Leon George Thomas III (born August 1, 1993)[1] is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. He began his career as a child actor on Broadway, appearing in the musicals The Lion King, Caroline, or Change and The Color Purple across the 2000s. In television, he provided the singing voice of Tyrone on the Nick Jr. animated series The Backyardigans (2006–2008) and played Andre Harris on the Nickelodeon series Victorious (2010–2013).
Shifting focus onto his music career, Thomas achieved success in the 2010s as a member of the production duo the Rascals, winning a Grammy Award from two nominations. He has co-written and co-produced for several artists, including his Victorious co-star Ariana Grande, Babyface, Drake, Rick Ross, SZA, and Toni Braxton.
As a solo musician, Thomas released three mixtapes and an extended play under Rostrum Records. In 2022, he signed with Ty Dolla Sign's EZMNY Records and Motown to release his debut studio album, Electric Dusk (2023). His second album, Mutt (2024), and its lead single "Mutt", became his first solo entries on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100—the latter peaked at number 12.
He played a main character on Victorious, portraying Andre Harris, which premiered on Nickelodeon on March 27, 2010. Thomas also appeared as Andre in the crossover episode between Victorious and iCarly, iParty with Victorious. He also appeared as himself in an episode of True Jackson, VP. On August 2, 2011, the soundtrack album Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show was released, with Thomas featured in the songs "Song 2 You" and "Tell Me That You Love Me". On June 5, 2012, Victorious 2.0: More Music from the Hit TV Show was also released, with Thomas featured in the songs "Countdown" and "Don't You (Forget About Me)". Victorious ended production in July 2012 and the series' last episode aired on February 2, 2013.
Thomas in 2020
In 2012, Thomas started to record his first mixtape called Metro Hearts;[4] it was released on August 1, 2012.[5] Songs on the mixtape include "Forever", "Bad", "Moving On", "Vibe", "Like Clay", and "Never Look Back". The mixtape also included a cover of Drake's "Take Care" with Ariana Grande.[6] Thomas co-wrote the song "Ain't No Other Me" for the British girl group Stooshe, which features as a deluxe edition track on their debut album, London with the Lights On. Thomas co-wrote four songs on his former co-star Ariana Grande's 2013 album Yours Truly. He also co-produced four songs on the album, in addition to the song "Last Christmas" from Grande's EP Christmas Kisses, as a member of production duo the Rascals.[7] His production work under the Rascals was also included on Toni Braxton and Babyface's Grammy Award-winning album Love, Marriage & Divorce, contributing to the solo "I'd Rather Be Broke", performed by Braxton.
On September 24, 2013, Thomas released a new single, "Hello How Are You" (featuring Wiz Khalifa). On January 1, 2014, Thomas released a new mixtape, V1bes, under the name Leon Thomas, via DatPiff.[8] He also announced that a music video for "Hello How Are You" was in the works. In 2016, he served as a co-producer for Post Malone's album Stoney.
In 2016, Thomas released the mixtape Before the Beginning via SoundCloud, which compiled eight songs which he had "[held on] for a long time".[9] In 2017, he appeared in the Kathryn Bigelow-directed film Detroit.
Thomas in 2023
2018 saw the release of Thomas' debut EP Genesis, which featured guest appearances from Buddy and Tayla Parx. The next year, Thomas earned a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song nomination at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards for co-writing and co-producing the song "Gold Roses" by Rick Ross (featuring Drake). Thomas would also go on to write and produce more records under the Rascals production duo, as well as a solo producer, co-writing, and co-producing two songs on Ariana Grande's Positions, and three songs on Drake's Certified Lover Boy.[10]
In May 2022, Ty Dolla Sign signed a joint venture deal with Motown for his newly launched EZMNY Records imprint, announcing Thomas to be the label's first artist.[11]
He was one of the writers and producers on the track "Burn" by ¥$ (Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign) from their album Vultures 1, released on February 10, 2024.[12] Furthermore, in 2024 Leon won his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for his contribution to SZA's hit song "Snooze".[13][14]
On June 13, 2025, the track "Brown Sugar" was released; a collaboration between Thomas and Dylan Sinclair.[15]
Thomas released the NPR Tiny Desk version of "Mutt" on August 9, 2025.[16]
Filmography
Film
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2003
Robin and Roger
Boy
"The Plan" (season 1, episode 3); nine-episode series
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