Jennifer Warnes
| Jennifer Warnes | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jennifer Jean Warnes |
| Born |
March 3, 1947 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Origin | Anaheim, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Country rock, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1967–present |
| Labels | Arista, CISCO, Impex, Shout Factory, Reprise, Parrot |
| Associated acts | Bill Medley, Joe Cocker, Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman |
| Website | JenniferWarnes |
Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. Famous for her compositions, interpretations, and her extensive repertoire as a vocalist on movie soundtracks, she was also a close friend and collaborator of Canadian singer-songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen.
Warnes was born in Seattle, Washington, and raised in Anaheim, California. Her desire and ability to sing came early; at age seven she was offered her first recording contract, which her father turned down. She sang in church and local pageants until age 17 when Warnes was offered an opera scholarship to Immaculate Heart College. She chose to sing folk music as it became popularized by Joan Baez in the mid-1960s. In 1968, after a few years with musical theatre and clubs, she signed with Parrot Records (a London Records subsidiary) and recorded her first LP. That year, she joined the cast of the television show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Early in her career, industry advisors suggested she change her name to "Warren", but then realized that there was already an actress named Jennifer Warren, so she performed briefly as simply, "Jennifer". Soon, however, she returned to her birth name. In November 1968, Warnes (as "Jennifer Warren") portrayed the female lead in the Los Angeles, California production of the stage musical Hair. She had a related UK single release as "Jennifer" on London HLU 10278 in June 1969 with "Let The Sunshine In" and "Easy to Be Hard", licensed from the US Parrot label.
In 1971, she met Canadian songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen, and the two remained lifelong friends. She toured Europe with Cohen's band in 1972 and 1979—first as a back-up singer and then as a vocal arranger and guest singer on Cohen's albums Live Songs (1973), Recent Songs (1979), Various Positions (1985), I'm Your Man (1988), The Future (1992), Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979 (2001), and Old Ideas (2012). Warnes later (1987) recorded a critically acclaimed audiophile album of Cohen songs, Famous Blue Raincoat.
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