At the 2025 GRAMMY Awards, Jacob Collier once again was a surprise nominee for Album of the Year.
Videos by American Songwriter
His latest, Djesse Vol. 4, went up against colossal releases by Beyoncé, André 3000, Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, and Billie Eilish. (Beyoncé won her first-ever Album of the Year GRAMMY for Cowboy Carter.)
Though Collier may not be a household name compared to his fellow nominees, he has earned seven GRAMMYs. He gained attention in 2011 by posting virtuosic covers on YouTube. His cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing” grabbed the attention of Quincy Jones.
Mentored by the Maestro
Jones then began mentoring and managing the 17-year-old. At a young age, Collier had clear mastery over his voice, several instruments, and the complex languages of jazz and R&B.
Collier told Variety before the GRAMMYs, “The greatest thing Quincy gave me was unconditional love and support. Sounds simple, but that is what we need as people and artists.”
“He saw something in me at 18, 19, that I could not see in myself,” he continued, “perhaps a pathway to being expansive and experimental.” Jones helped Collier navigate the many genres he blends.
The legendary producer gave Collier advice on how to connect the diverse threads of his music: “Don’t try to be cool. Be warm.” It’s this spirit that drove Collier’s latest album and its high-profile collaborations.
Complex Pop
Djesse Vol. 4 also features appearances by Brandi Carlile, John Legend, Shawn Mendes, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, John Mayer, Lizzy McAlpine, and Michael McDonald, among others.
Though Collier might be known as a one-man band, one of the standout tracks on Djesse Vol. 4 is “Never Gonna Be Alone,” which features McAlpine and Mayer. Here, Collier supports McAlpine’s feathery voice with a chordal stack of his own singing.
Though there’s much complexity in the arrangements, Collier presents them like pop songs. It seems to be another lesson he absorbed from Jones, a producer with immense technical gifts at the helm of blockbuster albums like Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
Collier, now 30, talks about the solitude of being a one-man band. In the early YouTube clips, he splices together multiple camera angles of himself performing the cover songs.
The videos show someone alone, trying to make connections with his music. He eventually connected with a legend before his music reached the rest of the world. There’s some real-life poetry to Collier’s outstanding track and its title: “Never Gonna Be Alone.”
Photo by Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.