Mother-daughter singing duos

Suzanne Vega and her daughter, Ruby Froom, are quite the treble makers.

Photograph: Albert Sanchez

When you’re listening to a show-tune-singing diva at Carnegie Hall or a reggae queen at the Fillmore, it’s easy to forget that the glam artist may have been leveled by the same parental challenges we all face—the temper tantrums in Gristedes, the 3am diaper explosions. True, a life in song has its glitzy side, but as the talented offspring of many music-world mothers know, it can also nurture a special sort of harmonic bond.

Take 12-year-old New Yorker Sage Ross. She’s a professed Hannah Montana fan. Move past her preoccupation with the preteen idol, though, and Ross reveals her admiration for the characters in a different world of musical make-believe—one that her mother, Metropolitan Opera star Renée Fleming, often frequents. “Opera’s really cool in a way,” says Ross. “It’s amazing how good an actress and singer you have to be to hit those high notes while you’re supposed to be dying or you’re lying on the floor spending five minutes telling someone that you love him.”