k.d. lang

Born: November 2, 1961

Birthplace: Consort, Alberta

Quote: "To dance is human, but to polka is divine!"

Our favorite smooth crooner is back. k.d. lang's latest album, Invincible Summer, proves once again just how versatile this popular lesbian singer can be. Her versatility will be on display for all the mainstream world to see, thanks to "A&E's Live By Request," her first concert for television.

lang began her career in the early '80s in the off-the-wall Canadian country band the Reclines. Musical highlights from the past 16-odd years include the Grammy-winning Absolute Torch and Twang, the novel Ingenue, and the flirty All You Can Eat. 1997's Drag offered a clever collection of covers that played on the theme of smoking as a metaphor for love and sex.

Something of an activist, lang raised a ruckus with the beef industry when she filmed a public service announcement for vegetarianism, posing beside a forlorn cow. She has performed at a variety of benefits, including the Equality Rocks concert at the Millennium March on Washington.

But the sexy ex-cowboy's success isn't limited to music or social change. lang's acting talents can be seen in Gus Van Sant's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, the bittersweet Salmonberries, and Eye of the Beholder, in which she performs alongside Ewan MacGregor and Ashley Judd.