“The world has lost a formidable talent”: Sass Jordan, Canadian rock singer and bassist who gave Taylor Hawkins his big break and toured with Van Halen, dies aged 63

Influential Canadian bass guitarist and rock singer Sass Jordan has passed away at the age of 63. A statement posted to Jordan’s social media accounts confirmed she died on October 2 surrounded by her family. A cause of death has not been given.

“She remains in our heart, an inimitable force of nature,” the post read. “An irreplaceable being of light and joy.”

Jordan was born in Birmingham, England, in 1962, but at the age of three moved to Montreal with her family. By her mid-teens, Jordan was performing with local bands in the area, learning both bass and guitar in her earliest musical years.

She eventually became the bassist and frontwoman of the Pinups, and contributed to a number of recording and songwriting sessions, before launching her solo career in 1988 with her debut record, Tell Somebody.

Single Double Trouble peaked just outside the Top 10, as did the title track, which became a hit in Canada. The record’s rootsy melting pot of hard rock, soul and blues put Jordan’s music on the map, earmarking her as one of the country’s most exciting emerging new artists.

After winning the Juno Award for the Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year in 1989, Jordan scored her biggest success with Racine – her second studio album released in 1992, which produced hits such as Make You a Believer, I Want to Believe, and more. That same year, Billboard crowned Jordan its Top Female Rock Artist.

As Jordan’s recording career took off, so too did her live career. In the 1990s and beyond, she toured with some of the biggest bands of the era, hitting the road with the likes of Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Van Halen and more.

Around the same time, Jordan recruited a young Taylor Hawkins to her ranks. The aspiring musician, who was destined to join Dave Grohl and become Foo Fighters drummer, got his first big break with Jordan, and learned what it took to be on the road with a rock band.

“Sass taught me how to be in a rock and roll band and gave me my first rock and roll check,” Hawkins once remembered (via Guitar Player). He recorded Jordan’s third record with her, 1994’s Rats.

Jordan went on to record a total of 10 studio albums, with her latest – Bitches Blues – arriving in 2022.

News of Jordan’s death has been received with an outpouring of tributes from the music world, with Glenn Hughes, Lee Aaron, Mike Garson and more all honoring Canada’s Queen of Rock and Blues.

“Gab and I are totally in shock, RIP my dear friend Sass,” Hughes wrote. “A true friend. We had so much love, joy and laughter, and music together. RIP My Sasseroonie Girl.”

“Oh man…unexpected and crushing…my heartfelt condolences go out to Sass Jordan’s family, bandmates and loved ones,” Aaron echoed.

“The world has lost a formidable talent. RIP Sweet rock’n’roll sister…I thought we’d have many more years of making music and getting silly backstage together.”