After a year of studying acting at Mount Royal
College - ".and I just thought, this is too
weird for me" - Arden ended up in Vancouver singing
cover tunes in bad bar bands and busking on the streets for
rent money. This led to a lifestyle that consisted of
hard-drinking, risky choices, and a series of one-night stands.
" There are things I've done that I will never completely
say, oh I forgive myself entirely. I never will,"
says Arden. "It'll ride with me and rest in
my heart all the days that I live.I'm not going to let it
keep me from doing what I want to do."
It took 10 years to put the bar scene and the drinking behind
her. She was 30 years old when she landed her first
record deal. Along with the first two albums (Time For
Mercy, and Living Under June), awards and acclaim came fast
and furious - Best New Artist at the 1994 Juno Awards; hit
single I Would Die For You; Best Songwriter, Best Female Artist,
and Best Single, Could I Be Your Girl at the 1995 Juno Awards;
then a break through on the international scene with Insensitive.
After nearly 15 years of slugging it out in the trenches,
Arden's drive, talent and trademark wit eventually led her
to "overnight success." The next album Happy? - a soulful,
more personal album - went double platinum in Canada but was
considered a dismal failure by her record company. Three
years after Happy?, Arden and producer Ed Cherney are fighting
the pressure to deliver another hit single that will break
through in the United States.
Arden is also fighting the TV driven image of a pop star...young,
bubbly, and thin. More than one person in the industry
has said that the only thing between Arden and super stardom
is her weight. "I'm certainly not going to lose 40lbs
for the music industry," says Arden. "I like
who I am."
Original Air Date - October 26, 1999
Links
The
Official Jann Arden Web Site
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