Kate McGarrigle, Singer and Songwriter, Has Died

Kate McGarrigle, a Canadian singer and songwriter who, with her sister Anna, had a repertory of intimate songs about love and family in good times and bad, died of liver cancer on Monday. She was 63 and died at her home in Montreal, her brother-in-law, Dane Lanken, told The Associated Press.

The McGarrigle Sisters were praised by critics for the warmth of their harmonies and for their approach to folk music, which was neither academic nor commercial. Born in Montreal and raised in St.-Saveur-des-Monts, a village about 50 miles to the north, the sisters learned music from nuns and from their family’s regular singalongs at home, which drew from wide sources in folk and traditional pop. The eldest McGarrigle sister, Jane, was a church organist.

Kate McGarrigle, who was once married to the singer Loudon Wainwright III, and her survivors include her sisters and two children who have become well-known singers, Rufus and Martha.