Jann Arden (born Jann Arden Richards; March 27, 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, author, and actress. She is known for ballads such as "Insensitive", "Could I Be Your Girl", "Cherry Popsicle", and "I Would Die for You".
She was born in Calgary and grew up in Springbank, Alberta, where she attended Springbank Community High School. Her father worked as a construction contractor and her mother as a dental assistant. She is the middle of three children.
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Jann Arden (born Jann Arden Richards; March 27, 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, author, and actress. She is known for ballads such as "Insensitive", "Could I Be Your Girl", "Cherry Popsicle", and "I Would Die for You".
She was born in Calgary and grew up in Springbank, Alberta, where she attended Springbank Community High School. Her father worked as a construction contractor and her mother as a dental assistant. She is the middle of three children. Accounts of her upbringing have described a difficult family environment, including her father’s alcoholism. One of her brothers was convicted of murder in 1992 and received a life sentence.
After completing high school, Arden moved to Vancouver, where she performed with various bar bands, singing cover versions of songs by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Tina Turner, and Billie Holiday. During this period, she also attempted to establish a solo career while dealing with alcohol-related challenges.
She released her first single, "Never Love a Sailor", in 1981 under the name Jann Richards. In 1985, she was discovered by manager Neil MacGonigill, who managed her career and served as executive producer on her early releases until 1998.
Arden’s debut album "Time for Mercy" was released in 1993 and received critical attention. The album and its single "I Would Die for You" contributed to her winning multiple Alberta Recording Industry Awards in 1994. Her 1994 album "Living Under June" included "Insensitive", which gained international recognition after being featured in the film "Bed of Roses" and reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Another single from the album, "Could I Be Your Girl", received significant airplay in Canada.
Her subsequent releases include "Happy?" (1997), "Blood Red Cherry" (2000), and "Love Is the Only Soldier" (2003). She also issued the compilation "Greatest Hurts" (2001) and the live album "Jann Arden Live with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra" (2002). In 2005, she released the self-titled album "Jann Arden".
In 1998, a reader poll by Chart magazine named her the Canadian celebrity most deserving of her own talk show. She has stated that her song "Hangin' by a Thread" is dedicated to her incarcerated brother.
In 2007, she released "Uncover Me", an album consisting primarily of cover songs, followed by a Canadian tour. That same year, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a stress-related heart condition. She later toured with Michael Bublé and co-wrote his 2013 song "Close Your Eyes".
Her later albums include "Free" (2009), "Uncover Me 2" (2011), "Everything Almost" (2014), and the Christmas album "A Jann Arden Christmas" (2015). In 2018, she released "These Are the Days", an album reflecting a challenging period marked by family health issues and her own well-being.
In addition to her music career, Arden has written several memoirs, including "If I Knew, Don't You Think I'd Tell You?" (2002), "I'll Tell You One Damn Thing, and That's All I Know!" (2004), "Falling Backwards" (2011), and "Feeding My Mother" (2017). The latter book describes her experiences caring for her mother during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
In 2018, she launched the podcast "The Business of Life", co-hosted with Arlene Dickinson. The same year, she became a judge on the television series "The Launch", where she mentored emerging artists.
In 2023, she announced the completion of a novel scheduled for publication later that year. In 2025, she released "Mixtape", an album consisting largely of cover versions of 1990s pop songs.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jann_Arden
Studio albums
Time for Mercy (1993)
Living Under June (1994)
Happy? (1997)
Blood Red Cherry (2000)
Love Is the Only Soldier (2003)
Jann Arden (2005)
Uncover Me (2007)
Free (2009)
Uncover Me 2 (2011)
Everything Almost (2014)
A Jann Arden Christmas (2015)
These Are the Days (2018)
Descendant (2022)
Mixtape (2025)
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…shrink me down again