide-41 |title=OUT100: The Indigo Girls, Singer-Songwriters |work=Out |date=November 8, 2017 |access-date=November 9, 2017 }}

The Indigo Girls are also members of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism and have worked with them on awareness campaigns.{{Cite web|url=http://artistsagainstracism.org/radio-2/|title=Radio – Artists Against Racism|website=Artistsagainstracism.org|access-date=October 9, 2019|archive-date=October 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007213912/http://artistsagainstracism.org/radio-2/|url-status=dead}}

• Perfect World was released as a promo CD maxi single on March 1, 2004 together with 3 live tracks.{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Indigo-Girls-Perfect-World/release/3211905 |title=Indigo Girls – Perfect World |work=Discogs |year=2004 }}

• Deadicated (1991), covering "Uncle John's Band"
• Put On Your Green Shoes (1993) – "Wild Wild Party In The Loquat Tree"
• Joan Baez – Ring Them Bells (1995) – "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"
• Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation (1996) – "Free of Hope"
• Burning London: The Clash Tribute (1999)  – "Clampdown"
• 107.1 KGSR Radio Austin – Broadcasts Vol. 10 (2002) – "Moment of Forgiveness"
• WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 – On Air Performances (2002) – "Become You"
• Pink – I'm Not Dead (2006) – "Dear Mr President"
• Anne Murray – Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends (2007) – "A Little Good News"
• Brandi Carlile – The Story (2007) – "Cannonball"
• Metro: The Official Bootleg Series, Volume 1 (2010)
• Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Tribute to Pete Seeger, covering "Letter to Eve"
• Looking Into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne (2014) covering "Fountain Of Sorrow"
• Joan Baez "75th Birthday Celebration" (2016) "The Water is Wide", "Don't Think Twice"

Indigo Girls allow fans to tape their shows,{{cite web |url=http://www.indigogirls.com/correspondence/2002/2002-06-17-r.html |title=Indigogirls.com |publisher=Indigogirls.com |date=June 17, 2002 |access-date=June 29, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612123819/http://www.indigogirls.com/correspondence/2002/2002-06-17-r.html |archive-date=June 12, 2013 }} and appropriately gathered recordings can be traded, obtained for free from a number of sources.

Americana Music Honors & Awards

{{award table}}

!Ref

|-

| 2022

| Spirit of Americana/Free Speech Award

| Indigo Girls

| {{won}}

|{{cite web | url=https://eu.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/08/23/americana-awards-indigo-girls-don-williams-lifetime-achievement-awards/7874079001/ | title=Americana Honors: Indigo Girls, Don Williams, more to receive Lifetime Achievement Awards|website=Eu.tennessean.com }}

{{end}}

Women Songwriters Hall of Fame

Pell Awards{{Cite web|url=https://www.providencejournal.com/entertainmentlife/20190425/grammy-winners-indigo-girls-to-receive-pell-award-from-rhode-islands-trinity-rep|title=Grammy winners Indigo Girls to receive Pell Award from Rhode Island's Trinity Rep|first=Esther|last=Gross|website=Providencejournal.com|access-date=October 9, 2019}}

{{awards table}}

|-

| 2019

| Indigo Girls

| Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts

| {{won}}

{{end}}

GLAAD Media Awards

{{award table}}

|-

| 2003

| Become You

| Outstanding Music Album

| {{nom}}

{{end}}

Grammy Awards

{{award table}}

|-

| rowspan="2"|1990

| Themselves

| Best New Artist

| {{nom}}

|-

| Indigo Girls

| rowspan="2"|Best Contemporary Folk Recording

| {{won}}

|-

| 1991

| "Hammer and a Nail"

| {{nom}}

|-

| 1992

| Back on the Bus, Y'all

| rowspan="4"|Best Contemporary Folk Album

| {{nom}}

|-

| 1993

| Rites of Passage

| {{nom}}

|-

| 1995

| Swamp Ophelia

| {{nom}}

|-

| 1998

| Shaming of the Sun

| {{nom}}

{{end}}

Pollstar Concert Industry Awards

{{award table}}

!Ref.

|-

| 1990

| Tour

| Club Tour of the Year

| {{nom}}

|{{Cite web|url=http://www.pollstarpro.com/PCIA-Static/awards1989.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309062200/http://www.pollstarpro.com/PCIA-Static/awards1989.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 9, 2017|title=Pollstar Awards Archive – 1989|date=March 9, 2017|access-date=April 27, 2020}}

{{end}}

{{Reflist}}

{{sister project links|d=Q772035|m=no|mw=no|species=no|v=no|b=no|wikt=no|s=no|n=no|voy=no|commons=category:Indigo Girls}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{allMusic}}
• {{Discogs artist}}
• {{MusicBrainz artist}}

{{Indigo Girls|state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

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