Emm Gryner is a Canadian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose career resists easy summary. She has been a major-label-adjacent pop artist, an independent label founder, a touring collaborator of David Bowie, a co-creator of the first music video shot in space, an author, a certified coach and, most recently, the bass-playing frontwoman of a metal band. The thread running through it all is a steady interest in the human voice: how it is used, how it gets constrained, and how it can be freed.
The documented record of Gryner's childhood and hometown is thin, and it is better to leave those details unwritten than to guess at them. What can be said is that she emerged as a Canadian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who earned three Juno Award nominations, a mark of national recognition within the Canadian industry. She also showed early that she did not intend to wait for permission to build a career.
Gryner founded Dead Daisy Records, one of the first independent record labels in Canada, with the aim of supporting emerging artists. The move reflected a conviction that musicians could own their work and shape their own paths at a time when doing so was far less common than it is now. That independence has shaped her trajectory ever since. She has repeatedly chosen projects that suit her curiosity over those that fit a template.
Gryner is perhaps best known to wider audiences through a series of striking collaborations. She worked with David Bowie, contributing vocals both on tour and in the studio. It is a credential few musicians can claim, and it places her inside the working life of one of popular music's most restless innovators.
She also worked with Def Leppard on a reimagined version of "Pour Some Sugar On Me" featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. That version grew out of her own 2000 cover of the song, a reminder that her interpretations have carried weight beyond her own catalogue.
Then there is the project that gave her a place in music history: she co-created the first music video in space, a rendition of Bowie's "Space Oddity" performed with astronaut Chris Hadfield aboard the International Space Station. The video connected a songwriter's craft with an extraordinary setting, and it remains one of the more memorable crossovers of music and spaceflight.
The facts available describe the shift in her work more than a single dramatic moment, so it is best to describe it that way. Over time, Gryner moved from primarily making and releasing music to also teaching others how to use their voices. She became a certified coach and a vocal coach, and she began to articulate a philosophy drawn from her own experience as a performer.
That philosophy is distinctive. Gryner teaches that voice work is often less about acquiring more technique than about removing the habits that interfere with the voice working as it naturally wants to. Her approach blends what she describes as rock-and-roll grit with science-based coaching. The emphasis falls on vocal habits and expression, on confidence, and on living with purpose rather than on polish for its own sake.
Her book The Healing Power of Singing (ECW Press, 2021) is part guide to finding one's voice and part memoir. The combination suits her: the practical advice sits alongside personal storytelling, so the reader is invited into a process instead of being handed a set of rules. The book frames singing as a route to healing, a theme that runs through her teaching.
Her voice masterclasses are aimed at singers, or former singers, whose voices have become tight, quiet or overly controlled. These are often people who once sang freely and learned, through criticism, self-consciousness or years of effort, to hold back. She has also led performance and expression workshops for women and non-binary participants, creating spaces where people can explore expression with support.
Her most recent album, Business & Pleasure, explores yacht rock with contributions from Nashville musicians. The genre, with its smooth surfaces and meticulous craft, might seem an unexpected choice, but it fits an artist who values musicianship and is willing to follow her tastes wherever they lead.
In 2024 she started the metal band Ovary Axe, where she is principal songwriter, bass player and vocalist. Placed beside a yacht rock album, the project shows her range, and it also echoes her teaching. Metal asks for a voice that is uninhibited, and a performer who coaches others to release tension is well placed to practice it herself.
Gryner's reach is broader than her Spotify following of roughly 10,100 might suggest. Through her records, she speaks to listeners who followed her from the Bowie and Def Leppard connections or from the space video. Through her book, masterclasses and workshops, she reaches a different audience: people who feel their voices have gone quiet, whether literally or in a wider sense of self-expression.
Her significance lies in this combination. She is a working artist who has known the pressures of performance firsthand, and she uses that knowledge to help others loosen their own constraints. She has also been an early example of the independent-minded Canadian artist, building her own label and following her own sense of direction.
What emerges is a portrait of a musician whose career is defined less by a single genre or hit than by a consistent belief: that the voice is a natural instrument, and that much of the work lies in getting out of its way. Whether through a yacht rock record, a metal band or a masterclass for singers who have lost their ease, Emm Gryner continues to pursue that idea.