George Ezra
George Ezra | |
---|---|
![]() Ezra at the 2014 Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza | |
Background information | |
Birth name | George Ezra Barnett |
Born | Hertford, England | 7 June 1993
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Years active | 2013–present |
Labels | |
Website | georgeezra |
George Ezra Barnett (born 7 June 1993) is an English singer-songwriter. After releasing two EPs, Did You Hear the Rain? in October 2013 and Cassy O' in March 2014, Ezra rose to prominence with the release of his hit single "Budapest", which reached the top ten in numerous countries around the world, reaching number one in Austria, New Zealand and the Czech Republic. Ezra's debut studio album Wanted on Voyage, which was released on 30 June 2014, reached number one in the UK and in Scotland, and the top ten in seven other countries.
Early life
Ezra grew up in Hertford in England, attending Bengeo Primary School and then Simon Balle School.[1] He moved to Bristol in 2011 to study at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute there.[2] Both of his parents are teachers.[3]
Musical style
Ezra cites Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie as his main musical influences. His bass-baritone range has been described as bluesy, with When the Gramophone Rings calling it "a voice beyond his years", adding "...a soulful, wizened tone that somehow would feel more at home coming from an Alabama shrimp boat captain than a 21 year old Bristolian."[4]
A youthful obsession with Dylan prompted Ezra to seek out earlier American folk and blues artists. "Out of curiosity, I went to find out who he had been listening to," he says. "That's when I found Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie and Howlin' Wolf." Ezra had heard a Lead Belly compilation and had simply tried to sing like him. "On the back of the record, it said his voice was so big, you had to turn your record player down," Ezra says. "I liked the idea of singing with a big voice, so I tried it, and I could."[5]
Music career
2013–present: Wanted on Voyage
In June 2013, Ezra played the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury Festival.[6] He released his debut EP Did You Hear the Rain? in October 2013. In late 2013, he received airplay on BBC Radio 1, with songs "Did You Hear the Rain?" and "Budapest" regularly featured. He was included in MTV's 'Brand New for 2014',[7] Vevo's 'DSCVR Ones to Watch 2014'[8] and iTunes' new artists 2014.[9] Ezra was longlisted for the BBC Sound of... 2014, where he eventually finished in fifth place.[10]
The song "Budapest" charted in Italy at number six on the Italy Top 20 and was certified Platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry.[11] He has played support spots for Lianne La Havas and Tom Odell.[12] In March 2014 he released his second EP Cassy O'. "Budapest" was released in the UK on 13 June, followed by Ezra's debut album Wanted on Voyage on 30 June. On 6 July, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number three.[13] The album has also charted in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. On 5 October, fourteen weeks after its initial release, Wanted on Voyage climbed to number one in the UK.[14] As of December 2014, the album had sold 678,156 copies in the UK and was the third best-selling album of the year.[15] On 4 January 2015, the album reclaimed the number one spot in the UK.[16]
On 10 August 2014, Ezra was a support act for Robert Plant at the Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza.[17]
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [18] |
AUS [19] |
AUT [20] |
BEL [21] |
FRA [22] |
GER [23] |
IRE [24] |
NZ [25] |
SWI [26] |
US [27] | |||
Wanted on Voyage |
|
1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 19 |
Extended plays
Title | Details |
---|---|
Did You Hear the Rain? |
|
Cassy O' |
|
Singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [18] |
AUS [19] |
AUT [20] |
BEL [21] |
CAN [33] |
FRA [22] |
GER [23] |
IRE [24] |
NZ [25] |
US [27] | ||||||
"Did You Hear the Rain?" | 2013 | — | — | 72 | — | — | 169 | — | — | — | — | Wanted on Voyage | |||
"Budapest" | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 40 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 81 | |||||
"Cassy O'" | 2014 | 146 | — | — | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
"Blame It on Me" | 6 | 10 | 11 | 56 | — | — | 27 | 17 | 8 | — | |||||
"Listen to the Man" | 41 | — | — | 60 | — | — | — | 83 | — | — | |||||
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released. |
Other charted songs
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
---|---|---|---|
UK [43] | |||
"Leaving It Up to You" | 2014 | 80 | Wanted on Voyage |
References
- ^ "SBS Alumni News - Simon Balle School". simonballe.herts.sch.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "George Ezra BIMM". bimm.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ "George Ezra". exposedmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- ^ "REVIEW: GEORGE EZRA // DID YOU HEAR THE RAIN? EP". When the Gramophone Rings. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- ^ Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAY (14 September 2014). "On the Verge: George Ezra arrives by way of 'Budapest'". USA Today. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ "George Ezra – Interview – DSCVR ONES TO WATCH 2014". Vevo. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- ^ "Meet MTV's Brand New For 2014 Nominees!". MTV. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
- ^ "George Ezra - Interview: DSCVR ONES TO WATCH 2014". YouTube. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
- ^ Pakinkis, Tom (20 December 2013). "iTunes unveils its artist picks for 2014". Music Week. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
- ^ "Soundcheck – Introducing: George Ezra". Soundcheck. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "Italian single certifications – George Ezra – Budapest" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 7 April 2014. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Budapest" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
- ^ "George Ezra: No 5 in the BBC Sound of 2014". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ Ed Sheeran denies 5 Seconds Of Summer this week's Number 1 album. Official Charts Company.
- ^ "George Ezra's Wanted On Voyage hits the Number 1 spot". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Moss, Liv (1 January 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Artist Albums of 2014". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ "George Ezra's Wanted On Voyage reclaims Official Albums Chart Number 1". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Pretty Good Digital. "2014 Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza in pictures - Glastonbury Festival". glastonburyfestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ a b Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
- For all except noted: "George Ezra > UK Charts". Officialcharts.com/. Official Charts Company.
- For "Cassy O'": "CHART: CLUK Update 29.03.2014 (wk12)". Zobbel.de. Official Charts Company.
- ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Discography George Ezra". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- "Blame It on Me": Ryan, Gavin (29 November 2014). "Taylor Swift Blank Space Is No 1 ARIA Single". Noise11. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Discografie George Ezra". Austrian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Discografie George Ezra". Belgium (Flanders) Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Discografie George Ezra". French Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Discographie George Ezra". German Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- ^ a b Peak positions in Ireland:
- For all except noted: Hung, Steffen. "Discography George Ezra". Irish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- For "Budapest": "Chart Archive > 17 July 2014". Irish Recorded Music Association.
- ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Discography George Ezra". New Zealand Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "Discographie George Ezra". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- ^ a b "George Ezra – US Charts". billboard.com/.
- ^ a b c "BPI Certified Awards > Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (3 January 2015). "Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars become the first #1 of 2015". ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
{{cite web}}
: templatestyles stripmarker in|work=
at position 1 (help) - ^ charts, swiss (18 January 2015). "George Ezra - Wanted on Voyage". swisscharts.com. The Official Swiss Charts and Music Company. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
{{cite web}}
: templatestyles stripmarker in|work=
at position 1 (help) - ^ "New Zealand Albums Chart > Week Ending: January 17, 2015". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- ^ "iTunes – Music – Cassy O' (EP) by George Ezra". Itunes.apple.com. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "George Ezra Album & Song Chart History: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2014 Singles". ultratop.be. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ "Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Gold-/Platin-Datenbank". musikindustrie.de. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "George Ezra - Budapest". IFPI Austria. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ "George Ezra - Budapest Awards". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ "George Ezra - Budapest Awards". RIAA. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ "New Zealand single certifications – George Ezra – Budapest". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ "New Zealand single certifications – George Ezra – Blame It on Me". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ Peak positions for the Other charted songs in the UK:
- For "Leaving It Up to You": "CHART: CLUK Update 28.06.2014 (wk25)". Zobbel.de/. Official Charts Company.