Drake Jensen (born April 15, 1970) is a Canadian

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist.

Biography

Early life

Drake Jensen was born in

Glace Bay, Nova Scotia Glace Bay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Glasbaidh'') is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton. Formerly an incorporated ...

, on

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

in Canada.Joseph Brownwell
Out country artist Drake Jensen releases OUTlaw
, ''

Out & About Newspaper ''Out & About Newspaper'' is a free, monthly LGBT newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Overview ''Out & About Newspaper'' was started in 2002. The newspaper has a target audience of more than 250,000 people. Circulation for the newspaper is 30,0 ...

'', February 28, 2013 At age four, influenced by his mother's love of country music, Jensen connected to

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

through " Country Roads". Other influences included

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

John Conlee John Wayne Conlee (born August 11, 1946) is an American country music singer. Between 1978 and 2004, Conlee charted a total of 32 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, and recorded 11 studio albums. His singles include seven ...

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

and

Charlie Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the genre's first blac ...

. He was bullied as a child and left Grade 8 because of it.

Career

Jensen's first recording was a 2001 cover of

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...

's " A Little Good News", which received airplay throughout the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

and was a favorite of

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

. After a lengthy hiatus, he revived his dream of becoming a vocal artist. His 2011 debut album ''On My Way to Finding You'' was recorded in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

with veteran independent producer Kim Copeland. The first single "Wash Me Away" has logged airplay on 100 radio stations worldwide and the album received a positive review from influential country critic Robert K. Oermann in ''

MusicRow ''MusicRow'' is a Nashville music industry trade publication. The publication delivers online content in addition to six annual print magazines including its InCharge, Artist Roster and Publisher directories. MusicRow Enterprises is also home t ...

'' Magazine. In fall 2011, he released his version of

Roger Miller Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country hits " King of the Road", "Dang Me", and " England Swing ...

's "Little Toy Trains", originally titled "Old Toy Trains" and written in 1967. The song was released on a limited-edition pressing and made available for digital download. The proceeds of sales were donated to Make-A-Wish Canada. His

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

debut took place at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

in December 2011, with opening artist Tia McGraff from Port Dover, Ontario. On January 16, 2012, he publicly announced that he is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and told his story of severe childhood abuse and bullying. He dedicated the video of his single, the title track to his album "On My Way to Finding You", to the memory of Ottawa teenager Jamie Hubley, who committed suicide after having been severely bullied. In April 2012, Jensen released "Scars", written by

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

singer-songwriter Don Graham and co-writer Zita DaSilva, and is donating the proceeds of digital download sales of this song to Bullying.org. Due to popular demand, the song was included in Jensen's second album, OUTlaw. In November 2012, he released a video in which he performed a cover of

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

's hit song "

Stand By Your Man "Stand by Your Man" is a song recorded by the American country music artist Tammy Wynette, co-written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill. It was released on September 20, 1968, as the first single and title track from the album '' Stand by Your Man''. ...

" featuring drag queen

Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the RuPaul's Drag Race sea ...

from

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...

of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

''. The song was released as the seventh single from Willam's album '' The Wreckoning''. Also in November 2012, he released his first Christmas album ''Christmas at Home'', featuring the song of the same name by fellow

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

singer-songwriter

Rita MacNeil Rita MacNeil (May 28, 1944 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian singer and songwriter from the community of Big Pond, Nova Scotia, Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in ...

, as well as "Home Again" by Duncan Wells, also of Cape Breton. The latter song was made popular by Cookie Rankin of

The Rankin Family The Rankin Family (also known as The Rankins) are a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four Society of Composers, Authors, an ...

. In December 2012, blogger

Andy Towle Andy Towle born in Illinois in 1967 is an American artist, poet and journalist based in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He has received several fellowships for his poetry and fiction, and his poetry has been published in journals including the P ...

chose Jensen as one of the top 50 most influential comings out of 2012. The first single, "When It Hurts Like That" by Matt Ullman and Kyle Morrison Marion, from his second studio album ''OUTlaw'' was released via video on YouTube on January 30, 2013. The video was filmed in

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

, North Carolina by Blake Faucette and Justin Reich. Within four weeks of release, the video received over 100,000 views, and the single was named TRAX HEADSTARTER single of the week, having received the most spins that week at Canadian radio. Jensen was one of the headliners at

Waterloo Region The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfri ...

tri-Pride Tri-Pride, stylized tri-Pride, is an annual non-profit lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Pride festival in the Waterloo Region of Ontario, encompassing the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. Prior to the launch of Gu ...

music festival on June 1, 2013. On June 13, 2013, Jensen released the video for "Scars" during his performance at

Nashville Pride Nashville Pride is a non-profit based in Nashville, Tennessee that produces a yearly LGBT Pride Festival. Its goal is to celebrate the existence and identity of the LGBT community and "connect people with the services and resources that they need ...

's Pride Rocks! pre-party at the

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...

in Nashville, where songwriters Zita DaSilva and Don Graham saw it for the first time. In December 2013, Jensen continued the collaboration with Canadian songwriters Graham and DaSilva by releasing the original Christmas single "Live Every Day (Like It Was Christmas Day)" along with a video produced by Jonathan Edwards of Corvidae Music. Jensen also released a cover of

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

's "

Here Comes Santa Claus "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" is a popular Christmas song originally performed by Gene Autry, with music composed by Autry, Oakley Haldeman and Harriet Melka. Autry's original recording (in which he pronounces Santa Clau ...

", and is donating the proceeds to Santa Canada, an organization co-founded by friend Larry O. Lantz to bring Santa and the Christmas spirit to terminally ill children, at any time of the year. 2014 saw the recording of

Luba Luba may refer to: Geography *Kingdom of Luba, a pre-colonial Central African empire *Ľubá, a village and municipality in the Nitra region of south-west Slovakia * Luba, Abra, a municipality in the Philippines *Luba, Equatorial Guinea, a town ...

's "Everytime I See Your Picture". Ms Kowalchyk gave her blessing to the cover version and accompanying video, and called Jensen "a maverick in the music industry". This song would become the lead single of Jensen's third studio album, Retro, released in 2015. This album was a tribute to Jensen's musical influences, including Billy Idol, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Dan Seals among others. In 2016, Jensen recorded "Wherever Love Takes Us", with a video filmed at Ottawa's Capital Pride. The song was promoted to Australian radio, and charted in the Top 40 there. The song gained even more popularity with the creation of the line dance "Waves of Love" by renowned Irish choreographer Gary O'Reilly. The dance is being taught and by line dance groups worldwide. The song was also included as a bonus track in the limited CD-only re-release of RETRO. Jensen teamed up with Vancouver's Patrick Masse in 2017 to record the duet "Go Your Own Way". Jensen was also included with his husband in the book "David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 years of LGBT Music" by UK author Darryl W. Bullock. He attended the book's launch at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

in London on September 8, 2017, hosted by the BBC's

Simon Fanshawe Simon Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe (born 26 December 1956) is an English writer, activist and broadcaster. He contributes frequently to British newspapers, television and radio. Fanshawe is also now a consultant and non-executive director of public ...

. Jensen gave musical performances and participated in a discussion panel along with the author and Princess Julia. In October of that year, Jensen and his producer/guitarist Jonathan Edwards were invited to perform on Via Rail's "

The Canadian ''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...

" train from Toronto to Vancouver and back. Jensen's fourth studio album, "Sideshow" was released in 2018. This album is a collection of his greatest hits, along with previously released tracks "Wherever Love Takes Us" and "Go Your Own Way", as well as newly recorded songs "Talk Me Down" and a cover of

Lennie Gallant Lennie Gallant, CM is a Canadian singer-songwriter and instrumentalist from Prince Edward Island. His music crosses into the folk rock and country music genres, while celebrating the musical heritage of his home province. He has been presente ...

's "Which Way Does The River Run". "Talk Me Down" was released at select radio stations in 2019, and videos for it and "Which Way Does The River Run" were released to YouTube later that year.

Personal life

In 2007, Jensen moved to

and in 2008, married partner Michael Morin, who is also his personal manager.

Band

His band, The OUTlaws, is currently composed of: * Dan Aubé / John Walker – drums * Bill Buckley – electric guitar * Doug Chase – keyboards * Ellen Daly �
fiddle
* Jonathan Edwards – Band Leader, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmony vocals * Tom Nagy / Stefan Ferraro – bass * R.W. Haller – acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin

Awards

* May 2012 – Montreal's Fondation Émergence awarded Jensen with their annual Coup de Chapeau (Hats Off) Award in recognition of his contribution to the fight against

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

. * Jan 2022 – Faces Magazine awarded 'Country Artist of the Year' for the 2022 Ottawa Awards to Drake Jensen

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Drake 1970 births 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian gay musicians Canadian LGBTQ singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Gay singer-songwriters Living people People from Glace Bay Singers from Nova Scotia