John & Mary

John & Mary
John & Mary
Background information
Origin	Buffalo, New York, United States
Genres	Folk, folk rock
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Rykodisc
Members	John Lombardo Mary Ramsey

John & Mary is a United States-based folk rock duo featuring John Lombardo and Mary Ramsey both members or former members of alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs.

John & Mary was formed by John Lombardo and Mary Ramsey soon after they first met in Buffalo, NY in December 1989. Lombardo, one of the founding members of 10,000 Maniacs and responsible for much of their early sound, had left the band in 1986 due to "creative and political" differences. The pair signed with Rykodisc in 1990 and recorded their first album Victory Gardens which was released in 1991, and were the opening act for the Maniacs on the Time Capsule Tour in late 1990. They followed up with their second release, The Weedkiller's Daughter, also on Rykodisc, in 1993.

Both joined (or re-joined) the Maniacs as full-time members in 1994 after Natalie Merchant's departure. The duo released two albums with the Maniacs, 1997's Love Among the Ruins, which contained a cover of the Roxy Music song "More Than This" that reached number 25 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, and 1999's The Earth Pressed Flat. Lombardo and Ramsey continued to perform occasionally as John & Mary between tours. After the death of the Maniacs' lead guitar player Rob Buck in December 2000, the Maniacs went on hiatus, following which, Ramsey was replaced with singer Oskar Saville from the Chicago-based band Rubygrass. Lombardo quit the group at the same time.

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