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Morna Anne Murray was born in the coal-mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia to Dr. and Mrs. James Carson Murray. Her father was the town's physician. Her mother, Marion Margaret Murray, was a registered nurse who focused her life on raising her family and community charity work. Murray has five brothers. Murray's father died of leukemia aged 72 in 1980. Her mother died on April 10, 2006, aged 92 after a series of strokes during heart surgery.
After expressing an early interest in music, she studied piano for six years. By 15 she was taking voice lessons. Every Saturday morning, she took a bus ride from Springhill to Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, for singing lessons. One of her earliest performances was of the song "Ave Maria" at her high school graduation in 1962. Following high school, Murray attended Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax for one year. She later studied Physical Education at University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. After receiving her degree in 1966 she taught physical education at a high school in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, for one year.
In 1965, Murray appeared on the University of New Brunswick student project record "The Groove" (500 pressed). She sang two songs on the record – "Unchained Melody" and "Little Bit of Soap". On the label her name was misspelled "Anne Murry". While there, she was encouraged to audition for the 1960s CBC musical variety television show Singalong Jubilee, but was not offered a singing position.
After a summer of singing in local venues across the Maritimes, Murray began teaching physical education at the high school in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. After one year of teaching, she was cast to Singalong Jubilee. As a regular member of the "Singalong Jubilee" cast, Murray appeared on the Singalong Jubilee Vol. III soundtrack and Our Family Album – The Singalong Jubilee Cast records released by Arc Records. The show's musical director, Brian Ahern, advised Murray that she should move to Toronto and record a solo album. Her first album, What About Me, was produced by Ahern in Toronto and released in 1968 on the Arc label.
What About Me, the lead single and title cut on her debut album, was written by Scott McKenzie and was a sizable Canadian radio hit. The project covered songs by Joni Mitchell, Ken Tobias, and John Denver. After a year-long stint on Arc, Murray switched to Capitol Records in 1969 to record her second album, This Way Is My Way, which was released in the fall of 1969. It featured the single that launched her career, "Snowbird", which became a No. 1 hit in Canada. "Snowbird" became a surprise hit on the U.S. charts as well, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. It was also the first of her eight No. 1 Adult Contemporary hits. "Snowbird" was the first Gold record ever given to a Canadian artist in the United States (RIAA certified Gold on November 16, 1970). As one of the most successful female artists at that time, she became in demand for several television appearances in Canada and the United States, eventually becoming a regular on the hit U.S. television series The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.
After the success of "Snowbird", she had a number of subsequent singles that charted both pop and country simultaneously. During the 1970s and 1980s, her hits included Kenny Loggins's "Danny's Song" (1972) (peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100), "A Love
(1973), "He Thinks I Still Care", The Beatles' "You Won't See Me" (1974); her all-time biggest Hot 100 hit "You Needed Me" (1978), "I Just Fall in Love Again", "Shadows in the Moonlight", "Broken Hearted Me" (1979), "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You" (1980), which hit #64 on the Hot 100 and #23 on the Country chart, The Monkees' 1967 No. 1 hit "Daydream Believer", "Could I Have This Dance" from the Urban Cowboy motion picture soundtrack (1980), "Blessed Are the Believers" (1981), "Another Sleepless Night" (1982), "A Little Good News" (1983), "Just Another Woman in Love", "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do", and "Time, Don't Run Out on Me" (1985).
She performed "O Canada" at the first American League baseball game played in Canada on April 7, 1977, when the Toronto Blue Jays played the Chicago White Sox at Exhibition Stadium. She reprised the Canadian national anthem prior to Game 3 of the 1992 World Series at the SkyDome. Following the last game at Maple Leaf Gardens, she concluded the arena's closing ceremony by singing "The Maple Leaf Forever" at center ice wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey.
Murray was a celebrity corporate spokeswoman for The Bay, and she also did commercials and sang the company jingle ("You Can Count on the Commerce") for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
Murray's last Hot 100 hit was "Now and Forever (You and Me)" from 1986; it was also her last No. 1 on both the American and Canadian country charts.
Murray's last charting single in the U.S. was 1991's "Everyday", which appeared on Billboard's Country Singles chart. In 1996, Murray signed on with a new manager, Bruce Allen. She recorded her first live album in 1997, and in 1999 she released What a Wonderful World, a platinum inspirational album, which went to No. 1 Contemporary Christian, No. 4 Country and No. 38 pop. Her last charting single in Canada was the title track "What a Wonderful World" in 2000. She released Country Croonin' in 2002, the follow-up to her successful 1993 album, Croonin'. In 2004, she released I'll Be Seeing You in Canada only, which features a collection of songs from the early 20th century to the mid-1940s. The 2005 American version, titled All of Me, features a bonus disc containing many of her hit singles. The album is dedicated to her friend Cynthia McReynolds who died of cancer.
On December 26, 2004, Murray joined other Canadian music stars in the Canada for Asia Telethon, a three-hour, tsunami relief concert broadcast on CBC Television (January 13, 2005) to support CARE Canada's efforts. Bryan Adams and Murray closed the show with a duet, "What Would It Take".
On October 10, 2007, Murray announced that she would embark on her final major tour. She toured in February and March 2008 in the U.S. on the "Coast-to-Coast – One Last Time" tour followed by a run in April and May in Canada.Murray's final public concert was held at the Sony Centre in Toronto on May 23, 2008.
