Since signing with Nettwerk nearly two decades ago, every one of Sarah McLachlan's studio and live albums and videos have been certified gold, platinum, multi-platinum, or diamond by the CRIA, starting with Touch (1988) and Solace (1991), both platinum sellers. Her 1994 breakthrough, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (3x platinum) was followed by the digitally enhanced multimedia version of The Freedom Sessions (1995, gold).
Sarah's landmark fourth album, the Diamond certified Surfacing (1997), contained two Grammy Award-winning tracks, as "Building a Mystery" won for Best Female Pop Vocal, and "Last Dance" was voted Best Pop Instrumental. 1999's quadruple-platinum Mirrorball, and its platinum long-form video counterpart, were both culled from that year's Lilith Fair tour, and spun off Sarah's third Grammy-winning performance, as "I Will Remember You" won for Best Female Pop Vocal.
The 5 times platinum Afterglow followed in 2003, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album, while its opening track, "Fallen" was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal.
In September 2004, Sarah McLachlan released the socially charged video "World On Fire," directed by Sophie Muller. The video made what Jon Pareles, writing in the New York Times, called “a modestly brilliant gesture: it stacks up budget items for a typical clip against what the same $150,000 budget would buy as relief efforts—cattle, bicycles, housing, education, medicine…The contrast between show-business splurges and practical aid is startling.”
“World On Fire,” a Grammy nominee for Best Short Form Music Video, cost only $15 to make—the price of a Sony mini DV tape. The remainder of the $150,000 video budget was distributed among eleven charitable organizations around the world including CARE, Engineers Without Borders, Help The Aged, Warchild, and Heifer International.
Sarah McLachlan’s Afterglow tour opened March 12, 2005 in Wellington, New Zealand and continued with dates throughout Australia, Canada, and the US—including a May 24 concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden The tour concluded June 12, 2005 with a gala perform¬ance in Sarah’s hometown of Vancouver.
