Jacob Collier facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jacob Collier
Collier in 2022
Background information
Birth name	Jacob Moriarty
Born	(1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 (age 30) London, England
Genres	Jazz rhythm and blues
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist record producer
Instruments	Vocals keyboards piano double bass bass guitar drums percussion guitar mandolin ukulele harpejji melodica
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Interscope Hajanga

Jacob Collier (born on August 2, 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and producer. He plays many instruments and is also a music teacher. His music mixes jazz with other styles. He often uses special ways of changing chords (called reharmonisation) and close harmonies.

Jacob is known for his exciting live shows. He often asks the audience to sing along or play percussion. He also teaches about music, showing how songs like Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" are put together.

In 2013, Jacob became famous on YouTube. He posted videos where he sang and played all the parts of popular songs, like Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing". These videos used a special split-screen effect. In 2014, he signed with Quincy Jones's company. He then started working on a unique live show with special audio and video effects.

In 2016, Jacob released his first album, In My Room. He recorded, arranged, played, and produced the whole album himself. He did this in a room at his family home in Finchley, North London.

From 2018, Jacob worked on a huge project called Djesse. It's a four-part album with 50 songs and many guest artists.

• Djesse Vol. 1 came out in December 2018. It featured the Metropole Orkest.
• Djesse Vol. 2 came out in July 2019. It used more acoustic instruments.
• Djesse Vol. 3 was released in 2020.
• The final part, Djesse Vol. 4, came out in March 2024.

Jacob has won many Grammy Awards for his music.

• In 2017, he won two Grammys for his arrangements of "Flintstones" and Stevie Wonder's "You and I".
• In 2020, he won two more Grammys for "All Night Long (All Night)" (from Djesse Vol. 1) and "Moon River" (from Djesse Vol. 2).
• In 2021, he won a Grammy for "He Won't Hold You" (from Djesse Vol. 3). This made him the first British artist to win a Grammy for each of his first four albums.
• Djesse Vol. 4 was nominated for Album of the Year.

Jacob's Early Life

Jacob Collier was born on August 2, 1994. He grew up in North London with his two younger sisters. His family is very musical. His mother, Suzie Collier, is a violinist and a professor at the Royal Academy of Music. His grandfather, Derek Collier, was also a violinist and taught at the Royal Academy. Jacob says his family often sings Bach songs together for fun. His grandmother, Leila Wong, is partly Chinese.

When he was 10, Jacob acted as Tiny Tim in the movie A Christmas Carol (2004). He also sang classical music as a boy, like in Mozart's The Magic Flute. These experiences helped him understand music and harmony deeply. He once said that the music of Benjamin Britten "shattered" his mind. In 2008, he got the highest score in the country for his Grade 8 singing exam.

Jacob went to Mill Hill County High School and the Purcell School for Young Musicians. He also studied jazz piano briefly at the Royal Academy.

Jacob's Music Career

Early Videos and Discoveries (2011–2015)

Jacob started sharing his music on YouTube in 2011. He made videos where he played all the instruments and sang all the parts himself. His first video was a vocal version of "Pure Imagination". In 2013, his multi-instrumental version of Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" became very popular. These videos showed Jacob singing each part of the song's harmonies on a split screen. Millions of people watched them.

His videos caught the eye of music legend Quincy Jones. Quincy Jones invited Jacob to the Montreux Jazz Festival, where he met another famous musician, Herbie Hancock.

In 2015, Jacob started performing live shows. He toured in Europe and the US. His shows were unique: he stood in a circle of instruments with six looping stations. These allowed him to play and loop music in real-time. A special "Harmonizer" instrument let him sing many harmonies at once. He first performed this show at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. Later, he opened for Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea at the 2015 Montreux Jazz Festival.

In My Room and World Tour (2015–2018)

In 2015, Beats by Dr. Dre asked Jacob to create music for an England Rugby World Cup advertisement. Jacob recorded an a cappella (singing without instruments) version of "Jerusalem" for the ad. It was shown on TV before England's matches.

Jacob Collier performing his solo show in 2015

In late 2015, Jacob started making his first album, In My Room. He wrote eight of the eleven songs. He recorded, arranged, and produced the whole album in his family's music room. He played every instrument himself. The album was released on July 1, 2016. After that, Jacob went on a one-man world tour, including a stop at the 2016 Montreux Jazz Festival.

Before the album came out, Jacob started a project called "#IHarmU". He asked fans to send him 15-second video clips of melodies. He would then add harmonies to them using his multi-screen setup and share them online. He received over 130 melodies, and even famous musicians like Jamie Cullum and Herbie Hancock joined in.

In February 2016, Jacob was featured on Snarky Puppy's album Family Dinner – Volume 2. In August, he performed at a tribute concert for Quincy Jones at the BBC Proms in London. He played his own song "In The Real Early Morning" with the Metropole Orkest.

In December 2016, Jacob worked with 150 students at MIT to create a live concert. This project was featured in a documentary film, Imagination Off The Charts, which won an Emmy award in 2018.

In February 2017, Jacob won two Grammy Awards for his arrangements. He won for "You and I" by Stevie Wonder and for the "Flintstones" theme song. He also made his US television debut, performing "You And I" with the group Take 6. Jacob also re-created Samsung's phone ringtone, "Over The Horizon," for the Samsung Galaxy S8. He helped composer Hans Zimmer with music for the DreamWorks film The Boss Baby. He also performed with Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Jacob toured the world for two and a half years, from July 2015 to December 2017. He also taught masterclasses and performed with orchestras. In July 2018, he was a special guest at Quincy Jones's 85th birthday party. He also performed at the BBC Proms in London.

The Djesse Series (2018–Present)

On October 29, 2018, Jacob announced his big new music project called Djesse. It has four parts and 50 songs. The name Djesse sounds like his initials, JC.

• Djesse Vol. 1 was released on December 7, 2018. It included songs like "With The Love in My Heart" and "All Night Long". This album featured the Metropole Orkest on every song. Jacob produced, arranged, and played many instruments on it. In January 2019, he started a world tour to support the Djesse series.

• Djesse Vol. 2 came out on July 19, 2019. It included many guest artists and an a cappella version of "Moon River". For "Moon River," over a hundred people, including family and friends, sang along. At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, Djesse Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 each won a Grammy. Jacob also sang backing vocals for several songs on Coldplay's album Everyday Life.

• Djesse Vol. 3 was released on August 14, 2020. It also featured many artists and was nominated for several Grammys in 2021. It was nominated for Album of the Year, and the song "All I Need" was nominated for Best R&B Performance. "He Won't Hold You" won Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals. In November 2020, Jacob released a book called Songs of Jacob Collier, with piano and vocal music for 19 of his songs.

Jacob helped write and sang backing vocals for SZA's song "Good Days" in December 2020. He also sang backing vocals for Coldplay and BTS's song "My Universe", which became a number one hit in October 2021. This song is on Coldplay's album Music of the Spheres, which also features Jacob on the song "Human Heart". In 2022, he worked with British rapper Stormzy on his album This Is What I Mean. Jacob was nominated for two Grammys in 2023 for his song "Never Gonna Be Alone" and for his work on Music of The Spheres. He also appeared in Olivia Rodrigo's documentary film Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U.

On May 2, 2022, Jacob was featured in a BBC One TV show called Imagine.... On September 29, 2022, he released his first live album, Piano Ballads (Live From The Djesse World Tour 2022). It has 11 songs that he mostly made up on stage, often with the audience singing along.

On December 8, 2023, Jacob performed "Last Christmas" at the Royal Christmas Concert. Djesse Vol. 4 was released on February 29, 2024. It includes songs like "Little Blue" with Brandi Carlile, "Wherever I Go", and a cover of Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water". At the 2024 Grammy Awards, Jacob won Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals for "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning". He also performed at the Grammy Awards with Joni Mitchell and other artists.

Jacob's Musical Style

Jacob grew up in a musical family and started learning music very early. With his mother's help, he learned many instruments and understood music ideas. He started recording music in his family's home, in a room full of instruments. He would record himself singing and playing covers of jazz or pop songs. He used a split-screen video technique to show all his different parts.

His early videos often used complex musical ideas like changing chords in new ways (reharmonisation), close harmonies, and different rhythms (polyrhythms).

His newer music, also available on streaming services, uses even more unique sounds. He uses very small musical steps (microtonality) and complex chords. He also changes the song's key and time signature suddenly. His style mixes classical music with modern jazz, pop, R&B, and even experimental music.

Discography

Studio Albums

Live Albums

Extended Plays (EPs)

Singles (Songs Not on Albums)

Guest Appearances

Acting and Opera Roles

Film

Television

Opera

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Awards

Jazz FM Awards

MOBO Awards

See Also

In Spanish: Jacob Collier para niños