Rachael Yamagata，1977年9月23日生于弗吉尼亚的阿林顿（Arlington,Virginia）。 因为父亲是日本移民，所以Rachael Yamagata还有个日本名字：山形瑞秋。
父母离异后，她就常常奔波于自己的第三代美籍日裔的父亲（哈佛毕业的律师）和她德国籍意大利的母亲（在纽约的画家）之间度过童年。她还有个双胞胎兄弟Benji。
她是个自写自唱的歌手。还会弹钢琴, 多次赢得了Fiona Apple奖。她的第一张专辑《Happenstance》在2004年6月8日发行。Rachael Yamagata成为the Chicagofunk-fusion band Bumpus的歌手。在那里度过了6年，录制了3张专辑，走遍全国。
Yamagata毕业于Bethesda的the Holton-Arms School for Girls。进入了西北大学（Northwestern）和瓦萨学院（Vassar）。
90年代，一段多叫乐迷怀念的岁月，虽然因为MTV的出现，也让更多庸脂俗数的烂俗小调在改装易容之后也有了更多展露于舞台的机会，但即便不论Nirvana、R.E.M这些地下乐团对于主流乐坛震撼人心的冲击，单就一个女性歌手创作风潮，就已经叫人大快朵颐了。如果说仅仅只是背着吉它演绎传统摇滚乐，却并没有做出多少音乐革新的Sheryl Crow和Alanis Morissette还多少算是托了当时女权主义的福的话，那么Bjork、Tori Amos和Sinead O’connor的出现，就完全颠覆了人们对于传统女性歌手的概念。而与那位大呼小叫的神经质前辈Yoko Ono相比，Bjork等的出现不仅真正展现出明确的女性摇滚立场，尤其是她们驾驭音乐的高超技艺，更使得她们有足够的能量去改变摇滚乐里的中性特征，因而创造出真正独具个性的女性摇滚乐。
可惜后继乏人，虽然非主流或独立摇滚圈近年来也总是不乏有这样那样的女新人登场亮相，但听过Tori Amos这样内外兼修之精彩音乐的人们，恐怕在拨高胃口之后也都暗自立下了一个新标准，在这种心态下，试问只是唱些中性摇滚口水歌的新人又如何能再过五关斩六将，成为数年后的又一位独立女皇呢？！
在无法超越的情况下，至少要让人看到希望，而2004年冒出的新人Rachael Yamagata就用她的首张大碟《Happenstance》展现了这种潜质。父亲是日本移民，母亲是德国、意大利混血，身兼三种血液的Rachael Yamagata从一出生起，就要比旁人多了一种博大精深的文化优势，山形瑞秋的日本名字或许还只是一种风雅，但骨子里那种东方式神经质的线条，却注定了她与同类女歌手竞争时的先天优势，有Yoko Ono做为榜样，一切早已说明。
尽管19岁就加入芝加哥的Funk乐团Bumpus，但Rachael Yamagata多元化的性格里却显然无法容忍被限制于一种音乐风格的拘束里，对她曲风有影响的倒是她和乐团吉它手男友的分手，使她以更感性化的情爱刺激为基础引导出自己的音乐走向。
Singer/songwriter Rachael Yamagata grew up listening to Carole King, Roberta Flack, James Taylor, and the like, for music was the one thing in Yamagata's life that remained consistent. Although her parents divorced when she was two, she had a wonderful childhood and she credits her parents for doing such an amazing job. Finding a balance between her German-Italian mother's apartment in New York City and the Washington, D.C., home of her third-generation Japanese father was a task, but it readied Yamagata for a way of life that would eventually lead her to a professional singing career.
By the time she reached college in the mid-'90s, Yamagata had one year of piano lessons and a spiral notebook full of songs under her belt. Not sure of what she really wanted to do, Yamagata headed to Northwestern to study French. Within a year, she switched to being an Italian theater major at Vassar, but sporadic changes loomed ahead. When her acting coach at Vassar moved to Barnard College at Columbia University, Yamagata thought she'd go too. She eventually decided to head back to Northwestern instead, to join their theater program. During her junior year, she befriended the funk band Bumpus.
Bumpus was a mainstay on the club circuit in Chicago. From the start, Yamagata thought she'd like to be a part of the band. After seeing countless shows and attending band practices for several months, Yamagata finally landed a gig singing with Bumpus. She'd spend six years writing and recording three albums with the band and touring the country. By 2001, Yamagata felt like her time with Bumpus had run its course. She had a solid batch of songs that weren't fitting in with the band's funkafied formula, so she went solo. In September 2002, Yamagata landed a deal with Arista's Private Music and her self-titled EP arrived in October. Her first full-length album, Happenstance, followed in June 2004.
EP
《EP》（2003）
《Live at the Loft & More》 (2005)
《Loose Ends》 (2008)
单曲
《Worn Me Down》
《Letter Read》
《1963"》
《River》
《Elephants》
《Faster》
《Sunday Afternoon》
现场
Live at the Bonnaroo Music Festival (2004) , released exclusively on Bonnaroo
Sony Connect Sets(2005) , released exclusively on Sony Connect
KCRW Sessions: Rachel Yamagata(2005) , released exclusively on iTunes
Napster session: Rachael Yamagata(2005) , released exclusively on Napster
Bumpus
《Bumpus》 (1999)
《Steroscope》 (2001)
其他
Yagamata与多位艺人合唱过歌曲。她曾出现在了Jason Mraz的第二张专辑里。
单曲《Be Be Your Love》被录入影片《牛仔裤的夏天》中的插曲。
由Yagamata翻唱的《I Wish You Love》亦出现在了电影《春心荡漾》中。
