Jennifer Wayne

ABOUT JENNIFER WAYNEThe newest transplant to the Nashville country pop scene as singer and songwriter is a statuesque blonde beauty named Jennifer Wayne, a protégée of iconic star-finder Merv Griffin. She is managed by Caresse Henry, another well-respected star-builder (Madonna and Jessica Simpson, among other powerhouse performers). Even before her first album debuts, Jennifer has been signed as a BMI artist and the powerhouse Creative Artists talent agency (CAA) has taken her on as a client. . At 24, Jennifer already understands the perks and perils of stardom. The granddaughter of the legendary John Wayne and his Peruvian wife Pilar, Jennifer has been influenced by Duke Wayne’s larger-than-life presence even though he died three years before her birth. Family lore tells of life on location, life aboard his refitted mine sweeper, and the romantic tale of how he fell in love with Pilar on a movie set in Peru when he heard the beautiful young actress playing flamenco guitar and singing. Growing up in Las Vegas and around Newport Beach in Orange County, California, Jennifer was given her first guitar and first lessons by her grandmother, with whom she remains very close. A talented tennis player, she first attended USC where she majored in art history and studied vocal performance, and then went on to UC Santa Barbara on a full tennis scholarship. She won the Nevada State Tennis Championship and was ranked #1 in doubles, #3 in singles, and #11 in doubles nationwide before becoming the pro at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club. During her school years, she formed a band with world-class tennis players, Bob and Mike Bryan, and the trio traveled around the world performing at tennis tournaments. After graduation, she continued to work on her music and eventually recorded a three-song demo with the help of pros like Peter Amato, Ron Harris and Ty Stevens. When she played it for Merv Griffin, an old friend of her grandfather who started as a singer himself, he told her she would be a star with the right team behind her. . Well-known for his “third eye” in finding and nurturing talent like Richard Pryor, Whitney Houston, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, and Ryan Seacrest, Merv created a new Griffin Group entity, Coconut Productions, to produce Jennifer’s first album. He put her together with Grammy-winning producer/performer Carl Jackson to arrange the songs and lyrics that she is polishing. They have laid down some initial tracks at Station West in Nashville, which have caused great excitement at several major labels. The album will be ready later in 2007, which Jennifer feels is particularly auspicious since this is the John Wayne Centennial Year. “To mark his 100th birthday, I’ve written a song which I dedicate to him called God Bless John Wayne. It’s based it on a fan letter my grandfather received right before he died.” At one point early in her relationship with Merv Griffin, Jennifer had a crisis of confidence.“Merv got me back on track by playing a clip from his talk show of John Wayne singing The Shadow of Your Smile. My grandfather sang off-key but with great conviction. Merv said to me, ‘Just tell everyone you come from a long line of singers and then show them this. It will definitely break the ice!’” ## Contact: Marcia Newberger, Public Relations The Griffin Group/Merv Griffin Entertainment 310/385-2700; [email protected]