By Angel Sabater | Big Stick Editor |
With 2016 in the books, it’s time to look at some artists who had an impact last year.
1) TWENTY ØNE PILØTS
Music duo, Tyler Joseph (Singer) and Josh Dun (Drummer), American band, began their journey in 2009, when they were inspired by a book called All my Sons by Arther Miller. Over the years, they went from labels Fueled by Ramen to WEA International and lastly Atlantic. They made four official studio albums, Twenty One Pilots (2009), Regional at Best (2011), Vessel (2013) and Blurryface (2015). They are also known for their singles, Ride, Stressed Out and Heathens (From movie, Suicide Squad) They also made it to Top 12 of Billboard charts Hot 100.
Twenty One Pilots are openly Christian; They use their music to reach out to troubled teens who are going through tough times in their life to overlook those problems and to show them a way out. According to RollingStone, Twenty One Pilots have a mixture of genres in their music have a mixture of genres in their music that makes it hard to categorize going from alternative hip-hop, rock, electropop to indie pop. Check out TOP at their official website: www.twentyonepilots.com to get the latest news, music links, tour and merchandise.
2) Halsey
Electro-Pop singer/songwriter, Halsey or Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, an American singer/songwriter began her career as she posted cover videos on YouTube under her real name and got recognized when she posted a song called “Ghost” on SoundCloud and signed her first record deal with Astralwerks. She made her debut album “Badlands” in 2015. According to Billboard the top 3 most popular songs are Ghost (2015), New Americana (2015) and Closer (2016).
Halsey is known to be a solo artists, but is starting to collaborate with other music artists like Chainsmokers in their hit single “Closer.” She recently won award for Rising Star, in the 2016 Billboard Women in Music, which is annual event dedicated to women in the music industry in their work and success and who inspire women in the industry to take on the music industry. So check out Halsey at her official website at: www.iamhalsey.com for news, music links, tour schedule and merchandise. Check out Halsey at her official website at: www.iamhalsey.com
3) Gnash
Also known as Garrett Charles Nash, made it to Billboard Chart Hot 100 top 10 song with the hit single i hate you, i love you ft. Olivia O’Brian. Gnash is an American Alternate R&B, Hip-Hop, Rapper, Songwriter, DJ and Rock artist and has released EPs (Short for Extended Play) U, Me and Us and with only 27 songs on the course of ten years active as an artist. His journey began as he was 13years old when he first started DJing and after college he began writing songs. He was recognized as a music artist when he released his hit single, i hate you, i love you ft. Olivia O’Brian. Which according to Vogue, his music can rival against Katy Perry or Lady Gaga. Check out Gnash at his official website at: www.gnash.us
4) Avicii
Known as Tim Bergling, gained international success for his debut album, True (2013) and his hit single, Wake Me Up ft. Aloe Blacc. The Swedish EDM (Electronic Dance Music) artist, began producing his music at 16 years old and touring at 18 years old and later in 2014, won German Echo Award for Best Electronic/Club/Dance Artists. Throughout 2014, he kept touring, despite the stress and had his Gallbladder removed. In 2015, Avicii made his second and last official album, Stories. Within the year, only fans and music kept him going and motivated. This past summer, he then announced his retirement in an emotional letter to fans on his official website at www.avicii.com. According to Billboard, Bergling had been suffering from acute pancreatitis.
5) Christina Grimmie
Rising Star, American YouTube personality, singer and songwriter and openly Christian, Christina Grimmie began her journey YouTubing, thus started doing cover videos and vloging videos. In June 2011, she released her first EP, Find Me and made her album, With Love in 2013. Her second EP, Side A, was released on February 21, 2016. She has been known for participating in season 6 of NBC’s The Voice and was coached by Adam Levine and came in third. She is also known to have raised funds for the Humane Society of the United States. She was living the dream and on June 10, 2016 she was shot and killed during a meet and greet outside of her concert. She was buried in her home state in New Jersey on June 16.
Her memory still lives on, days after her death, fans did vlogs and covers of Grimmie’s songs. Friend of Grimmie and fellow YouTuber, Shane Dawson, made a vlog about their friendship. Another friend of Grimmie, Selena Gomez’s stepdad, Brian Teefey (Grimmie’s manager) made a GoFundMe page to cover funeral expenses days after that, and Adam Levine paid off all the costs. Grimmie’s family had her funeral on June 16. At the 7th annual VidCon (Multi-genre video conference) on June 23 – June 25, remembered Grimmie in an emotional video. Christina’s family also made an emotional video of Grimmie with her hit 2013 single, With Love. Later, her family also released an emotional video of Grimmie, using, With Love and released music videos for Side A on social media. Check out Christina Grimmie at her website: www.christinagrimmie.com
Check out all of the above music artists at your local music app.
Cover image Photo credit: Foter.com / CC0