Jann Arden
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Jann Arden | ||
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Jann Arden on the cover of her compilation album, "Greatest Hurts" in 2001.
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Background information | ||
Birth name | Jann Arden Richards | |
Born | March 27, 1962 | |
Origin | Calgary, Alberta Canada |
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Genre(s) | Pop, Vocalist | |
Years active | 1992–present | |
Label(s) | A&M Records, Universal | |
Website | Jann Arden Official Website |
Jann Arden (born Jann Arden Richards March 27, 1962) is an award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter with a fan base primarily in Canada. She was born near Calgary, Alberta.
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[edit] Music
Arden spent most of the 1980s playing her music in bars and busking, struggling to get noticed. Her breakthrough came with her critically acclaimed 1992 debut album Time for Mercy and her first single "I Would Die For You". Her success grew with 1994's Living Under June, which featured her biggest hit to date outside of Canada, "Insensitive", which was released as a single from the soundtrack to the Christian Slater film Bed of Roses (number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100). Another of her songs, "Could I Be Your Girl", has been an airplay staple on many adult oriented Canadian radio stations since its initial release.
Subsequent albums include 1997's Happy?, 2000's Blood Red Cherry (on which Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo sang backing vocals), and 2003's Love Is the Only Soldier. She also released a greatest hits album, Greatest Hurts, in 2001, and a live album, Jann Arden Live with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (2002).
In 2005, she released a new album titled simply Jann Arden. The album has been promoted as featuring more upbeat songs than her usual trademark ballads.
Jann Arden is releasing her ninth album, entitled Uncover Me, on February 6, 2007. She is also planning an Uncover Me Tour 2007 across Canada, for the months of April and May, 2007.
Although Arden's pop-rock songs are known for their sadness and tales of heartache, Arden is paradoxically also known for her gregarious sense of humour. Her personal stories, often involving her close-knit family, have won her great affection among her loyal fan base, and her concerts routinely sell out across Canada. In 1998, respondents to Chart magazine's year-end reader's poll named Arden the Canadian celebrity most deserving of her own talk show. Arden frequently does loving, homespun impersonations of her parents during her shows. As part of her public honesty about her family life, she has revealed that one of her brothers is serving a life sentence in prison, and that her song "Hanging by a Thread" is dedicated to him.
She also covered Leonard Cohen's "If it be your will..." on the 1995 Cohen tribute album Tower of Song.
[edit] Other projects
- Arden has also written two books of personal reflections and poetry, If I Knew, Don't You Think I'd Tell You, released in 2002 and I'll Tell You One Damn Thing, and That's All I Know in 2004.
- She currently authors a monthly advice column in Elle Canada magazine, and also regularly contributes thoughts, ideas and poems on her personal website.
- Arden was also the owner of a diner in Calgary named The Arden which closed down in April of 2005. In 2003 she starred in her own Canadian TV reality show called The Arden Diner, a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of the hectic restaurant.
[edit] Accolades
- Arden has received a total of 19 Juno Award nominations to date. She has won eight of them, including Songwriter of the Year in 1995 and 2002, and Female Artist of the Year in 1995 and 2001.
- In March of 2006, it was announced that she would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
- In November 2006, Arden received the National Achievement Award from the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) for having six singles reach the 100,000 airplay mark on Canadian radio. She was awarded the prize at a gala in Toronto.
[edit] Appearances
- In 1998, she appeared in a comedic skit with host Jason Priestley to kick off the Juno Award ceremonies held in Vancouver, British Columbia.
- She also appeared in the 2005 Corner Gas episode "Fun Run" and often makes guest appearances on the Rick Mercer Report.
- She sang "O Canada" at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
- At the 2006 Juno Awards, to counter host Pamela Anderson's on-stage anti-seal hunting rant, Arden generated cheers when she jokingly told the audience that her bra was "made entirely of seal eyelids".
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
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[edit] Singles
- "I Would Die For You"
- "Could I Be Your Girl"
- "Insensitive"
- "Good Mother"
- "If It Be Your Will"
- "The Sound Of"
- "Waiting in Canada"
- "Saved"
- "Bring the Boys Home"
- "If You Loved Me"
- "Where No One Knows Me"
- "Calling God"
[edit] External links
- Jann Arden's web site
- Arden.html CanConRox entry
- Jann Arden discography
- Jann Arden's entry in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
- Jann Arden UK web site
Categories: 1962 births | Living people | Inductees of Canada's Walk of Fame | Canadian pop singers | Canadian female singers | Canadian singer-songwriters | Canadian pop guitarists | Canadian female guitarists | People from Calgary | Juno Award winners | Alberta musicians | Canadian buskers | Scottish Canadians