A Great Big World | |
|---|---|
 A Great Big World in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City,New York, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Labels | Epic |
| Members |
|
| Website | agreatbigworld |
A Great Big World is an American musical duo from New York[1] made up of singer/songwritersIan Axel and Chad King and signed toEpic Records. The group is best known for their single "This Is the New Year", which was performed by the cast in an episode ofGlee and reached theBillboard Mainstream Top 40 chart in May 2013,[2] and their worldwide hit "Say Something", particularly after recording it as a duet collaboration withChristina Aguilera. The duet peaked at number four on theBillboard Hot 100.
Ian Axel and Chad King met atNew York University, where they were attending the Steinhardt Music Program.[3] Both were music business students and Axel is said to have convinced King to write a song together. King agreed to work with Axel after hearing him sing. They both wrote and performed songs together prior to Axel embarking on a solo career in which he released an independent album featuring songs that were all co-written by King.[3]
In 2011, their song "This Is the New Year" was licensed to various television networks and was used as the theme song forMTV'sI Used to Be Fat as well as being featured onThe Amazing Race,ESPN,One Tree Hill, andGood Morning America.[4] Ian Axel and Chad King went on national tour and performed as the openers forIngrid Michaelson,Matthew Morrison (Glee), andFive for Fighting.[3]
The duo re-branded itself in 2012, when they took the official nameA Great Big World. They released a six-song EP after obtaining funding from the crowdsource funding websiteKickstarter.[4]
In 2013, "This Is the New Year" was performed by the cast in anepisode ofGlee.[3]
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In 2013, the group signed withEpic Records and released a three-song EP under the Epic label in May 2013.[5] They completed a headline tour in conjunction with their EP release.[6]
In June 2013, they were picked asElvis Duran'sArtist of the Month and were featured onNBC'sToday where they performed live their song "This Is the New Year". The song "Say Something" was featured in the final episode of the US dance competitionSo You Think You Can Dance on September 3, 2013, and released digitally the same day. It climbed to number 20 on iTunes in the United States the next day. The song was subsequently re-recorded featuringChristina Aguilera after she heard the song, and this version was released on November 4, 2013, and that version reached number 1 on the iTunes charts.[7] The following evening, A Great Big World and Aguilera gave the premiere live TV performance of the song on the NBC television seriesThe Voice.[8] The song reached No. 1 on the digital song chart the next day with 189,000 copies sold for the week.[9] The video was released on November 19, 2013.[10] In November 2013, it was announced that A Great Big World would be performing at the annualVictoria's Secret Fashion Show. The same month, they performed for the first time at the American Music Awards with Aguilera.[11]
Their debut album,Is There Anybody Out There?, was released on January 21, 2014.
The group made an appearance on the song "Over You" onIngrid Michaelson's 2014 album,Lights Out.
"Say Something" was also used in the nineteenth season of South Park (Episode 6) Titled "Tweek x Craig"
On April 21, 2015, it was announced through the A Great Big World Facebook page that Ian and Chad were working on a second album. The group announced the release of their first single off of the new album via Instagram in mid-July. The single "Hold Each Other" was released on July 22, 2015, featuring the rapper Futuristic. The non-rap version was released on July 24, 2015. The album was released on November 13, 2015, with the titleWhen the Morning Comes. While visiting the UK in June 2015 they recorded atSarm Studios in London.[12] Several musicians and producers collaborated on the album includingDave Eggar, Derek Fuhrmann,Gregg Wattenberg,Greg Holden,Kevin Kadish,Josh Kear,Dan Romer, andMozella.[13][14][15][16]
They have been writing a musical for several years. The show is about family and is calledStrokes of Genius.[17]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [18] | AUS [19] | AUT [20] | CAN [21] | SWE [22] | UK [23] | |||||||||
| Is There Anybody Out There? |
| 3 | 33 | 36 | 3 | 25 | 16 |
| ||||||
| When the Morning Comes |
| 75 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| Particles |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [26] | US Adult [27] | AUS [19] | AUT [20] | CAN [28] | IRE [29] | JPN [30] | NZ [31] | SWE [22] | UK [32] | |||||
| 2013 | "This Is the New Year" | — | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Is There Anybody Out There? | ||
| "Say Something" (withChristina Aguilera) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 36 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| |||
| 2014 | "Already Home" | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Rockstar" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 86 | — | — | — | ||||
| 2015 | "Hold Each Other" (featuringFuturistic) | 99 | 12 | — | — | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | When the Morning Comes | ||
| 2016 | "Oasis" | — | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Won't Stop Running" | — | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2017 | "When I Was a Boy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||
| 2018 | "Younger" | — | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "You" | — | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2019 | "This Is Magic" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Boys in the Street" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Fall on Me" (with Christina Aguilera)[39] | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Particles | |||
| 2020 | "I Will Always Be There" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| 2021 | "Boys in the Street (2021)"[40] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Particles | ||
| "Glowing"[41] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Mama"[42] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2023 | "Nothing's Impossible" (withRachel Platten)[43] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Imaginary | ||
| 2025 | "Then There Were Sparks"[44] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Song | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | "This Is the New Year" | Leiv Parton[45] |
| "Say Something" (with Christina Aguilera) | Christopher Sims[46] | |
| 2014 | "Already Home" | Isaac Rentz[47] |
| "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" | Rohitash Rao[48] | |
| 2015 | "Hold Each Other" (featuring FUTURISTIC) | Marc Klasfeld[49] |
| 2016 | "Oasis" | Elliott Sellers[50] |
| "Won't Stop Running" | Lee Cherry[51] | |
| "Where Does the Time Go" | Nathan Crooker[52] | |
| 2019 | "Fall on Me" | Se Oh[53] |
| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1st iHeartRadio Music Awards | Best Lyrics | "Say Something"(withChristina Aguilera) | Nominated[54] |
| NewNowNext Awards | Best New Music Group | Won[55] | ||
2015 | Grammy Awards | Best Pop Duo/Group Performance | "Say Something"(withChristina Aguilera) | Won[56] |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
