1985−2006: Early life and career beginnings Jepsen was born on November 21, 1985, in
Mission, British Columbia to Alexandra and Larry Jepsen, the second of their three children. She is of
Danish, English and Scottish descent. Jepsen has an older brother, Colin, and a younger sister, Katie. She attended
Heritage Park Secondary School and had a passion for musical theatre, appearing in student productions of
Annie where she played Annie,
Grease where she played
Sandy Olsson, and
The Wiz where she played
Dorothy Gale. Her parents and stepparents were teachers, so Jepsen considered a career in music instruction as a second option. She applied to music-related programs, including those at
Capilano University and the
University of British Columbia, but on the advice of her high school drama teacher, she auditioned for the Canadian College of Performing Arts in
Victoria, British Columbia and was one of 25 female students to gain admission into its year-long program in 2004. After graduation, Jepsen relocated to Vancouver's west side and held several jobs, including a
barista, assistant
pastry chef, and
bartender. At this time, she slept on a pull-out sofa and wrote songs in her spare time.
2007–2010: Canadian Idol and Tug of War in 2010 In 2007, Jepsen was convinced to audition for
Canadian Idol by her high school drama teacher. In the competition, she finished in third place, which she considered the best possible outcome in retrospect. Jepsen released her first
promotional single, a cover of
John Denver's song "
Sunshine on My Shoulders", in June 2008. Her debut studio album,
Tug of War, was released in September 2008, and sold 10,000 copies in Canada. "
Sour Candy", a duet with
Josh Ramsay of
Marianas Trench was released as the final single. In 2009, Jepsen toured western Canada with Marianas Trench and
Shiloh.
Canadian Idol performances 2011–2014: Mainstream success with Curiosity and Kiss 's
Believe Tour in 2012 In the summer of 2011, Jepsen recorded material for her second studio album with Josh Ramsay, Ryan Stewart, and Tavish Crowe. The track "
Call Me Maybe", co-written by Crowe and Ramsay, was released in September 2011. The song received a promotion from fellow Canadian pop singer
Justin Bieber, leading Bieber's manager,
Scooter Braun, to sign Jepsen to a joint worldwide recording contract with his label,
Schoolboy Records, and major label
Interscope Records. In the US, the single spent nine weeks at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, earning the title "Song of the Summer" from
Billboard magazine. The single was the best-selling single of 2012 worldwide including the United Kingdom, where it was the year's second best-selling single. The song was included on Jepsen's six-track EP,
Curiosity, released in February 2012 in Canada. Jepsen's second studio album,
Kiss, was released in September 2012 and included the singles "
This Kiss" and "
Tonight I'm Getting Over You". It reached the top ten chart positions in Australia, the UK, Canada and the US. The same year, Jepsen became a spokesperson and model for clothing retailer
Wet Seal and appeared on the
fifth-season premiere episode of
The CW primetime soap opera
90210. At the 2012
Billboard Music Awards, Jepsen was the first Canadian recipient of the
Rising Star Award In January 2013, Jepsen became a spokesperson for clothing and footwear brand
Candie's. She released new ads for the brand in July 2013. At the
Juno Awards of 2013,
Kiss won
Album of the Year and
Pop Album of the Year while Call Me Maybe won
Single of the Year. In June 2013,
Kiss: The Remix, a compilation album containing remixes and instrumentals of singles from
Kiss, was released in Japan and peaked at number 157 on the
Oricon albums chart. From June to October 2013, Jepsen embarked on
The Summer Kiss Tour in North America and Asia. In Spring 2014, she performed in the Broadway theatre production of
Rodgers and Hammerstein's
Cinderella for 12 weeks. In June 2014, Jepsen won the International Achievement Award at the
SOCAN Awards alongside co-writers Josh Ramsay and Tavish Crowe.
2015–2017: Emotion and other projects in 2016 Jepsen released her third album's lead single, "
I Really Like You", in March 2015. Accompanied by a music video in which actor
Tom Hanks lip-synced to the song, it peaked at number 14 in Canada and the top five in the UK. The studio album, titled
Emotion, was released in June 2015. Although it was a relative commercial failure compared to
Kiss, it received critical acclaim and a
cult following, attracting a more mature audience to her music. The album peaked at number eight in Canada and at number 16 on the US
Billboard 200. The second single, "
Run Away with Me", was released in July 2015. In November 2015, Jepsen embarked on the
Gimmie Love Tour in support of
Emotion. Jepsen was featured on a new version of
Bleachers' song "Shadow" from their album
Terrible Thrills, Vol. 2 and released a cover of
Wham!'s "
Last Christmas". In December 2015, Jepsen recorded the theme song for the
Netflix series
Fuller House, a remake of the theme to
Full House. In January 2016, Jepsen played Frenchy in
Grease Live!,
Fox's live television presentation of the musical
Grease. As part of her role, she performed a new song entitled "All I Need Is an Angel". In March 2016, she appeared on
the Knocks' debut studio album
55. In August 2016, Jepsen released
Emotion: Side B, an
EP containing eight cut tracks from
Emotion. The EP received critical acclaim from
Rolling Stone and
Pitchfork. In May 2017, Jepsen released the single "
Cut to the Feeling". The song was originally intended for
Emotion, but instead appeared in the animated film
Ballerina, in which Jepsen voices a supporting role.
2018–2020: Dedicated In early 2018, Jepsen appeared as the opening act for
Katy Perry's
Witness: The Tour. "
Party for One", the lead single from Jepsen's fourth studio album, was released in November 2018. Two more singles, "
Now That I Found You" and "
No Drug Like Me" followed in February 2019, with "
Julien" and "
Too Much" being released as the fourth and fifth respective singles. By then, Braun was no longer Jepsen's manager, although she was still signed to Schoolboy Records. Her fourth studio album,
Dedicated, was released on May 17, 2019, with a tour beginning June 27. Jepsen performed a
NPR Tiny Desk Concert in November 2019. On May 21, 2020, the companion album
Dedicated Side B was released, containing twelve additional tracks from
Dedicated. In October 2020, Jepsen released "
It's Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries" which peaked at 11 on the US Holiday Digital Songs chart.
2021–present: The Loneliest Time and The Loveliest Time Following
Dedicated Side Bs release, Jepsen confirmed that she was making a "quarantine album" alongside long-time friend and songwriter Tavish Crowe, whom she wrote "Call Me Maybe" with. In May 2022, Jepsen announced at her
Coachella performance the lead single from her sixth studio album, "
Western Wind", which was released on May 6, 2022. On August 3, 2022, Jepsen announced via her social media the release of her sixth studio album,
The Loneliest Time, released on October 21, 2022, and shortly after released the second single from the album, "
Beach House" and the third single "
Talking to Yourself" the following month.
The title track featuring
Rufus Wainwright, was the fourth and final single for the album, releasing on October 8, 2022. On social media platform
TikTok, the song became a viral success amassing nearly 200,000 videos since its release, and amongst those videos celebrities such as
Meghan Trainor. Following the album's release, the album debuted at number 18 on the
Canadian Albums Chart, number 19 on the
Billboard 200, and number 16 on the
UK Albums Chart, becoming her highest-charting album in the UK in ten years. In support and for the promotion of the album, Jepsen embarked on
The So Nice Tour beginning in September 2022 and played shows across North America, Europe, and Australia through March 2023. The tour was extended in March 2023 with six dates in Japan. Jepsen performed the theme song for the Amazon Kids+ series
Hello Kitty: Super Style!, which debuted in December 2022. On June 23, 2023, less than a year after the release of
The Loneliest Time, Jepsen released a new
disco-inspired single "Shy Boy", produced by
James Ford. It was accompanied by a prominently
black-and-white music video featuring Jepsen on a date with a lover. On July 6, 2023, after teasing songs and producers involved with the project, Jepsen formally announced her seventh studio album
The Loveliest Time, described as a "companion album" to
The Loneliest Time. It was released on July 28. ==Artistry==