Jax | |
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.jpg) Jax in 2022 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Jaclyn Cole Miskanic (1996-05-05)May 5, 1996 (age 29) Atlantic Beach, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2015–present |
| Labels | Atlantic |
Spouse | |
| Website | www |
Jaclyn Cole Miskanic (born May 5, 1996), known professionally asJax, is an American singer-songwriter andsocial media personality, who competed on thefourteenth season ofAmerican Idol. Her 2022 single, "Victoria's Secret", reached number 35 on theBillboard Hot 100. Her debut studio album,Dear Joe, was released onAtlantic Records on June 28, 2024.
Jax was born May 5, 1996,[1] and raised inAtlantic Beach, New York,[2][3] and moved with her family in 2005 toEast Brunswick, New Jersey.[4][5] She began singing at age 5.[6] Her father, John, was a firefighter who was injured on duty during theSeptember 11 attacks, and her mother, Jill, is a New York City school teacher.[7] After attending theEast Brunswick Public Schools, Jax washomeschooled starting in the eighth grade in order to allow her sufficient time for voice lessons, performances, and recording.[8][9]
In mid-2014, she studied atNew York University in London, where she won a John Lennon Scholarship in songwriting through theBMI Foundation.[10] She earned a bachelor's degree from theFashion Institute of Technology.[11]
In 2015, Jax auditioned for thefourteenth season ofAmerican Idol, with the song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" byThe Beatles.[12] She sang "Toxic" byBritney Spears for her first solo audition during Hollywood Week, and sang The Beatles' "Let It Be" for her final solo performance. She was the only contestant out of 80 to be declared safe immediately after the performance.[10] She performedJanis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" withSteven Tyler during the show's season finale.[13] Jax finished third in the competition, and her first single, "Forcefield", was released following the finale.[14] In July 2015, Jax and the other top fiveAmerican Idol contestants embarked on theAmerican Idols LIVE! Tour 2015.[15]
| Week | Theme | Song(s) | Original artist(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions | Contestant's choice | "I Want to Hold Your Hand" | The Beatles | Advanced |
| Hollywood Week | Most memorable auditions; Selected to Perform | "Toxic" | Britney Spears | |
| Hollywood Week | Hollywood round | N/a | N/a | |
| Hollywood Week | Group Round | "Drive By" with Alexis Glanville, Sal Valentinetti, Kelley Kime and Monica | Train | |
| Hollywood Week | Solo round | "Let It Be" | The Beatles | |
| House of Blues (Top 48) | Contestant's choice | "You and I" | Lady Gaga | |
| Top 24 | Contestant's choice | "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" | Cher | Safe |
| Top 16 | Music ofMotown | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | Marvin Gaye &Tammi Terrell | |
| Top 12 | "Back to the Start" | "I Want to Hold Your Hand" | The Beatles | |
| Top 11 | Party Songs | "Blank Space" | Taylor Swift | |
| Top 11 (Redux) | Songs from the Movies | "Grow Old with You" fromThe Wedding Singer | Adam Sandler | |
| Top 9 | Songs from the 1980s | "You Give Love a Bad Name" | Bon Jovi | |
| Top 8 | Kelly Clarkson | "Beautiful Disaster" | Kelly Clarkson | |
| Top 7 | Billboard Hot 100 | "Poker Face" | Lady Gaga | |
| Top 6 | American Classics | "Piece of My Heart" "Beat It" | Janis Joplin Michael Jackson | |
| Top 5 | Arena Anthems | "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" "White Flag" | Jet Dido | |
| Top 4 | Judges' Hometown Contestant's own soul | "Empire State of Mind" "Human" | Alicia Keys Christina Perri | |
| Top 3 | Scott Borchetta's Choice Judges' Choice Hometown's Choice | "My Generation" "My Immortal" "Misery Business" | The Who Evanescence Paramore | Eliminated |
Jax's second single, "La La Land", was released on January 6, 2016,[16] along with her first music video. "La La Land" is about Jax's experience onAmerican Idol.[17]
In 2017 she released theEP,Funny, which charted at number 17 on theBillboardHeatseekers Albums.[18]
In 2018, Jax was invited to perform at the White House's Independence Day celebration.[19] This caused some controversy, due to the feelings surrounding Trump's presidency at the time. Jax then appeared onFox and Friends to defend her decision to perform at the White House, calling the criticism "vulgarity" and "bullying" rather than political commentary.[20] She continued to explain "I come from a really patriotic family" and that she was intent on honoring the troops during this celebration without listening to the "pettiness" coming from public forums.[21]
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In January 2021, she signed a record deal with Atlantic Records.[22] In October 2021, her single "Like My Father" debuted at number 38 on theBillboardAdult Pop Airplay, her first song to chart onBillboard's charts.[23] The song reached 80 million streams onTikTok.[11]
In April 2022, Jax was namediHeartRadio's first-ever TikTok Songwriter of the Year.[11] That year, she released the single "Victoria's Secret." It charted at number 35 on theBillboard Hot 100, number 15 on theAdult Contemporary chart, number two on theSpotify US Viral 50, and was certified Gold in the United States. It also charted in Australia, Ireland, Canada, Sweden, and New Zealand.[24][25] The song was inspired by a girl Jax was babysitting, to write a song about body positivity that could inspire young girls. In anInstagram post,Victoria's Secret CEO Amy Hauk thanked Jax for "addressing important issues in her lyrics."[25] Jax performed on the 2022 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball tour.[26]
Her next single, "Cinderella Snapped",[27] peaked at number 23 on theBillboardPop Airplay chart.[28] In October 2023, Jax joined Canadian rock bandSimple Plan for a re-recorded version of the track "Iconic" from their 2022 albumHarder Than It Looks.[29] In 2024, Jax joined Simple Plan on their Australian tour.[30] On June 28, 2024, she released her debut studio albumDear Joe, onAtlantic Records.[31] It reached number nine9 on theBillboardHeatseekers Albums chart,[28] and number nine on Spotify's US Albums chart.[32]
On July 23, 2024, Jax released a series of TikTok videos withHaliey Welch. Jax has 14.5 million followers on TikTok.[33] In October 2024, through Musicians on Call and Hyundai Hope on Wheels, Jax teamed withSam Hollander to write the song "Hope Lights the Way" in honor ofChildhood Cancer Awareness Month.[34]
In August 2016, Jax revealed that she was battling thyroid cancer.[2]
Jax married Braverijah "Brave" Gregg in November 2023, inScottsdale, Arizona, in a ceremony officiated by her brother Matthew.[35] Their daughter was born in May 2025.[36]
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Dear Joe, |
|
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Funny |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [37] | US Adult [38] | US Pop [39] | AUS [40] | CAN [41] | NZ Hot [42] | UK [43] | WW [44] | ||||||
| "Forcefield" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | American Idol Top 3 Season 14 | |||
| "La La Land"[45] | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |||
| "Come Home to Me"[46] | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "I Can't Believe I Shaved My Legs for This"[47] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Papercuts"[48] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "90s Kids"[49] | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Like My Father"[51] | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dear Joe, | |||
| "I Feel Like a Kid Again"[52] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||
| "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"[53] | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "U Love U" (featuringJvke)[54] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Victoria's Secret" | 35 | 2 | 11 | 69 | 46 | 25 | 33 | 109 | Dear Joe, | ||||
| "Cinderella Snapped"[58] | 2023 | — | 25 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||
| "Zombieland" (featuringHardy)[59] | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dear Joe, | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Iconic"[60] (Simple Plan featuring Jax) | 2023 | Non-album single |
| Year | Song | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | "B.F.A. (Best Friend's Ass)" | Paris Hilton andDimitri Vegas & Like Mike | Non-album single |
| 2021 | "BDE" | Big Freedia feat. Jax andMarc Rebillet | Big Diva Energy |
| 2022 | "A Little Bit of Love" | Weezer | SZNZ: Spring |
| 2023 | "Scam Likely" | Jes Hudak | Non-album single |
| 2024 | "Psycho" | Hardy | Quit!! |
| Awards | Year | Nominee | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IHeartRadio Music Awards | 2022 | Herself | Social Star Award | Nominated | |
| TikTok Songwriter of the Year | Won | ||||
| 2023 | Best New Pop Artist | Won |
During the tour's stop in New Orleans, Jax turned 21 — on May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) [2017]
Atlantic Beach-raised singer Jackie Miskanic aka Jax...
Jax's family — parents John and Jill Miskanic, Jax, and her brother Matt — moved to New Jersey in 2005 from Atlantic Beach, Long Island, where Jax (born Jaclyn Miskanic)
Growing up on Long Island...
...she's 18 and she grew up on Long Island and in Jersey, the daughter of an FDNY firefighter and a city public-school teacher.
Home schooled since the eighth grade, Jax left the township school system to pursue her musical dreams. She performed, toured, took voice lessons with a renowned vocal coach (same as Lady Gaga) and practiced nonstop in her basement recording studio.
[I]t was the platform of a lifetime and it opened up all these doors for me. ... But at the same time it's not as glamorous as it looks. People don't know. There are things I'm sometimes bitter about, about the way things were handled. ... [The song is] the closest I can give you to a backstage pass.
