MOLLY JOHNSON

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http://www.mollyjohnson.com/

Molly Johnson is a Canadian singer-songwriter of pop and jazz.

Johnson began as a child performer, receiving formal training from the National Ballet School and the Banff School of Fine Arts.

The child of a white mother and a black father, Johnson's career started in the mid-1960s when as a young grade schooler, she and her brother, Clark Johnson, were tapped by Toronto producer Ed Mirvish to appear in Porgy and Bess at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. In time Porgy and Bess was followed by South Pacific, Finian's Rainbow and other musicals. The budding child star was soon enrolled the National Ballet School as she desired to become a choreographer. By the age of seventeen, Molly was fronting a disco band named A Chocolate Affair. The group lasted just over a year.

Although she has performed as a jazz singer throughout her career, she did not release a jazz album until her self-titled solo debut in 2000. She was lead vocalist for two rock bands, Alta Moda and Infidels in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as frequent contributor to Big Sugar, who also became a prominent Canadian band in the 1990s. Both of her bands had notable hits in Canada (Alta Moda's "Julian" and Infidels' "100 Watt Bulb" and "Celebrate"), but both bands broke up (for different reasons) after just one album each.

In the mid-1990s, Johnson also organized an annual concert series, the Kumbaya Festival, as a benefit for Canadian charities working around HIV and AIDS. She helped to raise over one million dollars for people living with AIDS/HIV. From 1992 to 1995 Kumbaya was broadcast live by MuchMusic, and featured Canada's best talent from Rush to the Tragically Hip, from Barenaked Ladies to Sarah McLachlan.

Molly went on to release her self -titled debut Molly Johnson in 2000, and Another Day (2003). Both albums were well received at home and went on to be successful in France, where she continues to tour. In 2006 she released her third solo album Messin' Around.

She made history at the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, becoming the first Canadian female vocalist in the festival's 17-year-history to sell out a show on the mainstage. She has even regaled royalty during a private command performance aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia before the Prince and late Princess of Wales, as well as having performed for Nelson Mandela and Quincy Jones. She has been the subject of numerous feature stories in various media, such as Adrienne Clarkson Presents, June Callwood's National Treasures, and Bravo!'s Live at the Rehearsal Hall and, at one time or another (for her charitable work if not her music), in virtually every daily and weekly newspaper in Canada.

Johnson's brother Clark, an actor and director, and sister Taborah, an actor and singer, are also noted Canadian performers.

In 2007, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Johnson began a position as a weekend presenter on CBC Radio 2's Radio 2 Morning in September 2008.

On November 11, 2008, Molly released her fourth full-length album, a long-awaited record of standards entitled Lucky, via Universal Music Canada and Universal Music France. In March 2009 Lucky took home the Juno Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album.

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