Jill Johnson is a Swedish country-pop singer in the contemporary Nashville tradition who, upon breaking into the Swedish mainstream during the late '90s with material sung in her native language, sings primarily English-language material to regular commercial success in her homeland. Born on May 24, 1973, in the remote town of Ängelholm, Sweden, Johnson considers herself a small-town girl and, even after attaining fame, maintained a home in the Swedish countryside. She began singing professionally at an early age, first joining a country & western band at age 12 and touring Norway and Denmark in turn. Years later she signed a major-label recording contract with EMI Denmark and recorded her full-length album debut, Sugar Tree (1996), with producer Paul Bruun; the song "Shake the Sugar Tree" became a hit in Denmark. That same year she scored her first Swedish hit single with "Kommer Tid, Kommer Vår," a Top 40 duet with Jan Johansen.
