Lisa Gerrard was born on April 12, 1961, she is an Australian musician, singer and composer who gained international renown as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with Irish former partner Brendan Perry.

Her career spans from 1981 to the present, and she has been involved in a wide range of projects. Gerrard received a Golden Globe award and her score for the 2000 film Gladiator received an Academy Award nomination. She is best known for her haunting contralto voice. She also sings and is an instrumentalist for much of her work, most prolifically using the Yangqin (a Chinese hammered dulcimer).

In 1995 she recorded and released her first solo album, titled The Mirror Pool. After the release of this album, she continued to work with Dead Can Dance, releasing their final album, Spiritchaser, in 1996. Following this, in 1998 she recorded Duality in collaboration with Pieter Bourke. This would mark an extensive collaboration together for a number of film scores, including The Insider and Ali.

Gerrard begin a new collaboration with Patrick Cassidy in 2004, marked by the release of Immortal Memory. Again, this collaboration was furthered in film work, including Salem's Lot.

In 2006, Sanctuary, a documentary about the life and work of Lisa Gerrard, was recorded and was released in September 2006. It is the work of multi-skilled producer / director Clive Collier and features extensive interviews with Lisa Gerrard and also various people who have collaborated and work with her in the past including Michael Mann, Russell Crowe, Hans Zimmer and Niki Caro. It will be released on DVD by Milan Entertainment on April 24, 2007.