Jack Antonoff
Jack Antonoff (born March 31, 1984)[1] is the lead singer/songwriter of the band Steel Train as well as the guitarist of the American band Fun.[2]
Life and career
Antonoff was born in Bergenfield, New Jersey,[3] and is the younger brother of fashion designer Rachel Antonoff.[4] He grew up in New Milford, New Jersey and Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey and attended elementary school at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County, New Jersey.[5][6] For high school, he and his sister commuted to New York City to attend the Professional Children's School.[4] There, he was a classmate of actress Scarlett Johansson, whom he dated from 2001 to 2002.[7]
During his sophomore year of high school, he and several friends from elementary school formed a punk rock band, Outline; the band was successful enough to tour in Florida and Texas.[5] The band disbanded after several members left to attend college.[5]
In 2002, Antonoff and his friend Scott Irby-Ranniar formed a new band, Steel Train, and secured a recording deal with Drive-Thru Records.[5] Antonoff would be the new group's lead singer.[8] They soon recruited drummer Matthias Gruber and then convinced one of their friends from the band Random Task, Evan Winiker, to drop out of college to join the new band.[5]
Antonoff dated Alia Shawkat from 2007 to 2010.[9]
In 2008, Nate Ruess (formerly the frontman of The Format) asked Antonoff to join him and Andrew Dost (formerly of Anathallo) in a new band, which became fun.[10] Antonoff was already well acquainted with Ruess and Dost because their former bands had all toured together.[11]
Fun.'s second album, Some Nights saw the band score their first #1 hit single, "We Are Young," which Antonoff co-wrote with Ruess, Dost, and Jeff Bhasker.[12]
As of 2012, it was reported that he is dating actress Lena Dunham.[13]
Antonoff has been a guest blogger for The Huffington Post where he has written in favor of gay rights and of the importance of straight allies.[14]
Songwriting credits
| Year | Artist | Song | Co-written with | U.S. peak position |
U.K. peak position |
| 2011 | fun. | "We Are Young" | Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, Jeff Bhasker | 1[15] | 1[16] |
| 2012 | fun. | "Some Nights" | Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, Jeff Bhasker | 3[17] | 7[18] |
| 2013 | Tegan and Sara | "How Come You Don't Want Me" | Tegan Quin, Sara Quin[19] | - | - |
With Steel Train:
Albums
- Twilight Tales from the Prairies of the Sun (2005)
- Trampoline (2007)
- Steel Train (2010)
EPs
- For You My Dear (2003)
- Steel Train Is Here (2009)
References
- ^ chacha.com
- ^ Huffington Post Profile
- ^ {http://www.steeltrainmusic.com/members.html Steel Train Website/Band Members, retrieved 2 February 2013}
- ^ a b Swerdloff, Alexis. "Sibling Success: The Power of 2", The New York Times, July 4, 2012. Accessed January 2, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Leichman, Joseph. "More powerful than a locomotive...", Jewish Standard, November 26, 2010. Accessed January 2, 2013. "Jack Antonoff of New Milford and Daniel Silbert of Tenafly first crossed paths in elementary school at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County in New Milford, where they also met Evan Winiker, whose family moved to Teaneck in time for him to begin the sixth grade at Schechter. ....
- ^ Aberback, Brian. "Pop-rock band Fun playing at Jingle Ball", The Record (Bergen County), December 5, 2012. Accessed January 3, 2012. "'The past year has been crazy in so many ways,' said guitarist Jack Antonoff, who grew up in New Milford and Woodcliff Lake."
- ^ Profile at FamousHookups.com
- ^ Linda Laban, "Steel Train's Jack Antonoff Gets Friendly With Scarlett Johansson", Spinner", Aug. 6, 2010.
- ^ Profile at FamousHookups.com
- ^ Sebastian Murdock, "Profile: Andrew Dost", CUIndependent.com, Oct. 4, 2010.
- ^ Sebastian Murdock, "Profile: Andrew Dost", CUIndependent.com, Oct. 4, 2010.
- ^ James Montgomery,"Fun. Find Breakout Anthem With 'We Are Young,'" mtv.com, Feb. 21, 2012
- ^ "Girls' Lena Dunham Is Dating Fun.'s Jack Antonoff", US Weekly, September 5, 2012.
- ^ Huffington Post Profile
- ^ James Montgomery,"Fun. Find Breakout Anthem With 'We Are Young'", mtv.com, Feb. 21, 2012
- ^ Tom Eames, "fun. hold off The Wanted to score first UK No.1 single", digitalspy.com, May 27, 2012
- ^ Billboard.com
- ^ Official Charts Company
- ^ "Tegan and Sara / Heartthrob Press Kit" (PDF). Warner Bros. Records. Retrieved 23 January 2013.