Sass Jordan, the Canadian rock singer‑songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1990s and later served as a judge on Canadian Idol, died on 2 October at the age of 65. No cause of death has been disclosed. A statement posted on social media said she passed away surrounded by her loving family and that she remains in their hearts as an inimitable force of nature and an irreplaceable being of light and joy.
Born in Birmingham, England, in 1960, Jordan moved to Montreal as a child when her father, a French‑speaking academic, accepted a position at Concordia University. She began performing in her teens and, by her twenties, was recording with several Montreal acts. She wrote a song for singer Michael Breen that became a Canadian Top 40 hit.
In 1988 she signed with Atlantic Records, releasing her debut album Tell Somebody. The title track and “Double Trouble” charted just outside the Canadian Top 10, and the following year she won a Juno Award for most promising female vocalist. Her 1992 album Racine produced four Canadian Top 20 hits, and a move to Los Angeles, a new label with RCA, and a contribution to the soundtrack of The Bodyguard helped her break into the U.S. market. “Sun’s Gonna Rise” from the 1994 album Rats became her only U.S. Hot 100 hit and peaked at No 7 in Canada; Taylor Hawkins, who would later join the Foo Fighters, was her live drummer during that period.
After her RCA contract ended, Jordan expressed disappointment with the glossy sound of her next two albums, but her career was revitalised by six seasons as a judge on Canadian Idol. She returned to the studio with 2006’s You Get What You Give and, in 2001, performed as Janis Joplin in the off‑Broadway musical Love, Janis. Later, she adopted a bluesier style, with the 2020 album Rebel Moon Blues reaching the top five of the U.S. blues chart, and her most recent studio record, 2022’s Bitches Blues. In September she cancelled tour dates, citing a serious medical condition.
