Jennifer Marks is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her single, "Fragile," won the Grand Prize in the

Great American Song Contest The Great American Song Contest is an international music competition run annually by Songwriters Resource Network since 2000. Overview The contest runs annually, organised by Songwriters Resource Network, an educational resource for songwrite ...

and her single, "Thick," won first place in the US Songwriting Contest in 2000. Her song, "Live," received a fair amount of national airplay on

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

radio stations and she was the opening act on Cyndi Lauper's 16-city US tour in 2004.

Early life and education

Jennifer Marks was born on Long Island, New York to parents Michael Schonberg and Helena Marksohn. She moved to NYC to attend

NYU Stern The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts a ...

where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in Music Business. After Marks moved to New York she learned to play guitar.

Career

Jennifer Marks is an singer, songwriter, guitarist, and author. She has released four studio albums, ''Pizza'' (1997), ''My Name's Not Red'' (2000), ''It Turned Me On'' (2002), ''Jennifer Marks'' (2004), and ''Tornadoes and Rollercoasters'' (2023). She was the opening act for

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

's 2008 tour and has performed with

Carrie Newcomer Carrie Newcomer (born May 25, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and author. She has produced 19 solo CDs and has received numerous awards for her music and related charitable activities. She has collaborated with numerous authors, academi ...

, Jenny Bruce, Rachael Sage, and others. She won 1st place in the Great American Songwriting Competition, USA Songwriting Contest, and was an American Music Award Top 10 finalist (out of 800 entries). Shortly after graduating from

Marks was signed to a major publishing deal. She recorded nine demo recordings and released them on her debut album, ''Pizza''. In 2000, Marks released her sophomore album, ''My Name's Not Red,'' which received favorable reviews. "Thick" won Best Rock Song and Second Overall Grand Prize out of 33,000 entries which were judged by representatives from Warner/Reprise Records, Walt Disney Music Publishing, and Sony Music. "Fragile" won first place in the

and she was inducted into GASC hall of fame, as well. Marks is the owner of Red Kurl Records. Singles from the album received college airplay and WLIR named her "Independent Artist of the Week."

Martha Byrne Mary Martha Byrne (born December 23, 1969) is an American actress. She played the role of Lily Walsh Snyder on the soap opera ''As the World Turns'' from 1985 to 1989, then again from 1993 to 2008; as well as, from 2000 to 2003, Lily's twin sis ...

performed several of Marks' songs on ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other so ...

'', and her songs have been featured in independent films, ''Jane Doe'' (

Calista Flockhart Calista Kay Flockhart (born November 11, 1964) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying the title character on the Fox television series '' Ally McBeal'' (1997–2002), for which she received a Golden Globe Award in 1998 and w ...

), ''Let it Snow'' (

Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress and singer. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo concerts and released reco ...

). In 2002, she released her third album, ''It Turned Me On'', and began touring as a solo artist. The single performed well, garnering college radio airplay and appearing in independent films and the daytime soap opera, As The World Turns. In 2004, Marks signed with Bardic Records and released ''Jennifer Marks'' (self-titled). The album's single, "Live," received favorable reviews and garnered national airplay throughout 2004. Billboard magazine said, "Marks delivery is lively and fun." "Live," was featured in

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

's '' My Scene: Masquerade Madness'' and on

Hello Kitty , also known by her real name , is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red ...

's album ''Hello World''. Marks was the opening act on

's 2004 16-city national tour. In 2009, Marks teamed up with artists Jessica Hoffman, Maya Churi, and Heather Staples to write the music for, ''My Changing Planet'', a children's music album which included performances by

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

Noah Emmerich Noah Nicholas Emmerich (born February 27, 1965) is an American actor and director best known for his roles in films such as '' Beautiful Girls'' (1996), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Frequency'' (2000), ''Miracle'' (2004), '' Little Children'' (2 ...

, and Toby Lightman, among others.

Discography

* 1997 - ''Pizza'' * 2000 - ''My Name's Not Red'' * 2002 - ''It Turned me On'' * 2004 - ''Jennifer Marks'' * 2009 - ''My Changing Planet'' * 2023 - ''Tornadoes and Rollercoasters''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Jennifer Living people American women singer-songwriters 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singers from New York City Musicians from Manhattan Guitarists from New York City 20th-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists American women pop singers American women rock singers