Jann Arden

Jann Arden first came to A&M Canada president Joe Summers attention in 1990 through a 14 song demo. The demo later caught A&M's A&R chief who decided to attend a showcase where Arden was performing. She was signed soon after by Allan Reid. Summers ensured that A&M in the U.S. would fully support Jann by creating a partnership between the Canada operation and the U.S. label.

A&M Records president Al Cafaro told Billboard, "Rarely has an artist so completely captured the interest of everyone she meets. With Jann, [music] comes straight from the heart, and it's been captured beautifully on [Living Under June].

Arden told Billboard, "I'm thrilled with every note on [the Time for Mercy] album. [Producer Ed Cherney] made it special by leaving me inside my own songs, and not excluding me from the [recording] process." Jann Arden's debut album Time for Mercy sold 70,000 copies from its Canadian release in March 1993 through December 1994. It had three singles that charted. In the U.S. the album sold 2,000 copies. The album was released in Indonesia and Hong Kong. In the fall it was released in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. "Without a co-venture, A&M U.S. may never have released the album. They might have thought it was a beautiful record they couldn't do anything with. By doing the co-venture the A&M staff in L.A. became part of the project. I also think the co-venture is responsible for getting all those international releases. With a simultaneous Canadian and American release, and with America being a 50% partner, the other territories took it a lot more seriously," said Alan Reid A&M Canada' A&R director.

The single "I Would Die for You" was included on both Arden's first and second albums in the U.S.

Her second album Living Under June was certified gold by CRIA 22 days after it was released and went platinum with 120,000 copies in Canada in its first six months of release. By January 1996, it sold more than 400,000 copies in Canada and another 500,000 around the world. The album peaked at No. 33 on the Canadian album chart in September 1994 and was still on the chart in January 1995.

"I would have liked to have recorded ["Insensitive"] for the first album, but I had 150 of my own songs to sort through. When picking songs for the second album, I thought, why give it to someone else? It's such a beautifully written song." "Insensitive" sold 70,000 copies in Australia where it was a No. 1 hit and certified platinum.

Jann Arden was only the second woman to ever win the Juno for songwriter of the year at Canada's Juno Awards.

Official biography:  Falling Backwards: A Memoir