Gallant (singer)

Gallant
Birth name Christopher Gallant
Born 1992
Washington, D.C., United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2013–present
Labels
Associated acts

Christopher Gallant (born 1992), better known by the mononym Gallant, is an American singer and songwriter from Columbia, Maryland, signed to Mind of a Genius Records. He self-released his debut EP, Zebra. On April 6, 2016, his debut studio album Ology was released worldwide and received critical acclaim for his songwriting and vocal prowess. On May 11, 2016, Gallant performed his single "Weight in Gold" during his national television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to a standing ovation.

Early life and education

Gallant was born in Washington, D.C. When he was in elementary school, he and his family moved to Columbia, Maryland. He attended Atholton High School and participated in drama and choir. He started recording songs during middle school. He was influenced by R&B artists and then later alternative rock while growing up.[1]

In 2013, he graduated from New York University where he studied music.[2][3]

Career

In the fall of 2013, Gallant moved to Los Angeles, California to work on a career in music.[3]

In 2014, he self-released his debut EP, Zebra, which he describes as "a sonic diary about dealing with the aftermath of New York". Soon there after, he was discovered by Mind of a Genius Records founder David Dann.[2]

His single, "Weight in Gold", was played by Zane Lowe on Beats1's first air date in June 2015.[4]

In 2015, Gallant toured with Sufjan Stevens on his North American tour, where he performed 18 shows throughout the country.[5]

Following the debut of "Weight in Gold" and a North American tour with Sufjan Stevens, Gallant was named one of 15 artists that Spotify believed was destined "breakout" in 2016.

He is also featured in Zhu's (another Mind of a Genius Records artist) "Testarossa Music" from the Genesis Series EP.[6] Gallant was also announced as the opener for Zhu's "Neon City" tour, spanning over April and May throughout America, beginning with Coachella.[7]

In February 5, 2016, Gallant and Jhené Aiko came out with their collaborative song. The song, "Skipping Stones", produced by Adrian Younge and co-produced by Stint (a frequent producer for Gallant) features Gallant's signature falsetto style with specks of bold vocals and Jhené's signature soothing, a cappella-esque vocals. The song is licensed under Red Bull Media House and featured in their Red Bull Sound Select collection along with the B-side "Borderline".[8]

On January 6, 2016, Gallant debuted the episode one of his brand new series In the Room with Sufjan Stevens. The pair performed Steven's song "Blue Bucket of Gold", which has accumulated over 150,000 views on Gallant's YouTube channel.[9]

In partnership with Spotify episode two, featuring Seal premiered on March 9, 2016. Gallant and Seal performed Gallant's hit song "Weight in Gold", which has accumulated over 200,000 views on YouTube. At the end of the episode, Seal claimed that he was Gallant's biggest fan.[10]

Gallant described the In the Room series as, "an ongoing collaborative project – a chance to both pay tribute to and create something special with the artists that have inspired me the most".[11]

To date, In the Room has accumulated over 366,000 plays on YouTube, as well as over four million streams on Spotify.

Gallant performed both weekends of Coachella in 2016, which Billboard named the number one moment of the entire festival.[12] Weekend one included a surprise appearance from Seal, where the pair performed Seal's song "Crazy" and Gallant's song "Weight in Gold". The following weekend, included a surprise appearance from Jhené Aiko where the air performed their collaboration "Skipping Stones".[13]

Following the acclaim from the collaborative single and previous singles "Weight in Gold", "Open Up" and "Talking in Your Sleep", Gallant publicly announced the release date of his debut studio album Ology through social media and on Twitter, he tweeted the pre-order link through iTunes, sharing a new single "Bourbon" alongside. The song garnered attention and praise from numerous outlets.[14] After years of recording, Ology[15] was released by Mind of a Genius Records. An anticipated release by fans, the album was released to critical success with praise given to his distinct and diverse sound, voice and lyricism.[16]

The album received critical acclaim, including a rating of 7.5/10 from Pitchfork,[17] a rating 4/5 from The Guardian, which states, “If this is what R&B’s future looks like it’s brighter than ever”.[18] Also, Entertainment Weekly named Ology one of the 25 best albums of 2016 (so far).[19]

On May 12, 2016, Gallant made his national television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Gallant performed "Weight in Gold", which ended with a standing ovation from the audience. Fallon ended the show praising Gallant's performance with the quote, “Oh my goodness! I told you… Watch out for this guy [GALLANT]!”.[20]

In September 2016, Gallant performed "Bourbon" and "Weight in Gold" for the BBC on Later... with Jools Holland.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Case, Wesley (July 22, 2015). "Rising R&B singer Gallant on 'Weight in Gold' and growing up in Columbia". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Bain, Katie (July 8, 2015). "Gallant Played a Show for 10 People, But Two of Them Helped Launch His Career". LA Weekly. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Luke, Winkie (December 2, 2015). "Meet Gallant, a Rising Artist With a Voice of Gold". Red Bull. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  4. ↑ Medved, Matt (June 30, 2015). "Gallant Premieres 'Weight in Gold' as Zane Lowe's First World Exclusive on Apple Music". Billboard. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Watch Sufjan Stevens & Gallant Cover Drake's 'Hotline Bling'". Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  6. ↑ "ZHU x Gallant - Testarossa Music (Audio)". Youtube. October 1, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  7. ↑ http://thissongissick.com/blog/2016/zhu-announces-first-headlining-tour-neon-city/
  8. ↑ "Gallant - Skipping Stones feat. Jhené Aiko (prod. by Adrian Younge, co-prod. by Stint)". SoundCloud. February 5, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  9. ↑ "See Gallant & Sufjan Stevens collaborate for new Spotify series". Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  10. ↑ "Gallant Duets With Seal on "Weight in Gold" | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  11. ↑ "In the Room". Gallant. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  12. ↑ "11 Best Moments From Coachella 2016". Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  13. ↑ "Jhene Aiko Reminsces About Dancing With Prince During One of His 2011 Concerts". Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  14. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/news/63900-gallant-announces-ology-lp-shares-bourbon/
  15. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ology/id1089416488
  16. ↑ http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/6/11379016/gallant-ology-dvsn-sept-5th-album-review
  17. ↑ "Gallant: Ology Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  18. ↑ Bakare, Lanre (2016-05-26). "Gallant: Ology review – a vision of the future of R&B". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  19. ↑ "The 25 best albums of 2016 (so far)". Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  20. ↑ "Gallant Makes Television Debut to a Standing O on 'Tonight Show'". Retrieved 2016-07-06.

External links

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