Tobias MacDonald Jesso Jr. (born July 11, 1985) is a Canadian musician from North Vancouver,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. His debut album ''

Goon Goon may refer to: Slang * Humans: ** People noted for brutality, or otherwise as targets of contempt: *** A guard in a prisoner of war camp (British World War II usage) *** An enforcer (ice hockey) *** A hired thug, in a goon squad ** Alter ...

'' was released in 2015 on

True Panther Sounds True Panther Sounds (TPS) is a New York City-based independent record label founded by Dean Bein, previously owned by Matador Records and distributed by Beggars Group. The label began in 2004 in San Francisco to release a tour-only 7" by founders ...

. He was included in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine's list of the 20 Biggest Breakouts of 2015''.'' He was nominated for the first ever Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for his work on releases by

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

, Adele,

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

Orville Peck Orville Peck is a South African country musician based in Canada. He wears a fringed mask and has never shown his face publicly. He released his debut album ''Pony'' in 2019, followed by the EP '' Show Pony'' the next year. His second studio a ...

King Princess Mikaela Mullaney Straus (born December 19, 1998), known by her stage name King Princess, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician from Brooklyn, New York. She is signed to Mark Ronson's label Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records. ...

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

and

Omar Apollo Omar Apolonio Velasco (born May 20, 1997), known professionally as Omar Apollo, is an American singer and songwriter. After signing a record deal with Warner Records, his debut album, ''Ivory'', was released in 2022 to positive reviews for his ...

Career

After living and playing bass in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

for 4 years, Jesso moved back to his home in North Vancouver. Retrieved 7 February 2015. He started playing the piano in his spare time while working for a moving company. It was during this period that he wrote his first piano-based song "Just a Dream." Eventually, he sent one of his demos in an email to former Girls bassist JR White. Jesso co-wrote the songs " When We Were Young" and "Lay Me Down" (featured on the Target version of '' 25'') with Adele, which is included in her 2015 album '' 25''.

''Goon''

Jesso's first demo was released in August 2013 after a painful break-up and his mother's cancer diagnosis. JR White, along with

Patrick Carney Patrick James Carney (born April 15, 1980) is an American musician and producer best known as the drummer of the Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. Early life Carney's father, Jim, is a retired reporter for the '' Akron Beacon Journ ...

of The Black Keys,

John Collins John Collins may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Collins (poet) (1742–1808), English orator, singer, and poet * John Churton Collins (1848–1908), English literary critic * John H. Collins (director) (1889–1918), American director an ...

of The New Pornographers, and Ariel Rechtshaid, helped produce Jesso's debut album entitled ''

''. Aaron Sperske plays drums on the album except Danielle Haim plays drums on the track "Without You." His song "

How Could You Babe "How Could You Babe" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr., from his debut studio album, '' Goon''. The song was released as a single on January 20, 2015. ''Rolling Stone'' named it one of 10 best songs of 2015. Track listing ...

" garnered increased attention after being tweeted about by both Adele and

Alana Haim Alana Mychal Haim (born December 15, 1991) is an American musician and actress. She is best known as a member of the pop rock band Haim, along with her two older sisters Este and Danielle, where she performs piano, guitar and vocals. In 2020, t ...

. He collaborated with

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

and Adele on the song "Alive". Originally intended for Adele and

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

, the song was eventually recorded by Sia and appeared on her album '' This Is Acting''. His first major tour started in 2015.

Musical style

Jesso's music has been compared to singer/songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s from

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...

to Harry Nilsson and Emitt Rhodes. He cites Newman as one of his favourite artists. Even though he was a bassist and guitarist for years, his new music was written by him on the piano—an instrument he started playing at the age of 27.

Awards

Jesso was nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the 2015 Juno Awards. On June 20, 2016, Jesso was the recipient of the SOCAN Breakout Award at the

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...

Awards in Toronto.

Personal life

Jesso married Australian musician

Emma Louise Emma Louise Lobb (born 16 July 1991), who performs as Emma Louise, is an Australian indie pop singer-songwriter from Cairns. She is best known for her 2011 debut single "Jungle". Two studio albums, '' Vs Head vs Heart'' (March 2013) and '' Supe ...

in January 2019; they have since had a child.Instagram
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Discography

Singles

* "True Love" * "Hollywood" * "

Songwriting and production credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jesso, Tobias, Jr. 1985 births Living people Canadian male singer-songwriters Musicians from British Columbia Canadian people of Portuguese descent 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian bass guitarists 21st-century Canadian pianists Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian indie pop musicians Canadian songwriters