Jennifer Paige

Jennifer Paige (born September 3, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter who rose to stardom in the early years of teen-pop, and is best known for her 1998 pop hit "Crush".

Biography
Jennifer Paige was born into a musical family in Marietta, Georgia, just outside Atlanta. She began singing at the age of five at local coffeehouses and restaurants with her older brother Chance Scoggins. She continued to performing arts school Pebblebrook High School to study voice, dance and drama.

At the age 17, she toured the country with a top 40 covers act, Vivid Image, and eventually relocated to Los Angeles. In August 1996, she performed in her hometown, Atlanta, in front of 50,000 people at the Olympic Games with the 10-piece covers band, "Joe's Band". The same year, Paige teamed up with producer Andy Goldmark. They began with a dance version of Aretha Franklin's classic, Chain of Fools. The record instantly came to the attention of the German indie label Edel Records, whose president, Jonathan First, was searching for a fresh-faced pop act to establish overseas presence. He was so impressed by Paige's talent that he flew to Los Angeles and gave her a record contract.

Debut album
Her debut album Jennifer Paige was released in August 1998, and consisted of guitar-driven mid-tempo songs such as "Questions", "Between You and Me", "Get to Me", and "Just to Have You". Critics took notice of her voice, and Billboard magazine declared that "Paige succeeds in the nearly impossible task of oozing smouldering sensuality without resorting to typical groans and moans; instead, she uses her notably flexible vocal range to convey the emotion of the tune. As a result, she breathes a refreshing intensity into the song."

The album was followed by two other singles, "Sober" and "Always You", the latter reaching #6 on the Billboard Dance Chart. However, the only commercial success from the album was "Crush", which is still considered a pop staple.

In the summer of 2000, Jennifer Paige recorded a new song for the soundtrack of the film Autumn in New York, called "Beautiful".

Positively Somewhere
Jennifer Paige toured the world, sang for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, was nominated for Best New Artist and performed at the World Music Awards, while promoting her music. Her second album Positively Somewhere was anchored by the single "These Days", and was released in September 2001 in United States. It wasn't noticed until its European and Asian release in Summer of 2002, due to bad timing and a lack of promotion by her American label.

The European release launched a modest hit, "Stranded". The single made an instant impact on radio in countries such as Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Scandinavia. Positively Somewhere cracked the Top 10 in Japan and both singles became solid radio hits across Asia.

Positively Somewhere altered Jennifer Paige's image in an even more sophisticated direction.

Flowers: The Jennifer Paige Hits Collection
In 2003 Edel released Flowers: The Jennifer Paige Hits Collection as a result of her parting ways with her record label. In October of the same year, Paige admitted she was no longer with either Hollywood Records or Edel Records. Paige continued writing for other artists, and compiling songs for a new studio effort. In April 2006, "The Calling", was chosen by Lifetime Television for their made-for-TV movie, "Augusta, Gone", based on the book of the same name. The song was written by Jennifer Paige and co-writer/producer Chris Landon of Loudnoize Entertainment.

Best Kept Secret
Paige began writing and recording her follow-up to Positively Somewhere in Ibiza, Spain. In 2007, Paige signed a record deal with indie company Glor Music Production. The album, titled Best Kept Secret was released on April 25, 2008 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The first single "Wasted" was released in March, experiencing success in Italy. Paige's official website announced "Underestimated" to be the second single from the album, and a music video for the single shortly followed.

Albums

 * 1998 - Jennifer Paige
 * 2001 - Positively Somewhere
 * 2008 - Best Kept Secret

Compilations

 * 2003 - Flowers - The Hits Collection