Janiva Magness (born January 30, 1957)[2] is an American Grammy Award[3] nominated blues, soul, and Americana singer, songwriter, and author.

And where she is now, it's a very good place: a highly regarded, award-winning singer and musician with an international following and a cache of critically well-received albums."

She lost both parents to suicide before she reached her mid-teens,[1] and was placed in a series of a dozen foster homes.

[10] Having been initially inspired by the music in her father's record collection, an underage Magness attended an Otis Rush concert in Minneapolis that changed her outlook.

"[9] Studying to become an engineer, she worked in a recording studio in Saint Paul, Minnesota, when she was coerced into doing some backing singing.

[11] Her work, which included backing Kid Ramos and R. L. Burnside,[11] led her to Phoenix, Arizona and in forming her own band, the Mojomatics.

[1] In 1999, Magness starred in a stage production of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, at the David Geffen Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles.

[1] Both albums were co-produced by Magness and Colin Linden, with the former earning them both Canadian Maple Blues Award for Producers of the Year.

A master of the lowdown blues who is equally at ease surrounded by funk or soul sounds, Magness invigorates every song with a brutal honesty.

[15] In 2016, she signed to Blue Elan Records which is also the home to Jack Tempchin, Gerry Buckley, and Rusty Baker.

[21] In the years 2016, 2018, and 2019 she performed at the Americana Music Conference and Festival in Nashville, to further cement her cross-over into the genre.