Jann Arden

Jann Arden CM (born Jann Arden Anne Richards; March 27, 1962)[1] is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress. She is famous for her signature ballads, “Could I Be Your Girl” and “Insensitive”, which is her biggest hit to date.[2]

Jann Arden was born in Calgary[3] and moved as a child to Springbank, Alberta, where she attended Springbank Community High School.

Arden was discovered in 1985 by Calgary manager Neil MacGonigill,[4] who worked with her from 1985 to 1998, both managing her career and acting as executive producer of her earlier albums. The two subsequently became estranged.[5]

Arden released her critically acclaimed debut album, Time for Mercy, in 1993, and followed with a single “I Would Die For You”. Both were credited among the six Alberta Recording Industry Awards won by Arden in 1994.[6]

Arden’s 1994 album Living Under June[7] featured her biggest hit to date outside of Canada, “Insensitive”,[8] 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 single from that same album, “Could I Be Your Girl”, has also had significant, and consistent airplay on Canadian adult contemporary radio since its release, and featured a dance remix version which circulated on pop radio at the time.

Subsequent albums include 1997’s Happy?,[9] 2000’s Blood Red Cherry,[10] and 2003’s Love Is the Only Soldier. She also released a greatest hits album, Greatest Hurts, in 2001,[11] and a live album, Jann Arden Live with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (2002). In 2005, she released her eighth album (her sixth album of new material); self-titled Jann Arden.