Carly Rae Jepsen

At a time when larger-than-life artists such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna dominated the pop music charts, Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen seemingly came out of nowhere and delivered "Call Me Maybe," a lighthearted ditty about infatuation that became the summer anthem of 2012. The singer was born on Nov. 21, 1985 in Mission, British Columbia, Canada. As a child, Jepsen's father sang James Taylor songs while he put her to sleep. Jepsen began performing at Heritage Park Secondary School in Mission before attending the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria, B.C. In 2007, the aspiring singer auditioned for the reality competition series "Canadian Idol" (CTV, 2003- ), where she placed third overall during the fourth season and went on to join her castmates on the "Canadian Idol Top 3" concert tour. Following her "Idol" run, Jepsen went straight to work on her debut album Tug of War (2008), which included the singles "Bucket" and the title track. Tug of War reportedly sold around 10,000 copies in Canada and earned the singer critical praise, including a 2010 Juno Award nomination for Best New Artist. While on the road promoting her debut album, Jepsen and her band mate Tavish Crowe began writing the lyrics to a pop song with an undeniably catchy four-line refrain. Jepsen began working on the track "Call Me Maybe" in early 2011 at the Vancouver studio of producer Josh Ramsay. It was supposed to be just another song for the singer's six-track EP Curiosity (2012), but not the lead single. It was eventually chosen over the title track and released in Canada in October 2011. In January 2012, "Call Me Maybe" caught the attention of Scooter Braun - manager of teen superstar Justin Bieber - who signed her to his label Schoolboy Records/Interscope. "Call Me Maybe" gained international momentum thanks to Braun and Bieber's constant endorsement on social media sites. Jepsen's song also inspired countless music videos covers posted on YouTube, with the likes of Bieber, Katy Perry, and even the Harvard baseball team lip-syncing the words to the hit single. "Call Me Maybe" quickly became the summer song of 2012 due to its catchy hook, and Jepsen's breezy and charming delivery. After 16 weeks climbing the charts, "Call Me Maybe" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2012. The single also topped the singles charts in her native Canada, Australia, and Europe. Later that month, Jepsen released her much-anticipated follow-up - a duet with Owl City's Adam Young titled "Good Time." When Jepsen's full-length album, Kiss, was released later in 2012, its sales did not match that of the single, but it garnered generally solid reviews. After playing the title role in a Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" for 12 weeks in early 2014, Jepsen released her third LP, Emotion, in June 2015. The album received even stronger critical raves than its predecessor, and the single "I Really Like You" landed on the charts internationally. The following year, Jepsen appeared as Frenchy in the live television event "Grease Live" (Fox 2016).