Jane Richmond Hyslop (born 15 February 1967), known professionally as Jane Child, is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record-producer best known for her hit single "

Don't Wanna Fall in Love "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Jane Child. Released in January 1990 as the second single from her first album, Jane Child (album), ''Jane Child'', the single peaked at number two for three consecutive weeks on ...

". She is also known for her unusual fashion style, which included a hairstyle made of

spikes The SPIKES protocol is a method used in clinical medicine to break bad news to patients and families. As receiving bad news can cause distress and anxiety, clinicians need to deliver the news carefully. Using the SPIKES method for introducing and ...

and ankle-length braids and a nose chain piercing.

Early life

Child was born in Toronto, and is the daughter of noted Canadian classical musician Ricky Hyslop, while her mother was a singer and pianist. She has two brothers. Child was classically trained as a pianist during her youth. Her parents taught her how to play and sing by kindergarten. The first record she ever owned was

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' ''

Rubber Soul ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "We Can Work It Ou ...

'', purchased by her father so that she could learn the arrangement of " Michelle". Her exposure to funk music came from having Christmases in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, and listening to local music there on the beaches. At age 12 she joined the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...

's children's chorus, and soon after studied piano briefly at the Royal Conservatory of Music under Samuel Dolin. At age 15 she dropped out of school despite good grades. While seeking a summer job she saw an ad in a newspaper for a band looking for a keyboardist, which she applied for and joined. It was a touring rock and roll band of Deadheads known as ''Summerhill'' that played remote northern Canadian towns, and paid her $25 a week. She played the

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, piano, and organ, and sang in their shows for over 45 weeks in their first year together. She also had various other musical jobs, such as organist at the Anglican church in her neighbourhood and at horse-shows, playing piano for ballet classes and at piano bars, and recording jingles for commercials.

Career

Eventually Child cut a demo tape in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

with the engineer who owned the studio where she had been recording jingles. With a low budget, she would bus out to the studio and play all the instruments herself. Child was signed by a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

based production company after a partner in the company, who was a client of Child's entertainment lawyer, heard the tape. She subsequently relocated to New York and then Los Angeles. Adamant about producing her own music, Child left the label. After a bidding war with 13 other labels, she settled with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, who agreed to sign her on her own terms. At this time she was struggling to pay bills despite extravagant nights out for label meetings. One of her first potential breaks was when a publishing company sent a song she wrote to

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey. ...

, but in the end he chose not to record the song despite liking it. Her debut album, ''

Jane Child Jane Richmond Hyslop (born 15 February 1967), known professionally as Jane Child, is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record-producer best known for her hit single "Don't Wanna Fall in Love". She is also known for her unusual fashion style, wh ...

'', released in 1989, was fully written and produced by Child, who also performed all the vocals and played all the instruments (except for the guitar parts), a rarity for a debut artist signed to a major label. Due to her musical style and her emphasis on control over her music, she was at the time labelled by the press as "the female

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

". She is best known for the hit single "

", which peaked at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1990. The song was also a big hit on the R&B chart - a rarity for a white artist - peaking at No. 6. Her previous single, "Welcome to the Real World", was a modest hit, peaking at No. 49 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 1993, she released her second album, '' Here Not There''. In the album, she broadened her R&B sound to mix it with traces of rock,

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

, and Eastern music. The album and its singles were commercial failures, and she was dropped from the label and kept a low profile for the rest of the decade, though releasing a few collaborations with Japanese artists in that country. In 2001, she re-recorded the song "World Lullabye" from her debut album and sold the single through her website. All proceeds were donated to the Twin Towers Fund. Her third album, ''Surge'', was released in early 2002 on her own label, Sugarwave. She recorded a cover of

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

's " We Don't Need Another Hero" for the tribute album, ''What's Love? A Tribute to Tina Turner'', released in 2004. In the '' Just Dance'' video game franchise, she contributed vocals to cover songs for '' Just Dance 2016'' and '' Just Dance 2017''.

Artistry

Child's look was inspired by African and East Indian cultures, as well as the

punk movement The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of Punk rock, music, Punk ideologies, ideologies, Punk fashion, fashion, and other forms of expression, Punk visual art, visual art, dance, Punk literature, literature, and film. La ...

, which came from living amongst these diasporas in Toronto. Her notable hair style, which she started at the age of 17, would be redone once a month by 3 women taking 14 hours to do. Her musical influences included

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

the Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several ...

, Alicia de Larrocha, and Glenn Gould. Child would do her own cataloguing for programming, including the samples and sequences, often for 14 hours at a time. She writes left handed and would sing as she wrote, also coming up with the bass line with her left hand. In studio some of the gear she used included Fairlight, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and T-8, LinnDrum, E-mu SP12, Synclavier, Roland MSQ-700 and the Roland SBX-80. For tours her gear included a Minimoog, a Solina (ARP String Ensemble), a Mini-Korg, a Hammond B3 with a Leslie 145, and a Yamaha CP-70 electric grand.

Personal life

Child has been married to Cat Gray, the chief musician on ''

Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is a television game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created and produced by Stefan Hatos and Mo ...

'', since 2004. In 1990, she purchased the 1917 Los Angeles house of Vidah Bickford, a locally based guitarist and mandolinist. She enjoys collecting Citroens and antiques.

Awards and nominations

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Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

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, Most Promising Female Vocalist , , rowspan=4, , - , Songwriter of the Year , , - , Producer of the Year , , - , rowspan=2, "

" , Dance Recording of the Year , , - ! scope="row",

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, Best New Artist in a Video , ,

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

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! style="width:35px;", US R&B
, - , 1989 , ''

'' , rowspan="2" ,

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, align="center", 49 , align="center", 40 , - , 1993 , '' Here Not There'' , align="center", — , align="center", — , - , 2002 , '' Surge'' , Sugarwave , align="center", — , align="center", — , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;", "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Remix albums

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Singles

As lead artist

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! style="width:35px;", US
! style="width:35px;", US Dance
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, - , rowspan="1" , 1989 , "Welcome to the Real World" , rowspan="2" , ''Jane Child'' , rowspan="7" ,

, align=center , 59 , align=center , 49 , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , 1990 , "

" , align=center , 4 , align=center , 2 , align=center , 11 , align=center , 6 , align=center , 22 , align=center , 97 , - , 1992 , "Mona Lisa Smiles" , rowspan="5" , ''Here Not There'' , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , rowspan="3" , 1993 , "Here Not There" , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , "Do Whatcha Do" , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , "Perfect Love" , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , 1994 , "All I Do" , align=center , 80 , align=center , ― , align=center , 25 , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , rowspan="2" , 2001 , "World Lullabye 2001" , , rowspan="3" , Sugarwave , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , "Almost Beautiful" , rowspan="2" , ''Surge'' , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , 2002 , "Nice Day" , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , align=center , ― , - , colspan="10" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;", "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

As featured artist

{, class="wikitable" , + !Year !Title !Label , - , 1998 , "Maybe Tomorrow" (Tomohiko Nishimura feat. Jane Child) , Fun House

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Child, Jane 1967 births Canadian dance musicians Child, Jane Canadian women rock singers Canadian record producers Canadian contemporary R&B singers Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year winners Living people Singers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian women singers 20th-century Canadian women singers Freestyle musicians Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian women record producers Canadian women in electronic music Canadian expatriates in the United States 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters