Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks. She is a close friend of and collaborator with Canadian singer-songwriter and poet, Leonard Cohen.
Warnes was born in Seattle, Washington, and raised in Anaheim, California. Her desire and ability to sing came early; at age seven she was offered her first recording contract, which her father turned down. She sang in church and local pageants until age 17 when Warnes was offered an opera scholarship to Immaculate Heart College. She chose to sing folk music as it became popularized by Joan Baez in the mid-1960s. In 1968, after a few years with musical theatre and clubs, she signed with Parrot Records (a London Records subsidiary) and recorded her first LP. That year, she joined the cast of the television show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Early in her career, industry advisors suggested she change her name to “Warren”, but then realized that there was already an actress named Jennifer Warren, so she performed for a short time under the single name “Jennifer”, but soon returned to using her birth name “Warnes". In November 1968, Warnes (as "Jennifer Warren") portrayed the female lead in the Los Angeles, California production of the stage musical Hair. She had a related UK single release as "Jennifer" on London HLU 10278 in June 1969 with "Let The Sunshine In" c/w "Easy To Be Hard", licensed from US Parrot label.
