Sam Phillips (Musician)

About Sam Phillips (Musician)

Leslie Ann Phillips, better known by her stage name Sam Phillips, is an American singer and songwriter. Her albums include the critically acclaimed Martinis & Bikinis in 1994 and Fan Dance in 2001.

Phillips began her career as a Contemporary Christian musician under her birth name, Leslie. She enjoyed success in the Christian industry with three albums of mildly new wave-inflected pop. However, she found herself becoming disillusioned with the strictures of the Christian music industry and the hypocrisies of its business practices and sought a way out. A sympathetic label executive persuaded her to record one last album with the freedom to make it however she wanted. Working with producer T Bone Burnett, she delivered The Turning, widely regarded to be one of the finest albums ever released by a Christian label.

The Turning helped Phillips secure a secular record deal. Continuing to work with Burnett, who she married, Phillips recorded the psychedelic pop album The Indescribable Wow under her childhood nickname, Sam. The album received widespread critical acclaim but weak sales, a problem which would follow Phillips through her entire career - nearly all of her albums have been considered excellent, but she has never managed to break through commercially. She is a beloved cult artist to her fans, including TV producer Amy Sherman-Palladino, who has employed Phillips to score her shows The Gilmore Girls, Bunheads and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Phillips had a prominent non-speaking role in Die Hard With a Vengeance, playing Katya, the girlfriend/henchwoman of villain Simon Gruber