Janet Gardner

Janet Gardner
Vixen in 2014: (l-r) Share Pedersen, Gardner, Roxy Petrucci, and Gina Stile
Background information
Birth name Janet Patricia Gardner
Born (1962-03-17) March 17, 1962
Juneau, Alaska, U.S.
Genres Hard rock, Glam metal
Occupation(s) Musician, vocalist, guitarist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, tambourine
Years active 1981–present
Associated acts Vixen

Janet Patricia Gardner (born March 17, 1962 in Juneau, Alaska) is an American rock singer. She is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the all-woman hard rock band Vixen.

Background

Gardner was born in Juneau, Alaska and lists her birthday as March 17, 1962.[1] Her father, Rulon B. Gardner was a civil engineer who worked for the United States Forest Service in Utah, Alaska and Michigan before taking a job in Bozeman, Montana at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory at Montana State University in 1964, where Gardner grew up. Her mother Margaret was a piano player and church organist.[2] Her parents were of the Mormon faith.[2] Janet was the only girl in a family with four brothers.[2] She sang in school choirs and learned to play piano and guitar.[3]

In the mid-2000s, when the band Vixen was disbanded, Gardner attended college at the University of Bridgeport and became a dental hygienist in 2005.[4] As of 2015 she maintains an active license,[5] and works as a hygienist when not working on musical projects with Vixen.[6]

Gardner is married to guitarist Justin James since 2016.[7]

Musical career

Gardner became the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the all-woman hard rock band Vixen. Janet joined the band's early lineup in 1981. In 1984, the band appeared in the movie Hardbodies before moving to Los Angeles to further their career.

After some initial changes, the primary lineup of Vixen consisted of Gardner, Jan Kuehnemund, Roxy Petrucci, and Share Pedersen.[8] Vixen signed with EMI and recorded their self-titled debut album which was released in September 1988. Gardner described the pressure of recording as, "We were just girls from Minnesota and Montana who loved playing live, so it was a bit of a rude awakening."[3]

Their lead single "Edge of a Broken Heart" became their signature hit song. It was co-written, arranged, and produced by Richard Marx. Vixen would go on worldwide tours in support of Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, and Bon Jovi along with their own headline shows. Vixen recorded and released their second album Rev It Up in July 1990. They toured for another year alongside KISS and Deep Purple before the band split up in 1992 citing musical differences.

In 1997, Gardner and Petrucci reformed Vixen with Rana Ross and Gina Stile for a US tour. In 1998, they recorded a third Vixen album titled Tangerine without Ross. Tangerine would be a shift in styles going to a more late 90s grunge sound rather than the 80s hair metal sound of the previous two albums. Roxy Petrucci's sister Maxine joined the group for a tour until they were sued by original member Jan Kuehnemund over copyright infringement involving the use of the Vixen name.

In 2001, Kuehnemund decided to reform the band this time with Gardner and Petrucci, adding Pat Holloway on bass. The newly reformed Vixen toured the United States as part of the Voices of Metal tour until disagreements once again caused the band to split in the middle of the tour. Kuehnemund quickly replaced the band with three new members to finish the tour and they continued on under the Vixen name.

VH1 contacted the original Vixen lineup in 2004 and got them to appear on the show Bands Reunited. The show featured a one-time reunion of the original group that aired in November 2004 coinciding with the re-release of the first two Vixen albums.

Gardner mostly stayed out of the spotlight until making a few special appearances singing with the band Scrap Metal in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, Share Pedersen and Roxy Petrucci along with Gardner contacted Jan Kuehnemund about reuniting the original Vixen, however Kuehnemund declined stating that she was happy with her new band. Soon after, it was announced that Gardner, Pedersen, and Petrucci would form their own band along with Gina Stile. They originally named the band "VXN" but decided to change it to avoid any possible lawsuits, thus they became known as simply JanetShareRoxyGina (or JSRG for short).

JSRG began playing shows at the end of 2012, followed by touring on the Monsters of Rock cruise in March 2013. After a long battle with cancer, Kuehnemund died on October 10, 2013.[9] Consequently, in December, JSRG decided to carry on as Vixen to honor Kuehnemund.[10]

Gardner released a self-titled solo album, produced by her husband, on Pavement Entertainment on August 18, 2017.[7]

In late May 2018, after recovery from surgery for a subdural hematoma, Gardner toured the UK.[11]

With Vixen

Solo

  • Janet Gardner (2017)

References

  1. ↑ "Janet Gardner". IMDB ts. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "In Memory of Margaret Afton Gardner". Memorial Networks. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Wood, James (May 21, 2013). "Vocalist Janet Gardner Talks JSRG and Vixen". Go Jimmy Go. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ "ORIGINAL VIXEN SINGER JANET GARDNER ISSUES UPDATE". Brave Words. April 7, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  5. ↑ "State of Connecticut -Lookup Detail View". State of Connecticut. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  6. ↑ "VIXEN's Forthcoming Album Will Include Song For Fallen Guitarist JAN KUEHNEMUND". Blabbermouth.com. October 7, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "VIXEN Vocalist JANET GARDNER Signs With PAVEMENT ENTERTAINMENT; Debut Solo Album Due In August". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Home". Vixen Official Web Site. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  9. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jan-kuehnemund-guitarist-all-girl-647830
  10. ↑ "Vixen members resurrect band". Blabbermouth.net. December 3, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Janet Gardner to play UK tour in May". Metaltalk.net. April 11, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
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