Miranda Lee Richards (born April 4, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter.
Her 2001 release The Herethereafter included original compositions such as "The Beginner" as well as a cover of The Rolling Stones 1967 single "Dandelion". Her single "The Long Goodbye" reached into the top five in Japan, and the music video for this song was in heavy rotation on MTV Japan.
Miranda Lee Richards grew up in San Francisco, the daughter of comic book artists Ted and Teresa Richards. She attended San Francisco's School of the Arts, and then took up modeling after graduation. She moved to Paris to continue her modeling career, and hated it, moving back to San Francisco. She met Kirk Hammett of Metallica through a friend, and he gave her guitar lessons and taught her to play Mazzy Star songs. She recorded some demos in her basement which reached the ears of Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, whom she joined briefly. After leaving them, she moved to Los Angeles, living in a tent out of a friend's backyard, while she met the many musicians who would contribute to her debut.
She has also worked with Joe Firstman, and reportedly will appear on several tracks on an upcoming Tricky release. Miranda has also recently performed with Good Listeners and the Jesus and Mary Chain.
Her "musical heroes" include Neil Young, John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Blondie, Mazzy Star, Beck, and Chrissie Hynde. She also enjoys trip-hop bands such as Massive Attack and the DJ culture of beat-making, whose influence is apparent on The Herethereafter.