Conrad Ignatius Mario Maximilian Sewell (born 31 March 1988) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Sewell is best known for his vocals on Kygo's single "Firestone" and his number-one single "Start Again".
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2015, he won Song of the Year for "Start Again" and was nominated in two other categories: Breakthrough Artist and Best Pop Release. His debut studio album Life was released in May 2019.
Early life
Growing up in Brisbane, Sewell started pursuing a music career from a young age, sending around demos since he was 8 years old. He later tried his luck with short-lived rock band Sons of Midnight. He is the brother of Australian pop singer Grace. In 2004, Sewell auditioned for season 2 of Australian Idol, but did not initially pass the audition stage, needing to travel to a different state and re-auditioning before making it into the Top 100 singers for that season. In 2006, he moved to the United Kingdom.
Sewell comes from a family of musicians; his grandparents toured with the Bee Gees and the Gibb Brothers. His sister Grace is a singer best known for her version of the 1963 Lesley Gore song "You Don't Own Me", which hit number one on the ARIA Charts in May 2015. When "Start Again" hit number one on the ARIA Charts in June 2015, Conrad and Grace became the first Australian-born siblings in the history of the charts to hit number one as separate acts.
Career
2007–2017: Sons of Midnight, solo career beginnings, All I Know
In 2007, Sewell and guitarist Matthew Copley formed a pop rock group called The Frets, who were later joined by three more members before changing their name to Sons of Midnight. The band released their debut single "The Fire" in 2012, achieving moderate success. The song currently has over 3.3 million plays on Spotify. The band released their debut self-titled album in 2013, but disappeared from the public shortly before the planned release of their second album.
In 2014 Sewell wrote and featured on Kygo's hit, "Firestone". The single was a top five hit across Europe. His debut single "Hold Me Up" was written and produced by Brian Lee, The Euroz and Louis Bell. On 2 March 2015, Sewell announced his opening slot on Ed Sheeran's Australian tour via a video posted on his Facebook page. He joined Sheeran on 13 dates throughout Australia. On 12 June 2015, Live Nation confirmed that Sewell would join Maroon 5 on the Maroon V Tour in September as well as posting several tour dates. Sewell supported Jess Glynne on her "Ain't Got Far to Go" UK tour in October and November 2015. In October, Sewell announced that his debut extended play, All I Know would be released on 13 November 2015. He also posted various Australian and New Zealand tour dates throughout November. In March 2015, he was picked as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month and was featured on American TV network NBC's Today show hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb and broadcast nationally across the United States where he performed live his single "Start Again". In November 2015, at the ARIA Music Awards of 2015, Sewell won Song of the Year for "Start Again". In February 2016, Sewell released "Remind Me" as the final single from All I Know. The following month, Coca-Cola released a song and video for their new campaign, "Taste the Feeling". It features Sewell's vocals and production from Avicii.
2018–present: Sony Music Australia and Life
Main article: Life (Conrad Sewell album)
In May 2018, Sewell announced he had signed with Sony Music Australia. In a statement, AO, chairman and CEO of Sony Denis Handlin said, "Conrad Sewell is an incredibly talented artist and I am thrilled to welcome him to the Sony Music family. This exciting next phase of his career will see him reach new heights and we are honoured to be a part of it."
On 18 May 2018, Sewell released the Ghosts & Heartaches EP, containing "Come Clean" and "Healing Hands". In February 2019, Sewell announced the release of his debut studio album Life which was released on 17 May 2019 and debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Charts. Sewell had performed the Australian national anthem at the 2019 AFL Grand Final.
