Alexzandra Spencer Johnson (born November 4, 1986)
is a Canadian musician, actress, and philanthropist. Her debut album ''Voodoo'' was independently released with her brother Brendan Johnson in 2010, followed by the demo release of ''The Basement Recordings'' in 2011, with its sequel, ''The Basement Recordings II'', and EP ''Skipping Stone'' in 2012. ''The Basement Recordings III'' was released in 2013. A follow-up extended play ''Heart'' followed in 2014; with her sophomore effort ''Let 'Em Eat Cake'' being released October of that year.
Johnson's third studio album ''A Stranger Time'' was released in 2017 and her fourth, ''Still Alive'', in 2020.
She is best known for her roles as Jude Harrison in the
CTV series ''
Instant Star
''Instant Star'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series starred Alexz Johnson as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experi ...
'', as Annie Thelen in the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
series ''
So Weird
''So Weird'' is a television series that aired on the Disney Channel as a mid-season replacement from January 18, 1999, to September 28, 2001. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the first two seasons, the series centered on t ...
'', and as Erin Ulmer in the 2006 horror film ''
Final Destination 3''. Johnson made history as the first actress to play the iconic superheroine
Saturn Girl
Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American DC comic books. A talented telepath from the 30th century, Saturn Girl is a founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Imra's "Saturn Girl" title refers to her homewo ...
from
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
popular graphic novels in the T.V. series ''
Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...
''. She was nominated three times for a
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...
for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series (''Instant Star''), winning the award in 2008.
Early life
Johnson was born in
New Westminster
New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, and raised in nearby
Coquitlam
Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipa ...
. She is of Swedish, Scottish, and English descent. The sixth of ten children, Johnson says her family embraced the arts and being creative. One brother is an actor and screenwriter, another brother does graphic design, her younger brother performs music, and her brother Brendan is a singer-songwriter and music producer with whom she often collaborates.
From age three, Johnson often sang for her large extended family. By age six, she was receiving vocal training, participating in festivals with her local youth choir by age seven, and giving solo performances at school and community functions. At age nine, she had entered the P.N.E. talent search, becoming a finalist. She participated in many talent contests and festivals, winning a National Anthem Contest at the age of 11, with her rendition of the Canadian National Anthem, "
O Canada
"O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...
", heard on national television. This resulted in radio and television interviews, as well as interest from management. That year, she was voted Best Anthem singer of the season by the ''
Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...
''.
Locally, Johnson was often referred to as the "
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
Celine"
and sang the
Canadian National Anthem
"O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...
at games for the NHL's
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...
and the NBA's
Vancouver Grizzlies
The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...
. She performed at charity events and fairs around the province, in addition to the
BC Summer Games
The BC Summer Games are an amateur sporting event held every year biennially in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The next games are scheduled to be held in Prince George in July 2022.
See also
* BC Games
**BC Winter Games
*Canada Games
...
recording their theme song, "Reach for the Stars". She went on to appear on the Variety Club show singing a duet with
Bob McGrath
Robert Emmett McGrath (June 13, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American actor, musician, and children's author best known for playing original human character and music teacher Bob Johnson on the long-running educational television series ' ...
, sang the first set of songs at the
Molson Indy (a major car race), and entertained on New Year's Eve at
Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet Hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a themed restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl En ...
at the age of 12.
Career
1997–2003: ''So Weird''
Although Johnson was only focused on a music career at the time, she decided to pursue a career in acting at the age of 11, where she "walked into an acting agency and told them
hewanted to sing". She landed auditions for commercials and a television pilot entitled "Most Talented Kids".
in 1999.
Johnson auditioned for the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
original series ''
So Weird
''So Weird'' is a television series that aired on the Disney Channel as a mid-season replacement from January 18, 1999, to September 28, 2001. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the first two seasons, the series centered on t ...
'', which was casting for a lead actress who could also sing for the final season of the show. At the age of 13, Johnson replaced the lead character in the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
series ''
So Weird
''So Weird'' is a television series that aired on the Disney Channel as a mid-season replacement from January 18, 1999, to September 28, 2001. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the first two seasons, the series centered on t ...
'' for the show's final season. Johnson portrayed the lead role of Annie Thelen, which combined her acting and musical talents. The role featured her singing alongside
Mackenzie Phillips. She showed an interest in songwriting, co-writing one of the songs for the show.
On July 22, 2000, Johnson was featured in ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' for the first time, she went on to be featured in sixteen different issues. Her highest ranking was number two in "''The Top 10 Favorite Artist Picks''" for "''The Most Popular New Talent on Broadband Talent Net''" as of June 2, 2001 after 33 weeks on. Her song "Dream About You" charted six different times and came in at number one in "''Radio Play Favorite Song Requests''" for "''The Most Listened-to New Tracks on Broadband Talent Net''" on November 11, 2000. Her song "Wishing On A Star" came in at number five in the same issue. Also "Sunshine Reigns" charted at number three on July 22, 2000.
In the year 2000, a song performed by Johnson entitled "Everything (Feels Like New)" was featured in the
Disney Channel Original Movie
Many television films have been produced for Disney Channel, an American family-oriented basic cable channel and former premium television channel since its launch on April 18, 1983. Until October 1997, films were released under the banner nam ...
''
The Other Me'', starring
Andrew Lawrence. A full studio version of the song was never released.
After the cancellation of ''So Weird'', Johnson continued her interest in songwriting, co-writing with her brother Brendan Johnson. Several labels offered her contracts, but she held off, wanting more creative control and a hand in the songwriting. In 2001, Johnson teamed up with the production/songwriting team of Johnny Elkins and
CJ Vanston
Cj (Jeffrey) Vanston is an American film composer, record producer, songwriter, and keyboardist, based in Hollywood, California. He was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Bonnie L. Smith and Paul L. Vanston.
Film credits
* 1996 ''Waiting for Gu ...
. Her song "Transparent Lies", was recorded for a compilation album titled ''Fill Your Head''. The album was compiled featuring several different artists with songs using certain words in order to help students with their SAT scores. Though it was initially released as a physical and digital compilation album, the physical is no longer in print, but a low quality digital copy can still be purchased for download from the original official website. Her work with Vanston and Elkins featured a more bubblegum pop sound than what she preferred and ended around 2003. Johnson continued to work with her brother Brendan recording their own music. These were the songs included on the demo CD sent to the executives of ''
Instant Star
''Instant Star'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series starred Alexz Johnson as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experi ...
'' with her audition tape.
In 2019 in an interview with ''The So Weird Podcast'', Johnson confirmed that her ''So Weird'' and ''
Cold Squad
''Cold Squad'' is a Canadian police procedural television series that premiered on CTV on January 23, 1998, at 10 p.m., and ran for seven seasons. Led by Sergeant Ali McCormick (Julie Stewart), a team of homicide detectives from the Vancouver Pol ...
'' co-star
Belinda Metz
Belinda Metz (born January 4, 1960) is a Canadian solo recording artist from the early to mid-1980s who has since gone into acting. She also has credits as a choreographer and songwriter.
Biography
In 1982 Metz released an independent album, ' ...
played a key role in her landing the role of Jude Harrison in ''
Instant Star
''Instant Star'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series starred Alexz Johnson as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experi ...
''.
2004–2007: ''Instant Star''
![Alexz Johnson and Other Cast Members of Instant Star](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Alexz_Johnson_and_Other_Cast_Members_of_Instant_Star.jpg)
Throughout 2004, Johnson made various appearances on Canadian television series including ''
The Chris Isaak Show
''The Chris Isaak Show'' is an American television sitcom that follows a fictionalized version of the life of American rock musician Chris Isaak. The show portrays Isaak and his band members as everyday people with everyday problems. The series w ...
'', ''
The Collector
''The Collector'' is a 1963 thriller novel by English author John Fowles, in his literary debut. Its plot follows a lonely, psychotic young man who kidnaps a female art student in London and holds her captive in the cellar of his rural farmhous ...
'', and ''
Cold Squad
''Cold Squad'' is a Canadian police procedural television series that premiered on CTV on January 23, 1998, at 10 p.m., and ran for seven seasons. Led by Sergeant Ali McCormick (Julie Stewart), a team of homicide detectives from the Vancouver Pol ...
''. In 2005 she made guest appearances in the made-for-TV films including ''
Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical'', as well as the role of Angel DeSousa in the
Lifetime original movie ''
Selling Innocence
''Selling Innocence'' is a 2005 television film depicting the exploitation of teenagers on the internet. The film was a co-production among the Edmonton-based television production company ImagiNation, Montreal's Cite-Amerique, and CTV television ...
''.
In February 2004, Johnson sent in an audition tape to the producers of ''
Degrassi: The Next Generation'' for their upcoming show ''
Instant Star
''Instant Star'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series starred Alexz Johnson as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experi ...
''. They were specifically looking for a Canadian teen actress/vocalist to play the lead role,
Jude Harrison. The first audition tape Executive Producer
Stephen Stohn
John Stephen Stohn (born May 8, 1948) is an American-born Canadian entertainment lawyer and television producer. He is best known for his involvement with the ''Degrassi'' teen drama franchise, particularly as an executive producer on '' Degrassi: ...
received was Johnson's via Canadian Singer-songwriter and actress
Belinda Metz
Belinda Metz (born January 4, 1960) is a Canadian solo recording artist from the early to mid-1980s who has since gone into acting. She also has credits as a choreographer and songwriter.
Biography
In 1982 Metz released an independent album, ' ...
, and he was convinced she was perfect for the role. After its first season, ''Instant Star'' was nominated for three
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...
s (the Canadian equivalent of the American
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
) in the category of Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series, including a nomination for Best Performance (Alexz Johnson). On August 28, 2007, the show received three more Gemini Award nominations, in the category of Best Children's or Youth Program or Series, including another for Best Performance (Alexz Johnson, in the episode, "I Fought the Law").
Johnson sang all of the songs that her character Jude, on ''Instant Star'' performed on the show. She recorded soundtracks for each of the four seasons of ''Instant Star'': ''
Songs from Instant Star
''Songs from Instant Star'' is the soundtrack for the first season of the television series ''Instant Star''. The entire album is performed by Alexz Johnson, who portrays the show's protagonist Jude Harrison. Throughout the run of the show, it†...
'', ''
Songs from Instant Star Two'', ''
Songs from Instant Star Three'', and ''
Songs From Instant Star Four''. She wrote or co-wrote five of the songs on the first season's soundtrack, including "24 Hours", "Let Me Fall", "Criminal, "Skin", and "That Girl", which Johnson had written before when she was fourteen.
Most of the original recordings for the originally planned debut album were written by Johnson in early 2005, but she had yet to find a major label to help create and release the songs. In early 2006, Johnson announced she was leaving the indie Canadian label
Orange Records that released the first two soundtracks to ''Instant Star'', in search of something to showcase her as an artist and not her fictional counterpart, Jude Harrison.
![2099725 FreightElevator 135wb2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/2099725_FreightElevator_135wb2.jpg)
Johnson auditioned for the role of Julie Christensen in the thriller ''
Final Destination 3
''Final Destination 3'' is a 2006 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wong. A standalone sequel to ''Final Destination 2'' (2003), it is the third installment in the ''Final Destination'' film series. Wong and Glen Morgan, who ...
''. She showed up at the audition in an all-black, punk rockish outfit, later claiming that she was in a bad mood. The casting directors concluded she was a better fit for the role of Erin Ulmer, a character with a bad attitude. Her performance attracted praise from some critics, including one (writing for ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'') who said: "The characters are so loathsome, you're glad to see them go. Except for two: the goth couple Ian (
Kris Lemche
Kris Lemche (born 1978 or 1979) is a Canadian actor.
Career
At 17 years old, Lemche answered a newspaper casting call and won a role on the Disney series '' Flash Forward''.
Abandoning plans to study biochemistry in University, Lemche instea ...
) and Erin (Alexz Johnson). He's a cynical know-it-all, like
Dennis Miller
Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian.
He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a stri ...
with black fingernails; she's like
Parker Posey
Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress and musician. Posey is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Satellite Award nomination and two Independent Spirit Award nominations.
Posey made her film debu ...
with raccoon mascara.." In 2007, Johnson starred in the
Lifetime movie, ''
Devil's Diary
''Devil's Diary'' is a Canadian horror television film directed by Farhad Mann and written by John Benjamin Martin.[Leo Award
The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...]
nomination, in the category of Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Feature-Length Drama.
2008–2009: Major label debut album
On August 26, 2008, Johnson was nominated a third time for a Gemini award. On October 21, 2008, she won the Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series, for the ''Instant Star'' episode "Let It Be". Johnson continued with ''Instant Star'' for four seasons, and expected to return for a fifth. This was interrupted when
CTV and
The N
The N (standing for Noggin) was a nighttime programming block on the Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by Viacom and Sesame Workshop. Before the block's introduction, Noggin's daytime l ...
both pulled funding following the fourth season, which led to the cancellation of the series. This allowed Johnson to go back to focusing on her music.
After a showcase in New York City, Johnson met with several labels and producers and chose
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
, which allowed her to work with Paul Buckmaster, though her brother was the main producer of the material at the time. In writing songs for the album, she worked with UK writers Martin Terefe and Sacha Skarbek as well as producer/songwriter Brio Taliaferro. On June 25, 2007, Johnson appeared on
MTV Canada
MTV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media with the name and branding used under a licensing agreement with Paramount Global. The channel is devoted to talk, lifestyle and documentary programming, and also airs some ...
. She confirmed that all of her songs had been written and recorded. She planned on shopping for a label over the next few months and hoped to release the album in the winter.
On February 15, 2008, she announced that she had signed a record deal with label
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
(part of the
Sony BMG
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
group), expecting the album to be released in the fall. Having heard the first six songs,
Stephen Stohn
John Stephen Stohn (born May 8, 1948) is an American-born Canadian entertainment lawyer and television producer. He is best known for his involvement with the ''Degrassi'' teen drama franchise, particularly as an executive producer on '' Degrassi: ...
, in his MySpace blog of February 16, 2008, commented that, "they are just incredibly good – very different from the songs you've come to know through ''Instant Star'', much more rhythmic, with almost a world beat." In an interview in 2008, she described her upcoming album as "pop with eclectic world rhythms and influences", citing influences from "older artists" such as
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
,
Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...
, and
Annie Lennox
Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...
, and saying that she was "trying to find a way to make those great older songs younger".
The producer for the album became
Greg Wells
Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...
after Johnson was introduced to him through his brother
Rob Wells
Rob Wells (born 1971/1972) is a Canadian producer/songwriter, and is one half of music production team "The Fourth Floor" with award winning singer/songwriter/recording artist Shobha.
Artists that Wells has worked with includes Ariana Grand ...
, one of the songwriters for ''Instant Star''. The new arrangement with
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
also affected the line-up of artists for the ''Instant Star'' 4 soundtrack, as the record label allowed her a maximum of four songs on ''Instant Star'' 4. In her MySpace blog of February 15, 2008, Johnson indicated that she was planning an extensive tour around her new album, saying of her songs that, "I can't wait to perform them live! Looking forward to seeing all of your faces!" Johnson also began working with multi-instrumentalist
Luis Conte
Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist best-known for his performances in the bands of artists including James Taylor, Madonna, Pat Metheny Group, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Shakira. He began ...
and legendary strings expert
Paul Buckmaster
Paul John Buckmaster (13 June 1946 – 7 November 2017) was a Grammy Award-winning British cellist, arranger, conductor and composer, with a career spanning five decades.
He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Sha ...
. Five songs were posted on her MySpace page by her record company on June 11, 2008. These songs were supposed to appear in her upcoming album and were entitled: "Easy", "Swallowed", "Chicago", "Golden", and "Running With the Devil".
Johnson appeared in the hit
CW series ''
Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...
'' episode "Legion", as the superheroine
Saturn Girl
Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American DC comic books. A talented telepath from the 30th century, Saturn Girl is a founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Imra's "Saturn Girl" title refers to her homewo ...
. The episode aired on January 15, 2009. She was the second actress from
Instant Star
''Instant Star'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series starred Alexz Johnson as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experi ...
to appear in the show, the first one being
Laura Vandervoort
Laura Dianne Vandervoort (born September 22, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Sadie Harrison in the CTV teen drama series ''Instant Star'', Arla "The Bolt-Gun Killer" Cogan in the Syfy supernatural drama series '' ...
. She also appeared in the TV-movie version of the
Lois Duncan
Lois Duncan Steinmetz (April 28, 1934 – June 15, 2016), known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pioneering figure in th ...
novel ''Stranger With My Face'', in which she plays twin sisters who were separated at birth. She stated that the filming—which included a dramatic scene in which her two characters conflict through astral projection, leading to a fall off a cliff and into a waterfall—was so mentally and physically demanding, that she felt like she could never take on another role like it again. It premiered on Lifetime Movie network on August 29, 2009. The director of ''Stranger With My Face'', Jeff Renfroe, greatly praised what he saw when working with Johnson and her costar
Andrew Francis
Andrew Michael Scott Francis is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in many television shows and films including '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' as Shining Armor, '' MegaMan NT Warrior'' as MegaMan.EXE, '' Hero 108'' as Lin Chung, '' L ...
. "They're both young actors who came from the school of working from the gut and not trying to intellectualize everything."
Before the album's release date, Epic Records removed Johnson from their Artist Lists. Johnson later gave clarification on her website that launched August 11, 2009, saying "Epic has released over a third of their artists from their contracts and, la dee da... I'm one of those artists..." She also later clarified in an interview that the "head of the label who signed
erended up shifting to a different company. It led a lot of artists on Epic astray."
She confirmed that due to losing her deal with Epic, she would be releasing a different album independently with her brother Brendan producing. She said she hopes that her unreleased debut album with Epic would see the light one day, noting that for now, the songs are still tied up in the arrangement with Epic.
2010–2011: ''Voodoo'', ''Reloaded'' and ''The Basement Recordings''
The independent release will be by the company which also runs her website – Laydee Spencer Music, Inc. Johnson released a list of songs that are going to be on her album in alphabetical order, and later requested fans to go through the clips of five upcoming songs on her site, and to recommend which should be the lead-off single. The tracks posted were: "L.A. Made Me", "Hurricane Girl", "Voodoo", "A Little Bit", and "Trip Around the World". It was announced that her debut album ''Voodoo'' would be released on March 30, 2010. The debut single, Trip Around The World, was released on February 2, 2010 along with a music video shot by Michael Maxxis. Johnson shared in an interview that her favourite songs of ''Voodoo'' are "Look at Those Eyes", "Voodoo", and "Gonna Get It".
Johnson informed her fans through her Twitter account and her official website that all the songs from ''Voodoo'' would be remixed by the Demolition Crew due to lack of airplay. The Demolition Crew undertook to make the songs more radio-friendly. She later released her remix album ''Reloaded'', it was released on April 26, 2011. The first single, "Boogie Love" (The Demolition Crew Remix), was released on January 10, 2011 while the second one, "Look at Those Eyes" (The Demolition Crew Remix), was released on March 29, 2011.
She became a trending topic on Twitter for four days, due to the
ABC Family
The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...
television series ''
Pretty Little Liars
''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...
'', playing "Time to Be Your 21", a song performed by Johnson in the series ''Instant Star'', in the season finale. While trending on Twitter, she garnered attention from
Demi Lovato
Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...
and
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists.
She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...
. Lovato has spoken several times about Johnson being her inspiration to start a career in music, while Furtado spoke about her single "Look at Those Eyes" calling it "an event". With the help of the Twitter trend, Johnson made the homepage of several online sites, including ''L.A. Times'' Ministry of Gossip Blog.
Johnson created a YouTube account where she posts videos of herself performing along with her brother Brendan James Johnson, and
Jimmy Robbins. On June 22, 2011, Johnson held two live concerts on Stage It for fans around the world. The concerts were performed online via webcam. Though many of her songs had already been featured in several episodes.
In June 2011 it was announced that Johnson would sing on the opening theme song of the television series ''
Degrassi: The Next Generation'' Season 11. The idea came naturally as Demacio "Demo" Castellón was producing the track and asked her if she would contribute to it.
She revealed that she is writing for her next album and hoping to enter the studio by the end of the Summer to start recording. Johnson and her brother, Brendan Johnson, released a digital album of some of her previously unreleased demo's entitled, ''The Basement Recordings'', on August 26, 2011. The sequel to the 2011 demo album ''The Basement Recordings'', named ''The Basement Recordings II'' was released on May 1, 2012. On February 22, 2013, Johnson and her brother Brendan released the third installment in the series, ''The Basement Recordings III''.
2012–2016: ''Skipping Stone'', ''Heart'' and ''Let 'Em Eat Cake''
![Alexz Johnson 02 26 2015 -7 (16641138636)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Alexz_Johnson_02_26_2015_-7_%2816641138636%29.jpg)
Johnson announced her plans to release an EP featuring new material, and confirmed on October 29 that she was in New York filming the music video for her new single "Skipping Stone". She also confirmed that it would originally be a digital release, and following her Kickstarters Campaign, a physical release would follow. The video for "Skipping Stone" was released in December. ''Skipping Stone'' was released on January 24, 2012, that same day she launched a
Kickstarter Campaign in order to raise funds for her upcoming U.S tour. She set her goal for $30,000 in 60 days. For different money denominations, Johnson offered prizes. Examples included digital downloads of ''Skipping Stone'', signed T-shirts and CDs, signed scripts, clothing from ''Instant Star'', concert tickets, personalized emails phone calls, live performances, dinner and a broadway show, etc. Johnson unexpectedly reached her goal within 24 hours, confirming her ability to tour during the summer of 2012. Johnson reached $50,000 on day three, allowing her the opportunity to expand the tour and travel overseas. All money donated goes toward touring, recording, merchandise, and anything music related.
On October 26, 2012, Johnson released a trailer for ''The Skipping Stone Tour Documentary'' which chronicles her summer on tour. Johnson released a live album, ''Live From The Skipping Stone Tour'', a documentary, and a photo book containing photos from The Skipping Stone Tour on December 4, 2012.
Alexz revealed she had begun working on ''Heart'' in 2012. She worked with
Bleu
Bleu or BLEU may refer to:
* the French word for blue
* '' Three Colors: Blue'', a 1993 movie
* BLEU (Bilingual Evaluation Understudy), a machine translation evaluation metric
* Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union
* Blue cheese, a type of cheese ...
, Boots Ottestad,
Wax Ltd
Wax Ltd. is the American multi-platinum production and songwriting duo of Wally Gagel and Xandy Barry. Collectively and individually they have worked with a wide variety of artists including Zella Day, Blondfire, Family of the Year, Miley Cyrus, ...
, Jamie Hartman, Theo Katzman, and her brother Brendan James Johnson on writing the Extended-Play. Johnson later announced that she would collaborate with her fans in funding her next studio project through
PledgeMusic.com. According to the site, Johnson has managed to gather 156% of the money needed for the production and release of her second album. Johnson launched a joint North American tour with Charlene Kaye, Misty Boyce, and Jay Stolar in the spring of 2013. On Christmas Day of 2013, she released the lead single from ''Heart'', titled "American Dreamer", initially only to fans who had already donated, and pledged. The single was released publicly on January 10, 2014. On January 29, 2014, Johnson released the Extended-Play ''Heart'', initially to pledgers only. It includes "American Dreamer" as well as three other tracks. While the EP was originally intended to be an album sampler, she clarified in an interview that the EP will stand on its own, and that the EP will feature only new tracks. Johnson was part of a European tour in support of the EP in early 2014, opening for
Ron Pope
Ronald Michael Pope (born July 23, 1983) is an American pop and rock singer-songwriter. He is currently based in Nashville.
Background and career
Pope was raised in Marietta, Georgia. He attended East Cobb Middle School and Joseph Wheeler Hig ...
and
Wakey!Wakey!
Wakey Wakey (formerly known as ''Wakey!Wakey!'') is an adult alternative pop group fronted by Michael Grubbs and based in Brooklyn, New York. Michael Grubbs is also known for his role as "Grubbs" on One Tree Hill, where the band's music has been ...
. Johnson was also the opening act for
MAX on a North American tour.
Pledgers received digital copies of Johnson's sophomore album ''Let 'Em Eat Cake'' one week before the official release date of October 14, 2014. Alexz embarked on a tour in support of the album from October until December of the same year.
Jared & The Mill and Patrick Droney joined her as special guests. From February to March 2015, Johnson had a five-week residency at The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, CA. The song "Let 'Em Eat Cake" was featured in an episode of ''
South of Hell'' starring
Mena Suvari
Mena Alexandra Suvari (; born February 13, 1979) is an American actress, producer, fashion designer and model. After beginning her career as a model and guest-starring on several television shows, she made her film debut in the 1997 drama '' Now ...
. The episode aired on November 27, 2015 on
WE tv
We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming.
As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Ameri ...
.
Johnson collaborated with
Bleu
Bleu or BLEU may refer to:
* the French word for blue
* '' Three Colors: Blue'', a 1993 movie
* BLEU (Bilingual Evaluation Understudy), a machine translation evaluation metric
* Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union
* Blue cheese, a type of cheese ...
on the project Johnson & McAuley. They released a self-titled EP in 2016. The duo released their first music video for "Illuminated Dream" on January 19, 2017.
On May 24, 2016, Johnson made her directorial debut with "Weekend" a music video for the band Dress Black. June 27, 2017, a second video for Dress Black's song "Single File Girl" was released also directed by Johnson.
2017–present: ''A Stranger Time'' and ''Still Alive''
She began working on her third studio album, with
Mark Howard producing the record. "Right Now" was released as the lead single from her third studio album on July 4, 2017. The studio album ''A Stranger Time'' was officially released on September 1, 2017 it is a nine track studio album. A music video for "Right Now" premiered on Johnson's YouTube channel on her birthday, November 4, 2017. The album is accompanied by multiple music video's, and a behind the scenes video of making the album. On March 9, 2018 she released her second live album titled ''Live from A Stranger Time''.
In late 2019, she announced, via her official Instagram account, an upcoming fourth studio album. The singles "Weight" and "Running with the Devil", as well as a short documentary, ''The Longer Road'', preceded the release of the album. ''Still Alive'' was released on May 8, 2020.
Influences and musical style
Alexz Johnson could be seen in 2001 during her episode with Disney Channel's ''Express Yourself'' citing
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
,
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...
,
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
, and
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...
as vocal influences. She states: "''Women who just write their own music and sing what they feel, it just really inspires me.''"
Johnson was quoted saying, "I love pop music, but kind of eclectic, creative pop." She has said her influences include
Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...
,
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
,
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
, and
Annie Lennox
Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...
. She is also an admirer of
Jason Mraz
Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single " The Remedy (I Won't ...
,
The Civil Wars
The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams (singer), Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup.
History
2008–2010
Both Williams and White h ...
, and
Sara Bareilles
Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...
.
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
,
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
and
Carole King
Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...
have all influenced her writing growing up.
Philanthropy
During 2001, Johnson worked with
World Vision
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
, and had a section on her official site where fans could order shirts with a design done by Johnson and featuring her autograph. There were production problems and the shirts were never sent out. Johnson made an apology on her site and provided refunds to everyone who ordered one. In 2002, she performed as the opening act at
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
's celebrity dinner and auction, held in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta, to raise funds for the
Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and ...
children's charity. Also in 2001 she performed, and visited the
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
Kids Fair, she also hosted the event. During her time in Nashville, Johnson visited ill children in a local hospital. The trip was made as a part of an outreach program by
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
, and Johnson visited children, with the dog who starred in the Disney original film ''
Air Bud
''Air Bud'' is a 1997 sports comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. The film was financially successful, grossing $4 million in its opening weekend and totaling $27.8 million in its run against an estimated $3 million budget.
Plot
After ...
''.
In 2002, Johnson shared the stage with
David Foster
David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...
,
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...
, and
Ed McMahon
Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...
at a David Foster Foundation fundraiser.
During 2002 and 2003, Johnson focused on her music, and decided to perform with several charitable organizations. She worked with
David Foster
David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...
, opening for his charity events for the David Foster Foundation. After the season premiere of the second season of ''
Instant Star
''Instant Star'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series starred Alexz Johnson as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experi ...
'' on
The N she also did a public service announcement for
Second Harvest
Second Harvest is Canada's largest food rescue charitable organization.
Second Harvest works with thousands of food businesses from across the supply chain to reduce the amount of edible food going to waste. This model helps redirect surplus fo ...
, which had been assisting victims of
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
.
On November 21, 2008, Johnson was a special guest performer for a Women in Leadership (a Vancouver organization promoting women's role in the media) foundation called SuperWomen & Friends—A Red Carpet Gala.
In 2021 Johnson teamed up with Cameo.com, in which fans can purchase personal request videos, announcing that partial proceeds will benefit the
Canadian Cancer Society
The Canadian Cancer Society (french: Société canadienne du cancer) is Canada's largest national cancer charity and the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada.
History
The idea to form the Canadian Cancer Society origin ...
.
Filmography
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Voodoo'' (2010)
* ''Let 'Em Eat Cake'' (2014)
* ''A Stranger Time'' (2017)
* ''Still Alive'' (2020)
Demo albums
* ''The Basement Recordings'' (2011)
* ''The Basement Recordings II'' (2012)
* ''The Basement Recordings III'' (2013)
Remix albums
* ''Reloaded'' (2011)
Live albums
* ''Live from the Skipping Stone Tour'' (2012)
* ''Live from A Stranger Time'' (2018)
* ''Live in Bristol'' (2022)
vailable through Patreon only
Extended plays
* ''Skipping Stone'' (2012)
* ''Heart'' (2014)
* ''Johnson & McAuley'' (as part of Johnson & McAuley)
(2016)
* ''Songs From Blue Season 3'' (2014)
* ''The Dishwasher (Original Short Film Soundtrack)'' (2016)
Soundtrack albums
* ''
Songs from Instant Star
''Songs from Instant Star'' is the soundtrack for the first season of the television series ''Instant Star''. The entire album is performed by Alexz Johnson, who portrays the show's protagonist Jude Harrison. Throughout the run of the show, it†...
'' (2005)
* ''
Songs from Instant Star Two'' (2006)
* ''
Songs from Instant Star 3'' (2007)
* ''
Songs from Instant Star 4'' (2008)
* ''
Instant Star: Greatest Hits'' (2009)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
VH1 Artist Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Alexz
1986 births
20th-century Canadian actresses
21st-century Canadian actresses
Actresses from British Columbia
Canadian child actresses
Canadian child singers
Canadian film actresses
Canadian television actresses
Canadian voice actresses
Canadian video game actresses
Musicians from British Columbia
People from Coquitlam
People from New Westminster
Living people
21st-century Canadian women singers