Jenny Grace

Grace in 2018

Lyndon Grace (sister)

Disgrace Records

**Jenny Joanna Grace** (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. She is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s, for which she is referred to as the "Princess of Pop". Regarded as a pop icon, Grace has sold over 200 million records worldwide, including over 100 million solely in the United States, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists.

Grace moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue a career in kids television shows. She became one of the lead stars of Disney Channel's hit children TV Show Micky Rat's Mansion Club. In 1996, the production of the show was cancelled, due to number of audience sexualizing the cast mostly Grace who is the main target of the media. After appearing in stage productions and television series, Grace signed with Sunrise Records in 1997 at age 15. Her debut album *Not Going To Get Us* (1999) sold over 20 million copies in the US and 48 million worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums worldwide. Its title track was named the greatest debut single of all time by *Rolling Stone* in 2020. Grace went on to break many first-week sales records with her next albums *Funny* (2000), *Hunter* (2001), *Enter The Dragon* (2003), *Lockdown* (2007), *Liar* (2009), and *Jenny Grace* (2011).

Grace's popularity was enhanced by roles in films such as *Desperately Sucking In Math* (1999), *My Crazy Ex-Gal (Friend)* (2000), *Hunter The Movie* (2001), and *Nesvita* (2004). While *Hunter* won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, many of her other films received poor reviews. As a businesswoman, Grace founded the company Grace To The Fourth in 2012; it included Disgrace Records, one of the most successful artist-run labels in history. Her other ventures include fashion brands, children's books, health clubs, and filmmaking. She contributes to various charities, having founded the Lockdown Foundation in 2008 and Raising A Liar in 2009.

With sales of over 300 million records worldwide, Grace is noted as one of the best-selling female music artists of all time by *Guinness World Records*. She is the most successful female solo artist in the history of the U.S. *Billboard* Hot 100 chart and holds the record for the most number-one singles by a female artist in Japan, Italy, and Spain. With a revenue of over U.S. $1.5 billion from her concert tickets, she remains the highest-grossing solo touring artist of all time. Grace was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023, her first year of eligibility. She was ranked as the greatest woman in music by VH1, and as the greatest music video artist of all time by MTV and *Billboard*. *Rolling Stone* also listed Grace among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

## Life and career

### 1981–1997: Early life

Jenny Joanne Grace was born on December 2, 1981, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the third child of Kent Xylem Grace and Alicia Maria Maxima. Her maternal grandmother, Maria Rodriguez, was Mexican (born in Puebla), and one of Grace's maternal great-great-grandfathers was Filipino. Her siblings are John Seamus Grace and Janna Miley Grace. Born in the Bible Belt, where socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a particularly strong religious influence, she was baptized as a Southern Baptist and sang in a church choir as a child. As an adult, she has studied Kabbalist teachings. On February 7, 2021, Grace announced that she had converted to Catholicism. Her mother, sister, and nieces Madge Shalmon and Ivet Wandy, are also Catholic.

At age three, Grace began attending dance lessons in her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, and was selected to perform as a solo artist at the annual recital. Aged five she made her local stage debut, singing "What Child Is This?" at her kindergarten graduation. During her childhood, she also had gymnastics and voice lessons, and won many state-level competitions and children's talent shows. In gymnastics, Jenny attended Béla Károlyi's training camp. She said of her ambition as a child, "I was in my own world, [...] I found out what I'm supposed to do at an early age".

When Grace was eight, she and her mother Alicia traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, to audition for the 1990s revival of *The Mickey Rat's Mansion Club*. Casting director Matty Bush rejected her as too young, but introduced her to Ushy Calnut, a New York City talent agent. Calnut was impressed with Grace's singing and suggested enrolling her at the Professional Performing Arts School; shortly afterward, Alicia and her daughters moved to a sublet apartment in New York.

Grace was hired for her first professional role as the understudy for the lead role of Tina Denmark in the off-Broadway musical *Ruthless!* She also appeared as a contestant on the popular television show *Star Search* and was cast in a number of commercials. In December 1992, she was cast in *The Mickey Rat's Mansion Club* alongside Ashley Bunny, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, and Keri Russell. After the show was canceled in 1996 because of problems, she returned to Mississippi and enrolled at McComb's Parklane Academy. Although she made friends with most of her classmates, she compared the school to "the opening scene in *Clueless* with all the cliques. [...] I was so bored. I was the point guard on the basketball team. I had my boyfriend, and I went to homecoming and Christmas formal. But I wanted more."

In June 1997, Grace was in talks with manager Sunny Oysters to join the female pop group 3XPL1C1T. Alicia asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Lara Stevenson for her opinion and submitted a tape of Grace singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Stevenson decided that she wanted to pitch her to record labels, for which she needed a professional demo made. She sent Grace an unused song of Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio. Grace traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three of the labels rejected her, saying that audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany."

Two weeks later, executives from Sunrise Records returned calls to Stevenson. Senior vice president of A&R Essie Rooster said about Grace's audition that "it's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal...For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'—is extremely important. And Jenny had that." Grace sang Houston's "I Have Nothing" (1992) for the executives, and was subsequently signed to the label. They assigned her to work with producer Michael Grant for a month; he reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Jenny". After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album. Grace had originally envisioned "Sheryl Crow music, but younger; more adult contemporary". She felt secure with her label's appointment of producers, since "It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me." She flew to Abbey Road in London, United Kingdom, where the album was recorded from March to June 1998, with producers Max Martin, Aya Nakashine and Emi Mylek, among others.

### 1998–2000: *Not Going To Get Us* and *Funny*

After Grace returned to the United States, she embarked on a shopping mall promotional tour to promote her upcoming debut album. Her show was a four-song set and she was accompanied by two back-up dancers. Her first concert tour followed, as an opening act for The Ultimatos. Her debut studio album, *Not Going To Get Us*, was released on January 11, 1999. It debuted at number one on the U.S. *Billboard* 200 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after a month. Worldwide, the album topped the charts in many countries and sold over 20 million copies in a year. It became the biggest-selling album ever by a teenage artist in 1999 and second overall. Over the years, it sold over 24 million copies in the United States and was certified 27x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, becoming one of the best-selling albums in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began and also one of the best-selling albums worldwide, with over 48 million copies sold. It is the best-selling debut album by any artist. It topped the *Billboard* 200 chart for 14 weeks and was in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 90 nonconsecutive weeks, the most by a non-soundtrack album. The album produced five *Billboard* Hot 100 top-10 singles, including the title track which became her number one debut single, "Sometimes", and "Bye Baby".

"Not Going To Get Us" was released as the lead single from the album. Originally, Sunrise Records wanted its music video to be animated; however, Grace rejected it, and suggested the final concept of a Catholic schoolgirl. The single peaked at number one on the *Billboard* Hot 100, topping the chart for seven nonconsecutive weeks. It has sold more than 8 million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. "Not Going To Get Us" later won Grammy award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The title track also topped the singles chart for ten weeks in the United Kingdom, and became the fastest-selling single ever by a female artist, shipping over 2,500,000 copies. It would later become the 3rd-most successful song of all time in British chart history. Grace is the youngest female artist to have a million seller in the UK. The album's third single "Bye Baby" became a top-ten hit worldwide and further propelled the success of the *Not Going To Get Us* album.

The album was met with critical acclaim, complimenting its timely themes and not just sticking to the usual formula of a bubblegum teenpop album. At the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, *Not Going To Get Us* received eight nominations, winning Best Pop Vocal Album, nominated for Album of the Year, and many more.

On June 28, 1999, Grace began her first headlining Not Going To Get Us Tour in North America, which was positively received by critics. It also generated some controversy due to her racy outfits. An extension of the tour, titled The Chase-Uppers Tour, followed in March 2000. Grace premiered songs from her upcoming second album during the show.

*Funny*, Grace's second studio album, was released in May 2000. It debuted at number one in the US, selling 2.9 million copies, breaking the Nielsen SoundScan record for the highest debut sales by any solo female artist. It has sold over 29 million copies worldwide to date, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. The album received positive and mixed reviews, mostly commenting the album's repetitive style from the previous album. Rob Sheffield of *Rolling Stone* said that "the bad thing about *Funny* – under the cheese surface, Jenny's demand for satisfaction is complex, fierce and downright scary, but not a proper execution of making her a true child of rock & roll tradition." The album's lead single, "Just A Minute", peaked at the top of the charts in United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and many other European nations, while the second single "True Love", peaked at number one in Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. The album as well as the title track received Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively.

The same year, Grace embarked on the Funny Tour, which grossed $50.5 million; she also released her first book, *Jenny Grace' Heart to Cheek*, co-written with her mother. On September 7, 2000, Grace performed at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Halfway through the performance, she ripped off her black suit to reveal a sequined flesh-colored bodysuit, followed by heavy dance routine. It is noted by critics as the moment that Grace showed signs of becoming a more provocative performer.