Sass Jordan brought sharp ears and honesty to ‘Canadian Idol,’ colleagues remember

When Ryan Malcolm first met Sass Jordan, he was a jittery 23-year-old singer auditioning for an unproven new reality television show.

Jordan, already a celebrated Canadian rock singer-songwriter, was sitting on the other side of the table as one of the judges on the first season of “Canadian Idol.”

Malcolm had grown up listening to her music. Now he was performing for her.

“It was nerve-wracking. She was so talented and just a true badass, a real rocker, 100 per cent,” Malcolm recalled in an interview Monday.

Malcolm, who went on to become the inaugural “Canadian Idol” winner in 2003, said Jordan also kept it unusually real as a judge.

“She was the quote-unquote nice judge, but she was also the most honest,” he said.

“One thing she never did was play it up for the cameras.”

Jordan died Friday surrounded by those who loved her most, said a statement from her publicist Eric Alper. She was 65.

The Montreal-raised singer kicked doors open for women in rock with her raspy, powerful vocals before bringing that same authentic, unfiltered energy to a generation of hopefuls on “Canadian Idol” in the mid-aughts.

“She was no holds barred,” said Jake Gold, who was a judge with Jordan on all six seasons of “Canadian Idol” and eventually managed her as an artist.

“She was honest and funny and vivacious and smart and she had really good ears.”

Gold said Jordan had an instinct for identifying artists before the rest of the industry caught up.

He remembers Jordan watching a young Carly Rae Jepsen audition for “Canadian Idol” and immediately telling the young singer: “You are a bona fide star. You are going to go somewhere.”

Jepsen would go on to become one of Canada’s biggest pop stars.

During its run, “Canadian Idol” was a ratings juggernaut. Fellow judge Farley Flex said Jordan provided a perspective on celebrity that became useful as the series exploded in popularity.

“She was the only one of us that was famous before the show started,” Flex said.

“She was so grounded and thoughtful and absorbed it for what it was.”

Jordan also understood what it meant for contestants to put themselves on the line in front of millions of people.

“She cared about how much the contestant cared,” Flex said.

That combination of honesty and empathy became a defining part of Jordan’s presence on the show.

Malcolm remembers one particularly memorable critique from when he performed Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life” and attempted what he now acknowledges was a questionable pirouette.

“The crowd loved it,” he said. “I definitely knew how to ham it up for the cameras.”

Jordan, however, called him out on it with a tongue-in-cheek comment about his “perfect pirouette.”

“She was right,” Malcolm said. “It was, you know, what the hell was I thinking doing that?”

Despite the playful burn, Malcolm said Jordan never seemed interested in forcing contestants into a more marketable version of themselves.

“The inside joke was always that my dancing was horrific,” he said.

“But I think she thought that was endearing. When we chatted, she was like, ‘It’s what you are known for. You’re being yourself out there.’ And so, she was definitely supportive of that.”

Jordan’s genuineness is something all three men remember.

“She laughs with her whole body,” Flex said. “She really gives herself to the moment.”

The four “Canadian Idol” judges — Jordan, Flex, Gold and Zack Werner — spent long days together during the show’s run. Flex said they could spend 17 or 18 hours on set together, eventually becoming something like friends and family.

Despite the television format, he said, the judges weren’t coached to manufacture personalities or conflict.

“We never compromised who we were for the camera, never,” Flex said.

“As the only female on the panel, that in itself could have been an uphill battle, but she was confident in her beliefs.”

Jordan’s conviction in the talent of rising artists, and her impact on them, is part of her legacy, said Gold.

Online tributes have been pouring in from women in the Canadian music industry — including Emm Gryner, Amanda Marshall and Bif Naked — who credit Jordan with helping them believe a career in music was possible.

Jordan launched her career with the 1988 debut “Tell Somebody,” winning the 1989 Juno Award for most promising female vocalist, before dropping her best-selling album, 1992’s “Racine,” featuring the hit “Make You a Believer.”

Gold notes she was one of the few women in rock at the time.

“I think that will be her legacy, as a trailblazer,” said Gold. “And as a really kind, generous person, because when she would meet young people, she would engage with them.”

Jordan was slated to play a show this Friday at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls with Canadian bands The Pursuit of Happiness, The Northern Pikes and ODDS, but she cancelled several weeks ago.

“She needed to deal with some health issues,” Gold said.

“No one knew she was that ill.”

He was looking forward to seeing Jordan perform.

“She was still singing as good as she ever sang.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2026.