David Gilmour of Pink Floyd was largely responsible for bringing her to prominence, funding her first demo sessions and attracting the interest of the Floyd's record company, EMI.
With a range of styles that has not appealed to everyone, she is nevertheless widely respected by many musicians, and has been noted as an influence and inspiration by artists as diverse as Jewel, Tori Amos, Björk, Paula Cole, Sinead O'Connor, Pat Benatar, Happy Rhodes, The Utah Saints, and others. The trip hop artist Tricky has stated her work has been a significant influence on him and that she should be treasured more than the Beatles. Though many outside of England remain unfamiliar with her work and its profound intensity, others in her profession are also unreluctant to declare her works as those of great genius. Even the iconoclastic punk rocker John Lydon (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) has declared her work to be "fucking brilliant."
Even in her earliest works where the piano was a primary instrument, she weaved together many diverse influences, melding classical music, rock, and a wide range of ethnic and folk sources, to produce a uniquely impressive amalgalm, and this has continued throughout her career. More than one reviewer has used the term surreal to describe much of her music, for many of the songs have a melodramatic emotional and musical sureallism that defies easy categorization. It has been observed that even the more joyous of the pieces is often tinged with traces of melancholy, and even the most sorrowful have elements of a unique vitality struggling against all that would oppress it. The unapologetic use of her voice as an instrument to convey a broad range of emotional intensity and subtlety is one thing that characterizes nearly all that she does.
She has worked with Peter Gabriel, on two of his albums, most notably the album So, where she performs in the duet, "Don't Give Up" which has been widely appreciated as a poignant and inspiring piece. She has appeared in duets with Midge Ure, Big Country, Roy Harper and others on their albums. A wide diversity of respected artists have worked with her on some of her more recent albums ranging from the rock guitarist Jeff Beck, the classical guitarist Jonathan Williams, the folk artists The Trio Bulgarka, and (the artist formerly known as) Prince.
She has stated that she is at work on a new album, with the title of one track "How to be Invisible" having been discussed on at least one of her fan sites.
Her 7 studio albums thus far: