Joshua Levi Bolden (born October 7, 1998) is an American singer, actor, and dancer from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. He first gained attention for his role in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television series ''Friday Night Lights''. He then attained further prominence as a finalist on the third season of

The X Factor USA ''The X Factor'' is an American reality television music competition show created by Simon Cowell and produced by FremantleMedia North America and SYCOtv, a partnership between Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment, which aired on Fox. Based on t ...

. Afterwards he made guest appearances on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

television shows ''

The Thundermans ''The Thundermans'' is an American comedy television series created by Jed Spingarn that aired on Nickelodeon from October 14, 2013 to May 25, 2018. The series stars Kira Kosarin, Jack Griffo, Addison Riecke, Diego Velazquez, Chris Tallman, R ...

'' and ''

Game Shakers ''Game Shakers'' is an American comedy television series created by Dan Schneider that premiered on Nickelodeon on September 12, 2015. The series ran for three seasons, with its final episode airing on June 8, 2019. It stars Cree Cicchino, Mad ...

.'' In 2021, he signed to Issa Rae's Raedio and Atlantic Records. In March 2022, Levi voiced the character of Aaron Z from the fictional boy band 4*Town in the

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

animated film ''

Turning Red ''Turning Red'' is a 2022 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was directed by Domee Shi in her feature directorial debut, written by Sh ...

''. In April 2022, he earned his first

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

charting hit with the

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...

and

Finneas O'Connell Finneas Baird O'Connell (born July 30, 1997), known mononymously as Finneas ( stylized in all caps), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has written and produced music for various artists, most notably his sister, ...

co-written " Nobody Like U" from the film's

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

, which peaked at number 49.

Career

2009-2019: Acting, The X Factor and Citizen Four

Levi started his career with in 2009, when he landed the role of Darius Merriweather on the television series ''Friday Night Lights'', which he starred in for two seasons. In 2013, he was a finalist on season 3 of the television series ''The X Factor USA''. After he was eliminated, Levi returned to the show to participate with the top 12 of the competition. Levi then advanced to the final eight slots before he was eliminated for a second time. In February 2014, Levi released his debut single "Trying to Find You". In June 2014, he appeared at a DigiTour show in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, in June. He also performed at the outlets at Anthem tree lighting ceremony in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, and the Citadel Outlets in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in November 2014. In 2015, Levi toured with

Aaron Carter Aaron Charles Carter (December 7, 1987November 5, 2022) was an American singer and rapper. He came to fame as a teen pop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among preteen and teenage audiences during the first years of th ...

; and released an official cover of Rihanna,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

's single, "

FourFiveSeconds "FourFiveSeconds" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, American rapper Kanye West, and English musician Paul McCartney. It was written and produced by McCartney, Kanye West, Mike Dean, Dave Longstreth and Noah Goldstein with additio ...

". In 2016, Levi collaborated with American singers

Niki and Gabi Nicola Teresa DeMartino and Gabriella Nelida DeMartino (born May 5, 1995), known professionally as Niki and Gabi, are an American twin duo of singers, social media influencers, YouTubers and actresses. In 2018, the duo released their debut ext ...

on a cover of " Work From Home" by

Fifth Harmony Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, was an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and previously Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group sig ...

. In early 2017, he formed a group named Citizen Four alongside Carson Boatman, Connor Boatman, and fellow ''The X Factor'' contestant, Austin Percario for Island Records. In August 2017, it was announced that Levi had left the band. That same year, he made a guest appearance on the

series ''

''. In 2018, Levi made another Nickelodeon guest appearance on the television series ''

''.

2019-present: Solo music career, college education and record deal

Following his exit from the group Citizen Four, Levi shifted his full attention towards his education and solo ventures. In July 2019, he earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

of science in business and finance from

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a private for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts. The school moved to Florida in 1980 and began ...

. In July 2020, he released he first extended play ''DISC ONE''. In October 2020, he released the music video for his song "Don't They", which included a cameo by his childhood friend singer

Normani Normani Kordei Hamilton ( ; born May 31, 1996) is an American singer and dancer. She auditioned as a solo act for the American television series ''The X Factor'' in 2012, after which she became a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which wen ...

. Celebrity photographer Blair Caldwell directed the music video in his directorial debut. In September 2021, Levi signed to Issa Rae's Raedio and Atlantic Records. He also released the song "NASA" and its music video. In 2022, Levi voiced the character of Aaron Z from the fictional boy band 4*Town in the

animated film ''

''. In April 2022, he earned his first

charting hit with the

and

co-written " Nobody Like U" from the film's

, which peaked at number 49. In June 2022, Levi released the remix to his song "Don't They" featuring

, from his second extended play ''DISC TWO''. In May 12, 2023, Levi released the deluxe to his second extened play called ''DISC TWO (SCRATCHED UP)'' which features the viral hit single, "Birthday Dance". Levi also announced that he was working on his debut studio album.

Filmography

Discography

EPs

Singles

* 2018: ''98'' * 2018: ''Doorstep'' * 2018: ''Drive By'' * 2019: ''Seen It All'' * 2020: ''If The World'' * 2021: ''NASA'' * 2021: ''What's The Use'' (with Raedio) * 2022: ''VICES'' * 2022: ''Don't They emix' (feat.

) * 2023: ''EGO '' * 2023: ''BIRTHDAY DANCE ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levi, Josh 1998 births Living people 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male actors American male pop singers American male television actors Male actors from Houston The X Factor (American TV series) contestants 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers