READ THIS NEXT: She Played Renée on Ally McBeal. See Lisa Nicole Carson Now at 52. Shepard landed the role after Ally McBeal creator David E. Kelley (who also created Chicago Hope, The Practice, and Big Little Lies, among others) saw her perform at Hollywood’s Key Club when he was developing the series. The singer told The Smith Center in 2021 that she had invited him and her friend, Kelley’s wife since 1993, Michelle Pfeiffer, to come see her play. At the time, Kelley was looking for an inner voice for Ally and hired Shepard on the spot. “I was playing songs from my album, It’s Good, Eve, and those songs really resonated with David,” Shepard said. “He ended up using at least 10 songs from that album on the show.” Being a fixture on Ally McBeal shot Shepard into a new level of fame. “I remember one night lugging my keyboard in the rain, into a club that held 30 people [before Ally McBeal],” she told The Smith Center. “Jump to a year and a half later, and I’m touring in Europe, playing a festival for 46,000 people, on the same bill with the Eurythmics, Sting, and Matchbox 20.” And it wasn’t just fame and major tours that came from the show. All told, Shepard released four studio soundtrack albums for the series, and she won awards, including two Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble trophies with the rest of the cast. Of course, Shepard didn’t stop making music when Ally came to an end. Since 2002, she’s released four studio albums, with her most recent being 2015’s Rookie, and three live albums, including 2019’s Vonda: Live. Shepard has also continued to tour both internationally and domestically. In June 2022, she announced that she’ll be relaunching her European tour in late 2022 and then heading back to do a tour of the East coast shortly afterwards. You can see tour dates on her official website and catch Shepard performing a mix of songs from Ally McBeal and her other records. For more celebrity updates sent right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Shepard is married to fellow musician and record producer, Mitchell Froom, and has been since 2004. Froom has worked with the likes of Tracy Bonham, Sheryl Crow, Tracy Chapman, and Bonnie Raitt, among many other major names in the music business. He is currently touring with the band Crowded House, who just released a new album in 2021. He’s also collaborated with his wife.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb The couple have a son, Jack, who was born in 2006, and Shepard is also stepmom to Froom’s daughter Ruby, who he welcomed with his previous wife, singer Suzanne Vega. READ THIS NEXT: See ’80s Teen Idol Jami Gertz Now at 56.
