Jennifer Carole Ledger (born 8 December 1989) is an English and American musician who serves as the drummer and co-vocalist for the

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

band

Skillet A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It typically ranges from in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small ...

. At the age of 18, she became Skillet's drummer when Lori Peters retired. Ledger released a solo EP in 2018 under the name Ledger. Several songs hit the Christian Rock chart and several other songs hit the

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Chri ...

chart.

Early life

Ledger was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

and started playing the drums when she was 13. Ledger attended

Coventry Blue Coat Church of England School The Blue Coat Church of England School is a specialist secondary school and sixth form located in Coventry, England. It is an Coventry Cathedral#Symbols of reconciliation, International Cross Of Nails (ICON) school, with links to schools all ov ...

where she passed her

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

. She played drums in a local band and was a finalist for the United Kingdom Drummer of the Year competition in 2006. She relocated to the United States at age 16 to major in drums with a scholarship at Living Light School of Worship in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Wisconsin, fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. S ...

. She joined the band The Spark; since the band already had a drummer, she played bass.

Career

With Skillet

Band members from Skillet discovered Ledger when they attended church services in the United States, where she was living at the time, and asked Ledger to audition for an open drummer spot in the band. She has been Skillet's drummer and female vocalist since 2008, appearing on the Comatose Comes Alive album, a live concert version of the Comatose album.

Solo

Ledger stated that she and bandmate Korey Cooper began to write music for her own pop-influenced solo-project album in about 2012. In March 2018, it was announced that her debut EP, ''Ledger'', was scheduled to be released on 13 April. She has signed a deal with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and Hear it Loud, the imprint launched by Skillet's

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Korey Cooper and manager Zachary Kelm. ''Ledger'' was produced by Korey Cooper along with writer and producer

Seth Mosley Seth David Mosley (born October 17, 1987) is an American Christian musician and record producer, who plays Christian pop and Christian rock. He was the frontman for the Christian alternative rock band Me in Motion. Mosley was awarded the Song ...

. Ledger was named the opening act for Skillet's Unleashed tour. On 6 April, she released an official audio for the song "Not Dead Yet" on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. In a 2018

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 advertis ...

article, Deborah Evans Price stated that “Ledger wrote “Not Dead Yet” about a difficult time in her life when she was badly struggling with anxiety, fear and panic attacks.” On 8 October 2018, it was announced that Ledger would be performing at the 2019 Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, along with

Newsboys Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band that has existed in various permutations since its founding in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tenness ...

Danny Gokey Daniel Jay Gokey (born April 24, 1980) is an American singer and former church music director. He was the third-place finalist on the eighth season of ''American Idol''. After his placing on the show, Gokey signed to 19 Recordings and RCA Nashv ...

Mandisa Mandisa Lynn Hundley () (October 2, 1976 – April 18, 2024), known mononymously as Mandisa, was an American gospel and contemporary Christian recording artist. She began her solo career as a contestant in the fifth season of ''American Ido ...

and

Rend Collective Rend Collective (formerly known as Rend Collective Experiment) is a Northern Irish Christian folk rock worship band originating from Bangor, Northern Ireland. The current lineup consists of Chris Llewellyn, Steve Mitchell, Wil Pearce, Jonatha ...

. On 15 February 2019, Ledger released her non-album single, "Completely," followed by a music video published on 27 March. On 14 February 2020, Ledger released her second non-album single, "My Arms", which was accompanied by a lyric video the same day.

Personal life

Ledger became a US citizen in 2021.

Discography

With Skillet

* ''

Awake Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world. Being awake is the opposite of being asleep, in which ...

'' (2009) * '' Rise'' (2013) * '' Unleashed'' (2016) * ''

Victorious ''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. The series revolves around aspi ...

'' (2019) * ''

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

'' (2022) *

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

(2024)

As Ledger

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

As featured artist

* ''The Elements'' – "Neon Feather" remix –

TobyMac Kevin Michael McKeehan (born October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. Widely regarded as one of the most ...

featuring Ledger * With Arms Outstretched – The Spark (feat. LEDGER) *Army of the Lord -Llcc UK (Jen Ledger) April 8, 2022

Awards

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ledger, Jen 1989 births Living people English heavy metal drummers English heavy metal singers English women drummers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century British drummers English rock drummers English rock singers Women heavy metal singers Skillet (band) members English Christians Musicians from Coventry Naturalized citizens of the United States