Jena Lee

Jena Lee is a French pop singer/songwriter with a self-described "émo R&B" style whose debut single, "J'Aimerais Tellement," topped the charts for weeks on end in late 2009. Born on June 29, 1987, in Chile, she was adopted by a French family at the age of nine months and grew up in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Influenced by emo rock bands such as Linkin Park as well as the R&B-inflected pop of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, Lee began her ascent toward superstardom in 2007, when producer Sulee B. Wax heard some of her early demo recordings and was so impressed that he presented her with the opportunity of writing music for the fourth season of the reality television show Popstars. In collaboration with Sulee B. Wax, she wrote a half-dozen songs for Popstars season four winner Sheryfa Luna's eponymous album debut, including the chart-topping smash hit lead single "Quelque Part." The following year she wrote "Comme Avant," a Top Five hit duet between Luna and Mathieu Edward, the second-place runner-up of the seventh season of the reality television show Star Academy. The song was released as the lead single from Edward's debut album, Entre Toi et Moi (2008). Well established among French pop industry insiders as a songwriter with a Midas touch, Lee subsequently embarked on a solo career in association with Universal Music France. "J'Aimerais Tellement," the lead single from her debut album, Vous Remercier (2009), topped the French singles chart for a few months late in the year. Opening as a sentimental piano ballad that quickly gives way to Timbaland-esque electro-pop beats and ultimately in-your-face electric guitar riffs, the single was something of a novelty success upon its release, proving particularly popular among teenagers and adolescents drawn to the 22-year-old singer/songwriter's self-described "émo R&B" style. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi