John Newman (singer)

Early life and career

John William Peter Newman was born in Settle in the Yorkshire Dales and attended Settle College. When Newman was six, his father left the family, leaving his mother Jackie, his older brother James, and him with a pound a day. In his youth Newman was influenced by Motown and Stax that he heard via his mother. He was also influenced by the Northern soul sound, which also influenced his dance style. Many over 30s from Settle would leave on a weekend to go to Northern soul nights all over Yorkshire. He started playing guitar and writing his own songs at the age of 14 and soon learned how to record and produce himself, even making his own house tracks and DJing.

At the age of sixteen, Newman moved to Leeds and it was here that he developed his voice and sound. It was whilst he was in Leeds that two of his best friends (both involved in professional downhill mountain biking) died in a car crash. Newman said, "In that first year of moving to Leeds, instead of being sat with books all over the library desk and studying music, I actually studied it in a totally different way.... because of what I was going through, and I was getting smashed every night and enjoying the student life but then sitting with a guitar and crying all night writing music." It was whilst in Leeds that he also found other people who appreciated Motown and Stax music and a time that Newman said "matured me in a musical way so much, I was writing pop music and now I feel like I'm writing music that I love and can really attach to."

At the age of twenty, Newman moved to London, started a band, played live and was signed to Island Records. While working at The Silver Bullet bar, he made friends with Piers Agget, one fourth of Rudimental. He released "Cheating" as a download song and plays an acoustic version of the track at gigs.

2012: Breakthrough

In May 2012 John Newman was featured on Rudimental's single "Feel the Love". The single peaked to number one on the UK Singles Chart in early June 2012, the song was also a top 5 hit in Australia, Belgium, Netherlands and New Zealand. The song has since been certified 2x Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The song was also featured in the 2012 video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted and is used in 2013 promotional advertising for Foxtel Australia. The song used the promo of MTV Latin America's The Pauly D Project. In November 2012 he featured on Rudimental's follow-up single, "Not Giving In", which peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart, the song was also a top 20 hit in Australia and New Zealand. It came in at number 16 in the 2012 Triple J Hottest 100, announced on Australia Day 2013. It was featured in the first episode of season three of Teen Wolf.

2013–14: Tribute

In June 2013 John Newman released his debut single "Love Me Again" as the lead single from his debut studio album. In an interview with Digital Spy, Newman was asked if he sensed that the song had something special about it in the studio. He said, "Yeah. The guy I wrote it with, we turned around and had massive grins on our faces thinking, 'There's something good here'. But you just never know how good it is, you know?". Newman was also asked if it was hard to write the lyrics about love and break-up; he responded: "No, it's the only place where I really open up to somebody, through my music. I'm producing [the album] and writing it, it's good. I like to keep a hold of everything". The song peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The song was also a top 10 hit in more than 10 countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland. It was also featured on the soundtrack of FIFA 14. In mid-2013 a remix of "Love Me Again" was released by DJ and record producer "Kove", and received major airplay on EDM channels, including Sirius XM's BPM. On 6 October 2013, Newman released "Cheating" as the second single from Tribute. The song peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. The song has also charted in Belgium and Ireland. Tribute was released on 14 October 2013.

Talking to Digital Spy about the album he said: "I was going through a pretty bad break-up while I was making the album and I felt the title really needed to resonate. This record is a culmination of my life to this point; it's who I am and I wanted to thank everyone who has helped, supported, loved me and been an inspiration to me. I'm so proud of this album, it expresses me as a producer, as a songwriter and an artist, and I can't wait for people to hear it." On 20 October 2013, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one. Talking to the Official Charts Company Newman said: "It’s such an amazing thing for an artist to have a number one album, especially on a debut. It means so much to me and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me and helped make this happen. Can't wait to see everyone on tour next week!" In December 2013, he released "Losing Sleep" as the third single from the album. That same month, Newman made several appearances on Jools' Holland's Annual Hootenanny on the BBC, performing solo, with Rudimental, and with Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Also in December 2013, "Love Me Again" entered the top 40 charts in Canada and the United States. He was nominated for three Brit Awards, including British Male Solo Artist and British Single of the Year, at the 2014 Brit Awards.

2014–present: Revolve and upcoming third studio album

In August 2014, Newman stated in an interview that he is "ready to move on to album two", stating that he's "got all the concepts, all the artwork, [he's] done all the marketing and release strategies and video ideas for the songs [he's] got." Newman is featured on Calvin Harris' single "Blame", which was released 7 September 2014. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. On 1 June 2015, Newman released "Come and Get It", the first single from his second studio album. The song is featured on the soundtrack of Madden NFL 16. Newman's second studio album Revolve, released on 16 October 2015.

In July 2016, Newman released the song, "Olé", as the lead single from his forthcoming third studio album.

Discography

Opening act