…In their statement, they described her as “an inimitable force of nature” and “an irreplaceable being of light and joy.”
From Birmingham to Montreal
Jordan was born in Birmingham, England, and moved to Montreal as a child after her father took a teaching job at Concordia University. Music grabbed her early, and she was performing as a teenager.
By her early twenties, she was recording with some of Montreal’s top artists and writing her own songs. One of those compositions, written for singer Michael Breen, became a Canadian Top 40 hit.
Breakthrough and Rise to Fame
Her big moment arrived in 1988 with her debut album, Tell Somebody. It produced two Canadian hits, the title track and “Double Trouble,” and the following year she won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist.
Her 1992 album Racine pushed her career even further. It delivered four Top 20 hits, including “Make You a Believer,” and became her best-selling record.
Feeling she had outgrown Montreal, Jordan moved to Los Angeles to chase bigger success. She landed a spot on the soundtrack of The Bodyguard, one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time, singing a duet alongside Joe Cocker.
In 1994, “Sun’s Gonna Rise” became her biggest Canadian hit, climbing to No. 7 and crossing over to the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Her touring band at one point included a young drummer named Taylor Hawkins, who later joined Foo Fighters.
Expanding Beyond Music
Jordan later said she wasn’t fully satisfied with the direction of some of her albums, so she branched out into other creative outlets. In 2001, she played Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis.
Then in 2003, she joined Canadian Idol as a judge, staying for all six seasons and winning over a whole new generation of fans.
Final Years and Health Struggles
In her later years, Jordan returned to the blues and rock that first inspired her. Her 2020 album Rebel Moon Blues reached the top five of the U.S. blues chart.
She followed it with her final studio album, Bitches Blues, released in 2022.
Just weeks before her death, Jordan canceled her remaining 2026 tour dates because of what her team described as a “serious medical condition.” Her family has not disclosed a cause of death.
She is survived by her husband, Derek Sharp; her daughter, Stella; her stepdaughter, Brianne; and her brother, Daniel.