Jen Ledger Bio and 5 Lesser Known Facts About The English Drummer

Quick Facts

A Christian, drummer, bassist, and vocalist; Jen Ledger is a multi-talented English musician with a predilection for rock music. She is popularly known for her exceptional drumming skills and is the current drummer as well as co-lead-vocalist of the American Christian rock band named Skillet.

Skillet was formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1996 by current lead vocalist and bassist John Cooper and Ken Steorts, who is no longer with the band. Other current members of Skillet include John Cooper’s wife, Korey Cooper who happens to be a vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist with the band; and Seth Morrison who plays the lead guitar. Skillet has enjoyed a good measure of success since its inception, releasing ten albums (some of which have been certified Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum by the RIAA) and receiving two Grammy nominations in the process. They have been regarded as one of the best gospel rock bands of all time and were also among the top 5 Hardest Working Bands of 2010 as published by Songkick.com.

Since joining Skillet in 2008, Jen Ledger has been a prized asset to the band and it is safe to say that she has been an integral part of the band’s recent success. Her exploits with Skillet has led to her accruing thousands of personal fans who continue to laud her for her exceptional drumming skills and beautiful voice.

Bio

Jennifer Carole Ledger was born on the 8^th of December 1989 to Carole Wingrove and Michael G. Ledger in Coventry, Warwickshire, United Kingdom. Her parents are both British, however, her father is also of German descent. She is the youngest of Carole and Michael’s four children which comprises of twin boys Martin and David as well as another girl named Marie.

From 2001-2006, Jen attended Blue Coat Church of England School in Coventry, United Kingdom. She later relocated to the United States of America at the age of 16 to study Music with a major in drums at the Living Light School of Worship in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Prior to her move to the US, Jen was also a finalist in the UK young drummer of the year competition. This served as some sort of validation of her drumming talent, thereby, spurring her to make the move to the US to further improve her drumming skills.

In 2008, at age 18, Jen Ledger joined the Skillet band as their drummer after beating other prominent drummers to the position. She performed extremely well during trials organized by Skillet in order to replace former drummer Lori Peters, who at the time had just retired. That same year, she went on her first tour with Skillet. This was the Winter Jam tour (which happens to be Christian music’s largest annual tour). Together with Skillet, Jen toured alongside huge Christian music acts like BarlowGirl, MercyMe, NewSong, and Mandisa from the 10^th of January to the 16^th of March.

Jen Ledger’s Tour With Skillet

She would go on to tour as Skillet’s drummer on the Comatose Tour for the Comatose album, where Jen showed her vocals on the track “Yours to Hold”, this happened to be her first vocal solo with Skillet. She also got more solo and backup vocals in subsequent Skillet songs, some of which include: Awake and Alive, Awake and Alive (The Quickening), Hero, Hero (iTunes Session), Hero (The Legion of Doom Remix), Monster (Unleash the Beast), Yours to Hold (Live), Fire and Fury, Salvation, Sick of it (Live), Not Gonna Die, What I Believe, Everything Goes Black, I want to Live, and Watching For Comets just to name a few.

5 Lesser Known Facts about Jen

Every Jen Ledger fan should know most of what we have discussed above. However, below are some lesser known facts about the English drummer:

1. Before joining Skillet in 2008, Jen Ledger was part of a worship band from Kenosha, Wisconsin called The Spark. She also wasn’t the band’s drummer as they already had a drummer; she had to make do with the position of the band’s bass player.
2. Jen was introduced to Skillet by a friend named Rosalie; who also happens to be Korey Cooper’s sister.
3. Her initial response when Rosalie informed her about Skillet’s interest in her was “no”. However, after praying about it, she decided it was the right move for her. The rest as we know it is history.
4. Jen has toured with other rock bands and has also been a vocalist in some of their hit songs e.g. Born Again with Third Day, Jesus Freak with TobyMac, and Oceans with NewSong.
5. After 10 solid years with Skillet, Jen Ledger eventually signed a deal with Atlantic Records to release her debut EP titled LEDGER on the 13^th of April 2018. Ledger feels this is the right time to do something of her own after being under the tutelage and mentoring of John and Korey Cooper for a decade. She has attributed her writing skills and music style that will be showcased on the EP to John and Korey. She insists they gave her the courage to take this bold step in her career.

LEDGER EP

The songs on the LEDGER EP are produced by the renowned Nashville producer Seth Moseley as well as Korey Cooper. Korey is also credited with some of the lyrics of the songs on the EP but the bulk of the songs were written by Jen. Atlantic Records President Pete Ganbarg has lauded Jen for her unique voice and claims the deal is a big win for Atlantic Records as they have patiently waited for the better part of a decade for Jen Ledger to decide to release her own work.

Jen’s deal with Atlantic Records, however, does not restrict her from touring with Skillet. She has been quoted saying that she is still very much part of the Skillet team and come the 12^th of April 2018, she (along with her own band of instrumentalists/musicians) will be the opening act on Skillet’s UNLEASHED tour and she will also take on her role as Skillet’s drummer when they perform.

Jen Ledger is indeed a phenomenal musician with an undeniable talent. Her years of experience coupled with her strong fan base as well as the support she has from Skillet and Atlantic Records, make us confidently predict a successful solo career ahead of her.

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