Rajiv Dhall (born 1992;

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

) is an Indian

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and part-time actor. On December 18, 2010, he started uploading videos to his YouTube channel "TwentyForSeven" which had over 1,000,000 subscribers and over 120 million views.

Biography

Rajiv Dhall was born the son of Punjabi Indian-origin father and Caucasian mother. He attended

Plymouth-Canton Educational Park The Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (commonly PCEP or "The Park") encompasses three public secondary schools—Salem High School, Canton High School, and Plymouth High School—in Canton Township, Michigan, United States within Metro Det ...

. While Dhall was in high school, he and his friends formed the

emo-pop Emo pop (also known as emo pop punk and pop-emo) is a fusion genre combining emo with the melodies of pop punk and/or pop music. Emo pop features a music style with more concise songs and hook-filled choruses. Emo pop began in the 1990s with ban ...

outfit TwentyForSeven (consisting of Dhall, (vocals/guitar), Matt Pastor (bass/keys/vocals), Blake Hayes (guitar/vocals), Tony Bastianelli (Synth/Programming) and Corey DeLuca (drums)) and spent several years fronting the band with some success.

Career

His band appeared on

E's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in ''Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003 to Februa ...

Opening Act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

competition in 2012 and as a surprise, they got a chance to be the

opening act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

for

Gym Class Heroes Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including hip h ...

. He later started uploading solo

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or Sound recording and reproduction, recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referr ...

to YouTube which eventually gave him a large online following. In 2015, he released his version of the One Direction song " Just Can't Let Her Go", which entered the Top 200 of the iTunes songs chart. After his success on YouTube, his friend Andrew Bazzi introduced him to

Vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

, a short-form video sharing service where users can share six-second-long looping video clips. He was nominated for "Best Vine Musician" in the Seventh Annual Shorty Awards, losing out to

Shawn Mendes Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian pop singer. He gained a following in 2013, when he posted song covers on the video sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gert ...

. He was also nominated for the 2015 MTV Woodie Awards. In 2016, he was nominated for the

2016 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards The 2016 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards (commonly referred to as the iHeartRadio MMVAs) were held on June 19, 2016 outside 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, and hosted by Gigi Hadid. The 2016 edition was co-branded with iHeartRadi ...

in the "Fan Fave Vine Musician" category and he won. He also made videos showcasing the top songs of 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhall, Rajiv People from Canton, Michigan Singer-songwriters from Michigan American male musicians of Indian descent American musicians of Indian descent American male singer-songwriters American male pop singers American pop pianists American male pianists American acoustic guitarists American male bass guitarists American pop guitarists Living people American Internet celebrities Guitarists from Michigan 1992 births 21st-century American singers 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American male singers