Matt White (musician)

Last updated
Matt White
Birth nameMatthew White
Born Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
OriginNew York City, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Singing
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active2006present
Labels
Website Official website

Matt White is an American singer-songwriter. His full-length debut album, Best Days , released by Geffen Records, reached No. 4 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. [1]

Contents

Biography

White was born in Englewood, New Jersey and raised in New York City. [2] He began playing the piano at age three and grew up playing classical music. He wrote an opera at age 11. White moved to Wisconsin in 1996 for college and began his singing career. While attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he learned to play the guitar when a piano wasn't available. After graduating from college, White moved back to New York City, where he continued busking, singing on street corners and in Washington Square Park. He eventually began performing in clubs like Joe's Pub and the Living Room. A fan sent an MP3 of White's song "Miracles", to an A&R rep at Geffen Records; his music, combined with him having over 50,000 MySpace friends, led to White being offered a recording contract with Geffen. In 2006, White debuted with the EP Do You Believe, selling 100,000 copies. His full-length album, Best Days , was released on September 18, 2007 on Geffen Records. White's music has appeared on the television series One Tree Hill , Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County , What About Brian , The Hills , Men in Trees and in the films She's the Man , Little Manhattan , Shrek the Third , What Happens in Vegas , Because I Said So , Wedding Crashers , Hotel for Dogs and Over Her Dead Body .

Best Days

The album Best Days was released on September 18, 2007. Reception to the music was very positive by music critics and mass audiences alike. A highlight of the album was when White was picked by MTV to be featured on 52 Artist Week Series which was a promotion that MTV ran at the time. White involved his maternal grandmother Shirley Kessleman, who was also one of the first female orchestral leaders in the country. The music video for Best Days stayed on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown for 16 weeks reaching number 6 on the Countdown. The album reached #4 on Billboard's New Artist chart and earned him high praises from press. Rolling Stone magazine listed him in their "10 Artists to Watch". Details magazine also added Best Days in their "best new music bubbling from the underground," saying White has "a falsetto smooth enough to melt the icy heart of a Brooklyn hipster."[ This quote needs a citation ]

White has toured extensively and has performed with Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, B.B. King, OneRepublic, Third Eye Blind and Counting Crows. White’s songs have garnered national attention, he played an integral role in The Gap's "Vote For" Initiative campaign, which encouraged Americans to express their ideals and become proactive during the 2008 election. His custom track “Songs of Freedom” became the theme song for campaign and aired on a special electoral episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. His music has also made a splash nationally in movies and TV shows, such as What Happens in Vegas , Shrek the Third , Because I Said So , The Hills , Men in Trees and One Tree Hill . White took 2009 to write his next record which he said would be mostly piano, and recorded on analog tape.

Recently, Matt White was picked as Facebook's first artist feature with demos from the upcoming album release.

It's the Good Crazy

Matt White's second album It's the Good Crazy was released on September 14, 2010 with 11 tracks. [3]

In December 2012 Matt's song "Love" was the first dance for The Bachelor wedding special with JP and Ashley and he is prominently featured on the "ABC" wedding special.

Shirley

Matt White's third album Shirley was released on August 5, 2013 with 11 tracks. [4]

White also Flew to Munich, Germany to play "Love and Affection" on an episode of "The Bachelorette." The song was threaded through the storyline and shot into the top 25 on iTunes.

White also performed "Love and Affection" on Good Morning America and VH1 morning buzz. Songs from Shirley were also used in "ABC Family's" Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries and "Fox's" New Girl.

Greenwich

White's fourth album began production in the beginning of 2019 Having spent 2018 writing his album, three of the songs as demos wound up in national commercials. A song White wrote features "Questlove" from The Roots in a Honda commercial. As well as a song featuring White in the Apple iPhone Commercial titled "phases."

‘’2019-2021’’

In the last five years, He has had over 200 song syncs in film and television, including 21 in Grey's Anatomy as well as placements in Empire, Lucifer, The Good Doctor, Shameless, Shades of Blue, Pretty Little Liars, Station 19, iZombie, Hand of God, Magnum P.I., Criminal Minds:Beyond Borders, God Friended Me, Love Island, the Bachelor/Bachelorette, So You Think You Can Dance, Blacklist and many others. His music has been featured in trailers/promos/ads for Lloyds Bank, Samsung (Galaxy S10), Ocean's 8, The Rookie, Careful What You Wish For, Netflix's Between, Jeep, Expedia, McDonald’s, and the most recent Uber ads.

Discography

Albums

Singles

YearTitleChart
peak positions
Album
Pop 100
2007"Best Days"#19 [6] Best Days

Singles

YearTitleChart
peak positions
Album
Disco 100
2021"Running Away"#5 [6] Running Away [7]

Singles

YearTitleChart
peak positions
Album
Rock 100
2013"Love and Affection"#26 [6] Shirley

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weezer</span> American rock band

Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner. They have sold 10 million albums in the US and more than 35 million worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Bassey</span> Welsh singer (born 1937)

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Green</span> American soul singer, songwriter and pastor (born 1946)

Albert Leornes Greene, known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including "Take Me to the River", "Tired of Being Alone", "I'm Still in Love with You", "Love and Happiness", and his signature song, "Let's Stay Together". After his girlfriend died by suicide, Green became an ordained pastor and turned to gospel music. He later returned to secular music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Summer</span> American singer (1948–2012)

Donna Adrian Gaines, known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music gained a global following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counting Crows</span> American rock band

Counting Crows is an American rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, multi-instrumentalist David Immerglück, bass guitarist Millard Powers, and guitarist Dan Vickrey. Past members include the drummers Steve Bowman (1991–1994) and Ben Mize (1994–2002), and bass guitarist Matt Malley (1991–2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common (rapper)</span> American rapper and actor (born 1972)

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. He has received three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, and gained wider critical acclaim with its follow-ups, Resurrection (1994) and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997). He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, and achieved his first mainstream success through his work with the black music collective, Soulquarians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Nyro</span> American singer and songwriter (1947–1997)

Laura Nyro was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969), and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and the 5th Dimension recording her songs. Wider recognition for her artistry was posthumous, while her contemporaries such as Elton John idolized her. She was praised for her emotive three-octave mezzo-soprano voice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Forbert</span> American pop music singer-songwriter

Samuel Stephen Forbert is an American pop/folk singer-songwriter. His 1979 song "Romeo's Tune" reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It also spent two weeks at No. 8 in Canada. Forbert's first four albums all charted on the Billboard 200 chart, with Jackrabbit Slim certified gold in Canada. In 2004, his Any Old Time album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Folk category. Forbert has released twenty studio and three live albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Nathanson</span> American musician

Matthew Adam Nathanson is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock and roll music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic and electric guitar, and has played both solo and with a full band. His work includes the platinum-selling song "Come On Get Higher". One of his hit songs, "Giants", was the opening music for the 2016 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas on ESPN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danger Mouse (musician)</span> American musician and producer (born 1977)

Brian Joseph Burton, known professionally as Danger Mouse, is an American musician and record producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from the Beatles' The Beatles, also known as The White Album. In 2008, Esquire named him one of the "75 most influential people of the 21st century".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hiatt</span> American singer-songwriter and musician

John Robert Hiatt is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayden (musician)</span> Canadian musician

Paul Hayden Desser, who records as Hayden, is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Thornhill, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aviv Geffen</span> Israeli musician

Aviv Geffen is an Israeli rock musician, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, Geffen is a founding member of the band Blackfield, he was also the global music director for WeWork.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackyl</span> American rock band

Jackyl is an American rock band formed in 1991. Their sound has been described as hair metal and southern rock. Their self-titled debut album has sold more than a million copies in the United States with hit singles like "Down on Me" and "When Will It Rain". The band is best known for the song "The Lumberjack", which features a chainsaw solo by lead singer Jesse James Dupree.

<i>Everybodys Rockin</i> 1983 studio album by Neil Young and the Shocking Pinks

Everybody's Rockin' is the 13th studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on August 1, 1983. The album was recorded with the Shocking Pinks, and features a selection of rockabilly songs. Running 25 minutes, it is Young's shortest album. Everybody's Rockin' is typical of his 1980s period in that it bears little or no resemblance to the album released before it, nor the one released after it.

<i>Landing on Water</i> 1986 studio album by Neil Young

Landing on Water is the 15th studio album by Neil Young. The album was released on July 21, 1986, by Geffen Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor McEvoy</span> Irish singer-songwriter (born 1967)

Eleanor McEvoy is an Irish singer-songwriter. She composed the song "Only a Woman's Heart", title track of A Woman's Heart, the best-selling Irish album in Irish history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaggy (musician)</span> Jamaican reggae musician (born 1968)

Orville Richard Burrell, better known by his stage name Shaggy, is a Jamaican-American reggae singer, rapper and songwriter who scored hits with the songs "It Wasn't Me", "Boombastic", "In The Summertime", "Oh Carolina", and "Angel". He has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, winning twice for Best Reggae Album with Boombastic in 1996 and 44/876 with Sting in 2019, and has won the Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist in 2002.

David Jaymes is an English musician and songwriter best known as the founder member of the Leyton Buzzards (1976–1980) and the multi-hit salsa band Modern Romance (1980–1985). He now works in Music Management and Consultancy.

References

  1. "Matt White on The "It" Factor". The "It" Factor. CBS Digital Radio. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  2. Miller, Jen A. "Best Days for a Debut Jersey Artist", New Jersey Monthly , January 2008. Accessed June 23, 2008.
  3. Florino, Rick (September 14, 2010). "Matt White's "It's the Good Crazy" - 4.5 out of 5 stars". Artist Direct. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  4. poster, Rick (September 14, 2013). "Matt White's "Shirley" - 4 out of 5 stars". NME. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  5. "Shirley by Matt White". iTunes . 5 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 "Matt White > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic.
  7. Running Away - Single by Matt White, 2021-04-26, retrieved 2021-12-14

Sources

Rolling Stone Top Ten Artists to Watch