Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy… But here’s my number, call me maybe! These lyrics probably sound familiar since Carly Rae Jepsen is exploding in the music scene with her hit “Call Me Maybe” which reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on Canadian Hot 100. It is also comfortably at number 10 for most popular singles on iTunes.
Although Carly Rae Jepsen has established herself in Canada as an artist, singer, and songwriter, Carly was almost completely unknown to America. Carly has many accomplishments including a third place finish on Canadian idol, two gold singles, two albums, and two Juno Award nominations. Her fame in the U.S all started with fellow Canadian, Justin Bieber. Bieber began tweeting and promoting Carly on twitter after he heard “Call Me Maybe” on the radio when visiting his hometown.
“I immediately fell in love with the song. I thought it was a smash,” said Justin Bieber. Scooter Braun and Justin Bieber then signed Carly to Braun’s Schoolboy Records and Interscope Records.
Carly’s story begins in Mission, British Columbia, where she grew up with two parents who were educators and music lovers. Ever since she was a child, she was passionate about music and never stopped singing.
Jepsen discovered music was her future when she starred as Annie in “The Wiz,” in high school. She then continued to attend The Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria after graduating high school. At age 17, Carly got her first guitar. Her parents believed she would become a music teacher, little did they know singing her own songs was her destiny. Jepsen performed in pubs, challenging herself to win over different types of audiences.
By 2007, Carly realized playing in pubs was starting to get old. Being a music teacher didn’t seem too appealing to Carly either. Carly’s old drama teacher had encouraged her to try out for Canadian Idol where she ended up taking third place. Her popularity led to a recording contract with Canada’s 604 Records. She then released her debut album “Tug of War” in August 2008.
To even further the success of Carly’s single “Call Me Maybe,” in America, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale, and more Disney stars created a fun and lighthearted music video that was uploaded to youtube. This brought in over 19,000,000 views and inspired hundreds of fans to post similar homemade videos. The official music video on VEVO has over 63 million views.
“I first saw the video along with everyone else when it was posted to Carlos Pena’s youtubechannel. I had to watch it three times before it actually registered for me this was done by my new team. It was the warmest welcome I could have imagined,” said Carly Rae Jepsen.
“Call Me Maybe” is a song that has won over many audiences. People of all different music genres enjoy Carly’s song.
“Although I usually don’t enjoy music like this, I love Call Me Maybe. It’s just so catchy. You would usually catch me listening to rap, but this song is a definite exception,” said Francesca Gallo.
Carly listening to her drama teacher and following her instincts about music definitely has paid off. Jepsen is the first Canadian artist to top the digital chart excluding Justin Bieber’s “Baby.” Carly is definitely headed to success in America. Carly Rae Jepsen will be releasing an album this year titled “Curiosity,” which will surely not disappoint her audiences.
