Mission, BC · pop

Carly Rae Jepsen

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Pop's critically beloved cult queen — the E•MO•TION faithful treat every set like a rapture, and 'Run Away with Me' delivers it on cue.

Before music, Jepsen trained in musical theatre through high school in Mission, British Columbia, playing lead roles such as Annie, Sandy in Grease and Dorothy in The Wiz, and she auditioned for the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Oak Bay after her drama teacher urged her to try it. She later worked as a barista and bartender in Vancouver while writing songs on the side.

After placing third on Canadian Idol she released her folk-leaning debut, Tug of War, before 'Call Me Maybe' sold more than eighteen million copies and reached number one in over nineteen countries, a run that brought her record deals with Schoolboy Records and Interscope and a second album, Kiss, featuring 'Good Time' with Owl City.

In 2014 Jepsen made her Broadway debut playing the title role in Cinderella for a twelve-week run, and she later appeared in the television special Grease: Live and voiced a role in the animated film Ballerina.

Rather than chase that scale again, Jepsen spent the following years making synth-forward pop records that drew a devoted following among critics and listeners who prize craft in the form: bright, melodically dense songs about infatuation and longing, often built on eighties-indebted keyboards and saxophone. E•MO•TION became a touchstone, and its successors, including Dedicated and The Loneliest Time, have kept to that sound, with each album trailed by a companion collection of B-sides that fans treat as essential rather than incidental.

She has won three Juno Awards, three Billboard Music Awards and an Allan Slaight Award, alongside nominations for the Grammy, MTV Video Music and Polaris Music prizes.

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