Daniel Powter | |
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 Powter performing at theFestival of Friends in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Daniel Richard Powter (1971-02-25)February 25, 1971 (age 54) Vernon, British Columbia, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Website | danielpowter |
Daniel Richard Powter (/ˈpaʊtər/; born February 25, 1971)[2] is a Canadian singer-songwriter. His 2005 pop single "Bad Day" topped theBillboard Hot 100 for five weeks. He was nominated forBest Male Pop Vocal Performance at the49th Grammy Awards for "Bad Day" and won theJuno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year in2006.
Powter's subsequent work never reached the same success as "Bad Day", withBillboard dubbing him the top "one-hit wonder" of the 2000s.[3][4]
Powter grew up inColdstream,[5] outside ofVernon, in theOkanagan Valley region ofBritish Columbia.[6] Powter started playing theviolin at four years old.[6] He changed topiano at 16 years old due to bullying.[7]
Powter studied atMacEwan University but dropped out—partially due to hisdyslexia—to pursue music full time.[5][6]
Powter started apop rock[6] band inVictoria, British Columbia. The band won an award, which allowed them to produce a CD.[5] Powter also worked as a keyboardist onThe Chris Isaak Show.[6]
In his late twenties, Powter met producer Jeff Dawson in Vancouver. With Dawson producing, Powter released his debut albumI'm Your Betty on June 21, 2000[8] through indie labelOutside Music.[9] A few songs on the album appeared on the Canadian television showHigher Ground.[9]
Powter wrote thehook to "Bad Day" while on a ferry ride between Victoria and Vancouver. Powter wrote the song with a negative connotation to avoid soundingcheesy and chose "bad day" because it sang well. Powter recorded a demo for "Bad Day" with producer Jeff Dawson and fielded inquiries with severalmusic labels. After acquiring amusic manager in Los Angeles, he signed withWarner Bros. Music and recorded his 2005self titled album withMitchell Froom co-producing.[9]
Powter's first single, "Bad Day", was first released inEurope in mid-2005, in advance of his second album,Daniel Powter.Warner Bros. Records submitted the single for commercials, and it was subsequently chosen byCoca-Cola as the theme song for an ad campaign in Europe. The song achieved heavy airplay in most European countries, peaking at number three on the overall European airplay chart. It reached number one on national airplay inGermany, number one on the singles charts in theRepublic of Ireland[10] andItaly, number two in theUnited Kingdom—where it stayed in the top ten for thirteen weeks—and number three inAustralia.
In theUnited States, "Bad Day" was used extensively on the television seriesAmerican Idol in itsfifth season. Powter sang the song live at the end of the final show of that season on May 23, 2006. The song reached number one on theBillboard Hot 100,Adult Top 40 andAdult Contemporary charts, making Powter the first solo Canadian male artist to top the Hot 100 sinceBryan Adams in 1995 (with "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?"). The song also reached number one in Powter's homeland, Canada.
On May 31, 2005, Powter released his first extended play known as "Free Loop."
On July 2, 2005, Powter performed at the Berlin installment ofLive 8, a simultaneous group of concerts in nine countries intended to raise awareness ofpoverty in Africa.
"Bad Day" came in fifth in the BritishRecord of the Year 2005. In 2006, Powter won in theNew Artist of the Year category at the CanadianJuno Awards, and was nominated for Best International Breakthrough Act at theBRIT Awards. "Bad Day" was nominated at the 2006Billboard Music Awards for Hot 100 Single of the Year, and was namedBillboard magazine's song of the year in 2006.[11] At the 2007Grammy Awards, Powter received aBest Male Pop Vocal Performance nomination for the song.
The subsequent singles fromDaniel Powter – "Jimmy Gets High", "Free Loop", and "Lie to Me" – were released in different parts of the world, each failing to match the success of "Bad Day". "Free Loop" was deemed chart ineligible in the UK (as the release included a version of "Bad Day" as a B-side whilst "Bad Day" was still in the chart, hence breaking chart rules) and failed to chart in the U.S., though it reached the top forty on the Adult Contemporary chart. Following the release of "Lie to Me", "Jimmy Gets High" was to be the fourth single from the album in the UK, but its release was cancelled. A new track called "Love You Lately" was released as the next U.S. single, preceding a re-release of the albumDaniel Powter that was also cancelled.
On January 29, 2007, Powter released his first compilation albumB-Sides.
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In March 2008, a song by Japanese singerHaru featuring Powter, "Find My Way", was released. In September, Powter released his third album,Under the Radar. Love you Lately was also rerecorded and released on December 9, 2008 as a new single. This was the same year in which he embarked on the Wolfbaggin' Tour, joining the likes ofAlphabeat andLil Chris.
Powter also performed piano on tracks for what was scheduled to beMarcy Playground frontmanJohn Wozniak's solo album,Leaving Wonderland... in a Fit of Rage, but the album was released under the band's name. Powter was still given credit for his contributions to the song "Gin and Money".
Under The Radar was also given an exclusive CD and DVD release for the Asia Market known as the Asia Tour Edition. It was released on February 14, 2009.[12]
On March 16, 2009, Powter performed at theMontreux Jazz Festival then in December 2009, Powter was named as the decade's top One-Hit Wonder byBillboard. The magazine describesone-hit wonders as acts whose second hit did not reach the top 25; they only included acts from 2000 to 2007.[13] In Powter's case, "Bad Day" is his only Hot 100 hit.
On January 1, 2010, he performedO Canada at theNHL Winter Classic. In that same year, he released his greatest hits album,Best of Me, and with it, recorded three new songs and a new version of the title track to go along with 'Bad Day', 'Jimmy Gets High', 'Next Plane Home' and his other singles. Only one was released as a single: 'Lose To Win', on November 10, 2010.
On December 1, 2010, Powter made a tribute to English singer and songwriterJohn Lennon with his cover version ofHappy Xmas (War Is Over). This single was released in Europe, the UK and Japan.[14]
Powter took a hiatus in 2011 to focus on his family life.[15]
On April 10, 2012, Powter's single "Cupid" was released to US and Canadian iTunes stores. The single was written after his divorce.[16] Powter's album,Turn On the Lights, was released in July 2012.
On September 10, 2012, he released "Crazy All My Life".[17] The song peaked at number 23 on the Canadian Hot 100 and became his biggest hit in Russia, where it reached number 12 on the radio chart and has over 1.4 million lifetime plays.[18]
On December 5, 2012, Powter was featured in a song with Japanese singerMay J. titled "Back To Your Heart". On the 18 he released the single "Christmas Cupid", which is a Christmas version of his song "Cupid".
On June 5, 2013, Powter announced on Twitter that he was working on an album with Jeff Dawson, who co-produced most of his songs in the past, and John Fields, who was a co-writer on "Crazy All My Life". He also said:
I'm writing like I did during the first record. I'm not focusing on singles. Otherwise I would try too hard and end up with garbage sort of like Bad Day. I never thought in my wildest dreams that it was a single. I think that's what writing from your heart is. Just like anything else. When you try too hard, it really isn't worthy of anything... So I stay open and just let the songs write themselves.[19][20][21]
On July 15, 2013, Powter performed at theNational Association of Drug Court Professionals performing "Bad Day" and "Whole World Around."Matthew Perry also attended the event.[22]
On August 9, 2013, he performed at theFestival of Friends.
On September 5, 2013, Powter later released 4 songs as bonus tracks for his albumTurn on the Lights called Ur My Radio, Doesn't Matter, Cheers To Us and Goodbye.[23] These tracks only appeared as part of a re-release for the Japanese market on March 17, 2014.
On November 27, 2016, Powter performed at The 39th Jazz Goes To Campus Festival performingBad Day.
On January 6, 2017, Powter released a single called "Delicious" featuring Australian singerVanessa Amorosi. The music video was uploaded to his official YouTube channel on March 14, 2017.[24]
On December 10, 2017, Powter performed at the President's Star Charity event in Singapore singingBad Day and joinedSandra Riley Tang in a duet performing her band's song "Save Myself."[25]
On April 6, 2018, Powter released a single called "Perfect For Me."[26] On April 13, he released his fourth extended play known asDaniel Powter. There are 4 songs in this album: a remastered remix of Bad Day, Tell Them Who You Are in an acoustic version, his 2017 single "Delicious" and his 2018 single "Perfect For Me."[27]
On September 21, 2018, Powter released a single known as "Do You Wanna Get Lucky"[28] It was followed by another called "Survivor" released on October 26[29] and Perfect for Me was later re-recorded and released on November 23 for the Asia market.[30]
He released an album calledGiants on December 14 where songs in the album include the re-recording of "Perfect For Me", "Survivor", "Delicious", re-recordings of "Bad Day", "Free Loop" and "Tell Them Who You Are" (from the EP). A remixed version of "Do You Wanna Get Lucky" is also included known as the Holiday version.[31]
Powter went on to feature with The Untamed Boys, a Chinese pop group, in January 2020, where they released the song "Just Isn't Me."[32] and performed it alongside "Bad Day" while touring inBangkok, Thailand.[33] Powter also collaborated with other artists in the MOSHIMO Project in May 2020.[34]
On February 3, 2021, Powter was featured in a song called "Save Your Life" with Japanese pop singerAyaka Hirahara.[35]
In 2024, Powter auditioned for thefourth season ofCanada's Got Talent, making his first Canadian television performance.[36]
In August 2025, Powter announced on Instagram that his new song "City of Angels" will be released on September 12, 2025.[37] Following this, he released a new song on October 17, 2025 called "Celebrate the Holidays." It is Powter's first ever original holiday song.[38]
Powter moved to Los Angeles in 2005.[39][5] As of 2024, Powter resides with his wife Christina inPortland, Oregon.[36] He has three children: two daughters and one son.[39][4][40] He has two brothers and a sister.[citation needed]
Powter disclosed in July 2013 that he wassexually abused by a female babysitter for three years starting from age 7 and turned to drugs and alcohol to get over his guilt and shame. He said in an interview:
I thought that (addiction) was my problem. But it wasn't. That was my solution. It wasn't until I started digging in, taking a look at myself, saying I gotta work on some stuff (that) I don't want to look at (that I figured it out). My parents didn't know and I was too scared to tell them.[41]
Powter was addicted to alcohol andcocaine.[42] He became sober in 2010.[43]
Powter is a fan of theNHL. As a kid, he was a fan of theEdmonton Oilers and is now aLos Angeles Kings fan.[44]
Powter spoken of his musical influences growing up:
My favourite isNick Drake. I still absolutely adore his music. You know it's still old band music inspired byElton John's old stuff, you knowThe Beatles andFleetwood Mac andDavid Bowie and the things that my parents gave me when I was a kid. I still listen to those records, because I think for me, what it is that I relate to, is how the structure of the songs are for them, you know, like verses, and choruses, and bridges. And so sometimes the modern music that I hear these days doesn't really have that and I don't relate to it. So I still listen to the old stuff.[45]
| Year | Awards | Work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | MTV Europe Music Awards | Himself | Best New Act | Nominated |
| Žebřík Music Awards[46] | Best International Male | Nominated | ||
| Best International Surprise | Nominated | |||
| "Bad Day" | Best International Song | Nominated | ||
| Best International Video | Nominated | |||
| The Record of the Year | Record of the Year | Nominated | ||
| SOCAN Awards | Best Pop Song | Won | ||
| 2006 | Tokio Hot 100 Awards | Best Song | Won | |
| BMI Pop Awards | Pop Award | Won | ||
| Billboard Music Awards | Top Hot 100 Song | Won | ||
| Digital Song of the Year | Won | |||
| Pop 100 Song of the Year | Nominated | |||
| APRA Music Awards | Most Performed Foreign Work | Nominated | ||
| MuchMusic Video Awards | MuchMoreMusic Award | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Himself | Choice Music: Breakout Artist - Male | Nominated | |
| Canadian Radio Music Awards | Best New Group or Solo Artist—Mainstream AC | Won | ||
| Juno Awards | New Artist of the Year | Won | ||
| Brit Awards | International Breakthrough Act | Nominated | ||
| 2007 | Grammy Awards | "Bad Day" | Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated |
| Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Song | Nominated | ||
| Groovevolt Music & Fashion Awards | Best Pop Song Performance - Male | Nominated | ||
| MTV Video Music Awards Japan | Best Male Video | Nominated | ||
| Daniel Powter | Album of the Year | Won | ||
| Japan Gold Disc Awards | Best 3 Albums | Won | ||
| Himself | New Artist of the Year | Won | ||
| International Artist of the Year | Won | |||
| "Bad Day" | International Song of the Year | Won |
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [47] | AUT [48] | BEL (WA) [49] | FRA [50] | IRL [51] | JPN [52] | NZ [53] | SWI [54] | UK [55] | US [56] | ||||
| I'm Your Betty | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Daniel Powter |
| 14 | 43 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 5 | 9 |
| |
| Under the Radar |
| — | 74 | 21 | 29 | — | 10 | — | 20 | 43 | — | ||
| Turn On the Lights | — | — | — | — | — | 177 | — | — | 109 | — | |||
| Giants |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [52] | |||
| B-Sides[66] |
| — | |
| Best of Me |
| 65 | |
| The Essential Collection |
| — | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Free Loop[67] |
|
| iTunes Live from Tokyo[68] |
|
| Songs from Under the Radar[69] |
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| Daniel Powter |
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| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN [70] | AUS [47] | BEL [49] | GER [71] | IRL [51] | JPN [72] | SWI [54] | UK [73] | US [74] | US Adult [75] | ||||||
| "Bad Day" | 2005 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 1 | 95[A] | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Daniel Powter | |||
| "Free Loop (One Night Stand)" | 11 | 43 | 60 | 55 | 20 | × | 38 | — | — | — | |||||
| "Jimmy Gets High" | — | — | 46 | — | — | × | 41 | — | — | — | |||||
| "Lie to Me"[80] | 2006 | — | — | — | — | — | × | — | 92 | — | — | ||||
| "Love You Lately" | 5 | — | — | — | — | × | — | — | — | 39 | |||||
| "Next Plane Home" | 2008 | — | — | 25 | 71 | — | 8 | 37 | 70 | — | — | Under the Radar | |||
| "Best of Me" | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | 40 | — | — | — | |||||
| "Whole World Around"[81] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Lose to Win"[82] | 2010 | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | Best of Me | |||
| "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"[83] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Cupid" | 2012 | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | 195 | — | 36 | Turn on the Lights | |||
| "Crazy All My Life" | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Delicious" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Giants | |||
| "Perfect for Me"[84] | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Do You Wanna Get Lucky" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Survivor" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Brave" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | TBA | |||
| "Bad Day (Stripped Down)" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Giants | |||
| "City of Angels" | 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | TBA | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. "×" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived. | |||||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Oricon [85] | JPN Hot [72] | ||||||||||
| "Find My Way"[86] (Haru x Daniel Powter) | 2008 | 59 | 14 | Non-album single | |||||||
| "Save Your Life"[87] (Ayaka Hirahara featuring Daniel Powter) | 2021 | — | — | Save Your Life: Ayaka Hirahara All Time Live Best | |||||||
| "Brave" (Patricia Kelly x Daniel Powter) | — | — | Unbreakable | ||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. | |||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot [72] | |||||||||||
| "Back to Your Heart"[88][89] (May J. featuring Daniel Powter) | 2012 | — | Brave | ||||||||
| "Cheers to Us"[90][91] (Triplane featuring Daniel Powter &Shintarō Tokita (Sukima Switch)) | 2013 | 78 | Singles 04-12 | ||||||||
| "Just Isn't Me" (心之所向的美丽Xīn zhī suǒ xiàng dì měilì)[92] (T.U.B.S. featuring Daniel Powter) | 2021 | — | Love: One-Act | ||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. | |||||||||||
| Year | Music video | Director(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Bad Day"[93] | Marc Webb | Samaire Armstrong and Jason Adelman are featured in the video |
| "Free Loop (One Night Stand)"[94] | Filmed at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles | ||
| "Jimmy Gets High"[95] | Vem | ||
| 2006 | "Lie to Me"[96] | Marc Webb | |
| "Love You Lately"[97] | Philip Andelman | Rachael Leigh Cook andBrian Hallisay are featured in the video. | |
| 2008 | "Next Plane Home"[98] | Markku Lahdesmaki | Powter's daughter Sophie is featured in the video. Filmed in Lancaster, California |
| "Best of Me"[99] | Diane Martel | ||
| 2010 | "Lose to Win"[100] | Rohit Karn Batra | |
| 2012 | "Cupid"[101] | Neil Tardio | Filmed in Malibu, California. |
| 2013 | "Crazy All My Life"[102] | ||
| 2017 | "Delicious"[103] | ||
| 2018 | "Perfect for Me"[104] | ||
| "Do You Wanna Get Lucky"[105] | Joe Murray | Filmed at The Village in Santa Monica | |
| "Survivor"[106] | Chinese singerKelly Yu sings with him in a duet | ||
| 2024 | "Bad Day (Stripped Down)"[107] | Vocals used are from his previous re-recording from the albumGiants. |
| Year | Title | Original artist |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Just Like Heaven" | the Cure |
| 2010 | "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" | John Lennon |
| 2012 | "Stay Away" | L'Arc-en-Ciel |
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