[1] Mari-Alice Randall was born on May 4, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, and was raised in Washington, D.C.[2] She attended Harvard University, where she earned an honors bachelor's degree in English and American literature and graduated cum laude.

[10] Randall co-wrote "XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)," which was released as a single in 1994 by country music singer Trisha Yearwood.

[2] Additionally, she contributed to Johnny Cash's "The Chicken in Black", which was on the US Hot Country Songs by Billboard for twelve weeks.

[11][12] In addition to her song writing, Randall also wrote the video of the year "Is There Life Out There" by Reba McEntire, which won at the 1992 Academy of Country Music Awards.

The lawsuit, Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin Co., was settled, allowing The Wind Done Gone to be published on the condition of a label of "An Unauthorized Parody".

[13] In addition, Houghton Mifflin agreed to make a financial contribution to the Morehouse College, a historically black education institution in Atlanta supported by the Mitchell estate.

[19] A companion album, *My Black Country - The Songs of Alice Randall - Various Artists - CD was released by Oh Boy Records.

[20] Randall wrote and produced the pilot of the television movie XXX's and OOO's, a film about four ex-wives of country music singers, on CBS in 1994.