A Great Big World

Mixing a love of Broadway musicals and Disney soundtracks with smart, empowering ballads, songwriting duo A Great Big World became a pop powerhouse when they teamed up with Christina Aguilera on the huge hit single 'Say Something' in 2013.

Using music to overcome his natural shyness, Ian Axel started playing piano at the age of three and had been writing songs for years when he met fellow student and musical fan Chad King while studying at New York University. They both initially set their hearts on careers in the business side of the music industry, but continued to write songs together as King went on to intern at record companies and Axel worked for Apple. Axel was later hired by his managers to perform at stores across the city and as he embarked on a solo career, King became his manager and sang backing vocals with him at gigs. Things really took off when MTV started using Axel's solo tracks in a variety of TV shows and picked his song 'This Is the New Year' to be the theme tune for their popular documentary series 'I Used to Be Fat'.

Axel went on to release his first solo album and toured with Five for Fighting and Matthew Morrison before the pair officially started performing together as A Great Big World in 2011, funding their self-titled EP through Kickstarter. Their profile grew rapidly when 'This Is the New Year' was featured in season four of the popular musical drama 'Glee' and, after signing a deal with Epic Records, Christina Aguilera became a fan and helped their emotional duet 'Say Something' reach number four in both the US and UK charts. They also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo Performance.

Full of soaring pop singalongs and positive-spirirted messages of defiance their debut album 'Is Anybody Out There?' went on to reach number three in the US and the duo also collaborated with Ingrid Michaelson on her track 'Over You'. Rapper Futuristic featured on their second record 'When the Morning Comes' and they appeared on the soundtrack to animated movie 'The Star' before their 2018 album 'A Great Big World' earned comparisons to Elton John, Simon and Garfunkel and Ben Folds Five.