John Newman (singer)

John William Peter Newman (born 16 June 1990) is an English musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known for the track "Love Me Again" which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in July 2013 and appeared in FIFA 14, as well as co-writing and singing on Rudimental's 2012 singles "Feel the Love" and "Not Giving In", which peaked at number one and number 14 on the chart, respectively. In 2014, he featured in the Calvin Harris single "Blame", which also topped the UK charts.

Not to be confused with James Newman (singer).
John Newman
Newman in June 2014
Newman in June 2014
Background information
Birth nameJohn William Peter Newman[1]
Born (1990-06-16) 16 June 1990
Settle, North Yorkshire, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • DJ
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • composer
  • record producer
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • guitar
Years active2012–present
Labels
Websitejohnnewman.co.uk

At the 2014 Brit Awards, Newman was nominated for three Brit Awards, including for British Male Solo Artist.[2] As of February 2014, he has sold over 1.3 million records in the UK alone.[3]

Early life and career

John William Peter Newman was born on 16 June 1990 in Settle in the Yorkshire Dales and attended Settle College. When Newman was six years old, his father left the family, leaving his mother Jackie, his older brother James, and him with a pound a day.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

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."[5] 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."[5]

At the age of twenty, Newman moved to London, started a band, played live and was signed to Island Records.[6] While working at The Silver Bullet bar, he made friends with Piers Agget, one fourth of Rudimental.[7] He released "Cheating" as a download song and plays an acoustic version of the track at gigs.[8]

Music career

2012: Breakthrough

In May 2012, John Newman was featured on Rudimental's single "Feel the Love". The single peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in early June 2012; the song was also a top 5 hit in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The song has since been certified 2× 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.

2013–2014: Tribute
Main article: Tribute (John Newman album)

In June 2013, John Newman released his debut single "Love Me Again" as the lead single from his debut studio album.[9] 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".[10] 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."[11] 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!"[12] In December 2013, he released "Losing Sleep" as the third single from the album.[13] 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.[2]

2014–2015: Revolve

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."[14] 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, was released on 16 October 2015.[15]

2016–present: A.N.i.M.A.L, solo hiatus and return to music

In July 2016, Newman released the song "Olé" as a non-album single.[16] In March 2019, he released "Feelings", co-written with Swedish collective Blnk and co-produced with Swedish producer Jarly.[17]

On 30 August 2019, Newman released the song "Without You" with Scottish singer Nina Nesbitt.[18] The song appears on Newman's first EP A.N.i.M.A.L, which was released on 27 September 2019.[19]

On 8 June 2020, it was announced that Newman had collaborated with British DJ duo Sigma on their single "High on You". It was released on 12 June 2020.

Newman announced later in June 2020 that he was taking a break from the music industry, and that he had left his record label and his artist management company.[20][21] He mentioned in the social media announcement that his work had been causing him mental health issues, and that he would continue to release collaborations with other artists throughout the year but he was pausing his solo career.[20]

He returned with "Waiting for a Lifetime", which peaked No. 9 on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay Chart in May 2022,[22][23] and also released his song "Holy Love".

Personal life

Newman has twice been diagnosed with brain tumours, undergoing surgery in 2012 and again in 2016.[24] He married his Danish girlfriend, Nana-Maria on 18 August 2018 in London.[25][26]

He is the younger brother of singer-songwriter James Newman.

In July 2019, whilst being interviewed by the BBC about his upcoming tour, Newman opened up about his personal struggles with mental health. He went on to explain that he found himself comparing himself to other musicians around him that had seen more success both musically and financially. To prevent himself experiencing the same struggles again, much smaller venues were chosen for his 2019 tour and he was to travel between venues in a campervan with his band.[27]

Awards and nominations
List of awards and nominations received by John Newman
Year Organization Award Work Result
2012 Popjustice £20 Music Prize Best British Pop Single "Feel the Love" (ft. Rudimental) Nominated
2013 BRIT Awards Best British Single Nominated
Premios 40 Principales[28] Best International New Act — Nominated
Best International Video "Love Me Again" Won
UK Music Video Awards Best Dance Video – UK "Not Giving In" (ft. Alex Clare & Rudimental) Won
2014 MTV Europe Music Awards[29] Best Push Act — Nominated
BRIT Awards[30] British Male Solo Artist Nominated
British Single "Love Me Again" Nominated
British Video Nominated
Ivor Novello Awards Best Song Musically & Lyrically Nominated
2015 BMI London Awards[31] Award-Winning Song Won
"Blame" (with Calvin Harris) Won
iHeartRadio Music Awards Dance Song of the Year Nominated
European Border Breakers Awards European Border Breakers Award: UK Tribute Won
2016 BMI Pop Awards[32] Award-Winning Song "Blame" (with Calvin Harris) Won

Discography
Main article: John Newman discography

Albums

Tour

Opening act

References
  1. "Songwriter/Composer: NEWMAN JOHN WILLIAM PETER". Broadcast Music, Inc. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. "Brits 2014: Nominations in full". BBC News. Retrieved 19 January 2014
  3. Myers, Justin (19 February 2014). "The BRIT Awards 2014: The biggest selling nominees revealed". Official Charts Company.
  4. Teeman, Tim (20 January 2014). "John Newman interview: 'There are too many celebrities and not enough artists.'". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  5. Front Row. BBC. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  6. "About John Newman". Johnnewman.co.uk. 2 May 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  7. Langford, Georgina (28 June 2013). "DistrictMTV". Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  8. "John Newman Cheating acoustic new music". Soulculture.co.uk. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  9. John Newman announces debut single 'Love Me Again' – video – Music News. Digital Spy
  10. John Newman interview: 'I want people to buy into me as an artist' – Music Interview - Digital Spy.
  11. John Newman streams debut album 'Tribute' online – listen – Music News - Digital Spy
  12. John Newman lands debut Number 1 album. Official Charts Company
  13. John Newman announces new single 'Losing Sleep' – listen – Music News - Digital Spy
  14. Copsey, Rob (22 August 2014). "John Newman: "I'm ready to move on to album two"". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  15. Tom. "John Newman announces full details of new album Revolve". HMV.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  16. "Hear Calvin Harris, John Newman's Suave Breakup Song 'Ole'". Rolling Stone. 8 July 2016. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  17. "JOHN NEWMAN Returns With New Single 'FEELINGS'". essentiallypop.com. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  18. "Without You – Single by John Newman & Nina Nesbitt". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  19. "A.N.i.M.A.L – EP by John Newman". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  20. Newman, John (3 June 2020). "John Newman facebook post". Retrieved 28 July 2020 – via Facebook.
  21. "John Newman 'pauses career' and leaves record label to 'discover better side of me'". Smooth. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  22. "Dance/Mix Show Airplay". Billboard.
  23. "John Newman". Billboard.
  24. "I'm fine, says singer John Newman after brain tumour returns". The Straits Times. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  25. "John Newman on Instagram: "18/08/18"". Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2019 – via Instagram.
  26. "John Newman on Instagram: "The day I got married to the greatest woman in the world!"". Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2019 – via Instagram.
  27. "Career led to depression". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  28. "Ganadores Premios 40 Principales 2013". Los 40 Principales.
  29. "MTV EMAs 2014: Full Nominations List Revealed". Capital. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  30. "John Newman". Brit Awards. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  31. "Graham Gouldman and Top Songwriters Honored at 2015 BMI London Awards". 19 October 2015.
  32. "BMI Honors Taylor Swift and Legendary Songwriting Duo Mann & Weil at the 64th Annual BMI Pop Awards". BMI.com. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
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