Sass Jordan

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Sass Jordan
Background information
Birth name	Sarah Jordan
Born	December 23, 1962 (1962-12-23) (age 46)
Origin	Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Genres	Rock
Occupations	Singer, actress, Television Personality
Instruments	Vocals, Bass
Years active	1982 — present
Labels	Aquarius Records, MapleMusic Recordings, Impact[1]
Website	SassJordan.com

Sarah "Sass" Jordan (born December 23, 1962)^[2] is a Canadian, Juno Award winning, rock singer/songwriter who grew up in Montreal.

Biography

Sass Jordan was born in Birmingham, England to a French professor and an actress/ballet dancer. Sass' first band was called Sweet Thunder. She made her name "swingin' a mean bass" and singing lead with late '70s Montreal New Wave quartet The Pinups. She embarked on a solo career in the mid-'80s, biding her time initially as she honed her writing skills by contributing material to recording projects by a number of high profile Quebec artists and by handling backing vocals for a variety of acts, most notably The Box. Between forays to New York to scope out the scene there, she became one of the first veejays in Canada as host and interviewer on a Montreal video show, the precursor to MusiquePlus. Her first album, Tell Somebody, was released in 1988 and brought with it a Juno Award in Canada, and her first platinum CD.

Her singing and performing talents were promoted almost from the outset by Gene Simmons of KISS, members of the bands Cheap Trick and Van Halen and the late chart-topping composer Michael Kamen, whose recommendation led to an audition for a lead role as the terrorist in the film Die Hard 3 opposite Bruce Willis. There was also a friendship with late counterculture guru, Dr. Timothy Leary.

Her second disc Racine found Jordan coming to terms with "the recognition factor" and a new lifestyle in the U.S. which, from her new base in Los Angeles, saw her gravitate to the southwest and its musical influences. That, combined with her desire to form a band with the swagger of Rod Stewart and the Faces, came together on Racine, the CD that brought her the title of Album Rock's Top Female Artist for 1992 from Billboard and praise from Creem: "… she sings balls-out rock with a bluesy twinge that'd make Janis Joplin or Maggie Bell proud." There was also a duet with Joe Cocker on The Bodyguard, and an acting role on the hit TV series Sisters alongside Sela Ward.

After the release of her third CD Rats, she toured the world with artists like Aerosmith, Steve Perry and Whitesnake.

During a five- or six-year span that began with her move to Los Angeles, she experienced what she dramatically characterises as "the spiral downwards into the Black Hole of Calcutta." She fired her manager, weathered the deaths of some close friends, and entered a financial crisis.

By the mid '90s, though, she met her future husband, fellow musician/songwriter Derek Sharp, current lead singer for The Guess Who. She moved from Los Angeles to a farmhouse in Ontario and, in November 1997, she gave birth to daughter Stella. She subsequently recorded two more CDs: Present and Hot Gossip. As an actress, she was featured in the Toronto and Winnipeg productions of The Vagina Monologues before heading for New York to take on the lead role of Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway hit musical Love Janis. In 2003, the year she took on duties as a judge on the TV show Canadian Idol. Jordan shared the stage with The Rolling Stones, AC/DC and others as part of the history-making SARS relief concert in Toronto.

Discography

Singles

Albums

• Tell Somebody (1988)
• Racine (1992)
• Rats (1994)
• Present (1998)
• Hot Gossip (2000)
• Sass ... The Best Of Sass Jordan (2003)
• Get What You Give (2006)
• From Dusk 'Til Dawn (2009)

References

1. ^ http://www.geocities.com//patmil007/auggg2733.JPG
2. ^ Maclean, Steve. "Jordan, Sarah (Sass)". The Canadian Encyclopedia. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0020183. Retrieved 2008-03-27.