Carly Rae Jepsen is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Mission, British Columbia, Jepsen performed several lead roles in her high school’s musical productions and pursued musical theater at the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria, BC. Take a look below for 30 more interesting and fascinating facts about Carly Rae Jepsen.

1. After completing her studies, she relocated to Vancouver and later competed on the fifth season of “Canadian Idol” in 2007, placing third.

2. In 2008 Jepsen released her folk-influenced debut studio album “Tug of War” in Canada.

3. Jepsen’s breakthrough came in 2012, when her single “Call Me Maybe” achieved significant mainstream popularity; the song was the best-selling single of that year, reaching number one in 18 countries.

4. As a result, she was signed to a joint worldwide record deal with Schoolboy Records and Interscope Records. Jepsen’s second studio album, “Kiss,” was released later that year.

5. It marked a greater shift into mainstream pop music and saw fair commercial success, reaching the top ten in Canada and the United States.

6. In 2013 Jepsen made her Broadway stage debut as the titular character in “Cinderella.”

7. In 2015 she released her third studio album, “Emotion.”

8. It is noted for its influence from 1980s music as well as blending dance-pop and synth-pop with indie sensibilities.

9. While less commercially successful than “Kiss,” it saw the success of its lead single, “I Really Like You”, and received critical acclaim.

10. In 2016 Jepsen performed in the television special “Grease: Live” and lent her voice to the animated film “Ballerina.”

11. Her fourth studio album, “Dedicated,” was released on May 17, 2019.

12. Jepsen has received multiple accolades, including three Juno Awards, a Billboard Music Award, and an Allan Slaight Award, in addition to various nominations for Grammy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Polaris Music Prize and People’s Choice Awards.

13. As of May 2015, Jepsen has sold over 20 million records worldwide.

14. Jepsen was born in Mission, British Columbia, to Alexandra and Larry Jepsen, the second of their three children.

15. She is of Danish, English and Scottish descent.

16. She has an older brother, Colin, and a younger sister, Katie.

17. She attended Heritage Park Secondary School, where she pursued her early passion for musical theater by appearing in student productions of “Annie,” “Grease,” and “The Wiz,” playing the lead roles of Annie, Sandy and Dorothy.

18. As her parents and stepparents were all teachers, Jepsen considered a career in music instruction as a second option.

19. She applied to a number of music-related programs, including those at Capilano College and the University of British Columbia.

20. Her high school drama teacher, Beverly Holmes, persuaded her to audition for the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria, British Columbia, where she was one of 25 female students to gain admission into its year-long program: “It was very clear to me after that school, as much fun as I had, I really did want to pursue more of a purely musical career rather than acting and all the dancing.”

21. After graduating from school, Jepsen relocated to Vancouver’s west side, where she held several minimum-wage jobs.

22. She worked at Trees Organic Coffee as a barista and pastry chef assistant, starting its open mic night.

23. Jepsen describes this as “the happiest time in her life”; she slept on a pull-out sofa, wrote songs in her downtime with a guitar her parents gave her and “performed multiple nights a week at musician-friendly holes in the wall”.

24. Bartending at the Media Club, Jepsen once requested an extra late shift in order to see Sia, who became a future collaborator.

25. Jepsen’s vocal range has been classified as soprano.

26. She has said that she shares her parents’ interest in folk music as a result of her upbringing, naming artists such as Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, and Van Morrison as inspirations for her debut album, “Tug of War.”

27. Jepsen was scheduled to perform at the Boy Scouts of America 2013 National Scout Jamboree, along with the band Train, but in March 2013, both cited the BSA policy on gay people as barrier to their performance.

28. Jepsen released a statement that stated, “As an artist who believes in equality for all people, I will not be participating in the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree this summer.”

29. During the recording of her EP “Curiosity” and her second album, “Kiss”, Jepsen said that she became increasingly influenced by pop and dance music, in particular the works of Dragonette, Kimbra, La Roux and Robyn.

30. Her third album, “Emotion,” drew from her love of pop music from the 1980s and the “old-school” albums of Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, and Prince.