Lang was born in the small farming town of Consort, Alberta and grew up on the Canadian prairies; she is of German, Sioux and Icelandic descent on her father's side, and has a Russian Jewish great grandmother on her mother's side. Singing at country and western venues in her homeland, she made several recordings that received good reviews and earned a 1985 Canadian Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist.

In 1986, she signed a contract with an American record producer in Nashville, Tennessee and received critical acclaim for her 1987 album, . Her career received a huge boost when rock legend Roy Orbison chose her to record a duet of his standard, "Crying". Instead of being overwhelmed by the power of Orbison's three-octave voice, the two blended their tremendous vocal ranges into a riveting collaboration that won them the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Later that same year she would sing background vocals with Jennifer Warnes and Bonnie Raitt for Orbison's acclaimed television special, .

K.d. lang won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her 1989 album, . The single "Full Moon of Love" that stemmed from that album became a modest hit in the United States in the summer of 1989.

In addition to her musical talents, k.d. lang, who came out as a lesbian in a 1992 article of the gay journal , has actively championed lesbian causes. Her animal rights vegetarian stands including a "Meat Stinks" campaign created much controversy, particularly at her hometown in the middle of Alberta's cattle ranching industry.

The album, , released in 1992, contained her most popular song, "Constant Craving", which brought her multi-million sales, much critical acclaim, and the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

In 1993, she starred in the Alaska-themed film , to generally poor reviews. She contributed much of the music towards Gus van Sant's soundtrack of the movie version of Tom Robbins's .

In 1996, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In 2003, she won her fourth Grammy Award, this time for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her collaboration with Tony Bennett, .

On subsequent tours critical acclaim continued to come her way. For example, in 2004 Stephen Holden of wrote: "Few singers command such perfection of pitch. Her voice, at once beautiful and unadorned and softened with a veil of smoke, invariably hits the middle of a note and remains there. She discreetly flaunted her technique, drawing out notes and shading them from sustained cries into softer, vibrato-laden murmurs. She balanced her commitment to the material with humor, projecting a twinkling merriment behind it all." (see [1]).