No, were not talking about Carly Rae Jepsen its Jennifer Paige.
Nearly two decades ago, Paige scored a worldwide hit with her 1998 songCrush.
(Thatd be the one that goes, Itsjust!
Credit: KA Wright
Not like I faint every time we touch.
You definitely know it.)
In 2008, her mother passed away from a pulmonary embolism.
Two weeks later, her father suffered a fatal heart attack.
In 2010, not long after selling their estate, Paiges parents house was destroyed in a flood.
And then, to top it all off, she was diagnosed with skin cancer.
(She ultimately made a full recovery.)
Whats really important to me?
(Theres even a reimagined version of Crush on digital editions of the album.)
I followed my gut instinct, Paige says.
My heart told me I still have more to say, more to sing, more to perform.
I thought I wanted to make a really simple record just vocals and acoustic elements.
But then I got in the studio and my pop side came out!
So it wasnt intentional.
It really was the influence of the producer and what I was listening to.
Its been nearly a decade since your last album of original material.
Was there a moment when you decided to step away from a recording career?Totally.
It was after theBest Kept Secretalbum.
It just had increasingly gotten more difficult.
Little by little, I lost my fire.
You didnt totally walk away from music, however.
You worked behind the scenes.I would write for commercials, different campaigns.
I worked with a lot of advertising houses.
I would write for film and television, and I really enjoyed it.
Its a skill to be able to write to something very specific like that.
Just random things throughout the years.
During that process, I was like, This just feels so right, I really missed this.
I think that reawakened me.
Im the girl who never wants to ask for help.
I attempt to be strong in that way.
When I pressed submit, I thought I was going to die.
I felt so exposed and so vulnerable.
I knew I had to do something different if I was going to do it at all.
People really do forget youre human.
Whatever happened to so-and-so?
Say it, just dont tag the person!
It doesnt offend me because they just really dont believe that Im human.
Here I am, heres where Ive been, and Ive got more to do.
Even though I didnt realize it at the time, that was the beginning of the reemergence for me.
Whats really important to me?
The things that everybody goes through.
I couldnt have done this several years ago, but Im good now.
I realize everybody goes through this to some degree.
Its part of life.
Its the part that sucks.
What was the source?As a songwriter, youre paid in a lot of different ways.
I was like, Holy sh!
Im so glad I went to that meeting!
Thats why I felt like none of this has been a total accident.
One thing has led to another and reignited that feeling of, This is what Im supposed to do.
And [the royalty check] made it fun because it felt like free money.
In the beginning, its super fun, because youre like, Its gonna work!
Its gonna work!
This might sound corny, but I really did reconnect with my fans.
I never needed them so much.
I was so thankful when it happened.
Or Why wasnt that album promoted more?
Thats why I really felt like I needed to make a record.
One, because I think anything can happen my first record taught me that.
And two, I just knew I have more to do still.
It doesnt feel done.
I dont really know what happened with my second and third albums.
For whatever reason, they werent meant to blow up.
I followed my gut instinct.
Some editions of the album include a new version of Crush.
But Ive been asked to do that a lot by different labels or through different opportunities like advertising.
It was an experiment: If we were to do it, what would it even sound like?
What would I do?
It was an experiment that I ended up really liking.
The new arrangement brings out a whole new side of it.Totally!
Thats why I thought it was worth sharing.
Its kind of brooding, and theresnothingbrooding about the original.
I definitely wouldnt have put it on the record if I didnt love it.
Starfloweris out March 31.
