Jon Batiste was the name on everyone’s lips after the Grammy Awards 2022. The musician snagged five awards during the ceremony.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about his life and career thus far.
- His full name is Jonathan Michael Batiste
- He was born in November 11, 1986
- He is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and television personality
- He has recorded and performed with artists in various genres of music
- Batiste released his own recordings
- He has performed in more than 40 countries
- Batiste regularly tours with his band Stay Human
- He appears with them nightly as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since 2015
- Batiste also serves as the music director of The Atlantic and the Creative Director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem
- In 2020, he co-composed the score for the Pixar animated film Soul
- For which he received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award and a BAFTA Film Award
- As of 2022, Batiste has garnered five Grammy Awards from 14 nominations
- His wins include the award for Album of the Year for his album We Are
- Jon Batiste was born in Metairie, Louisiana in a Catholic family
- He grew up in Kenner, Louisiana
- Batiste is a member of a New Orleans musical dynasty, the Batiste family, that includes Lionel Batiste of the Treme Brass Band, Milton Batiste of the Olympia Brass Band, and Russell Batiste Jr
- At the age of 8, he played percussion and drums with his family’s band, the Batiste Brothers Band
- At the age of 11, he switched to piano at his mother’s suggestion
- Batiste developed his piano skills by taking classical music lessons and transcribing songs from video games such as Street Fighter Alpha, Final Fantasy VII and Sonic the Hedgehog
- At 17, Batiste released his debut album Times in New Orleans
- He attended St. Augustine High School and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with Trombone Shorty in New Orleans and graduated in 2004
- He then went on to attend the Juilliard School, earning a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in jazz studies in 2008 and 2011, respectively
- While at Juilliard, he released his second album, Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art
- By the end of 2006, Batiste had been a featured performer in South Africa, London, Lisbon, Spain, Paris and the United States
- In 2005, Batiste began performing regularly in New York with his Juilliard peers, bassist Phil Kuehn and drummer Joe Saylor
- He later added Eddie Barbash on alto saxophone and Ibanda Ruhumbika on tuba
- Batiste named the band Stay Human
- The name draws its moniker from the belief that human interaction during a live musical performance can uplift humanity in the midst of the “plug in, tune out” nature of modern society
- The band leads impromptu street performances, which Batiste calls “love riots”
- Notable artists were often seen accompanying Batiste, including Wynton Marsalis
- In 2011, Stay Human released the album MY N.Y.
- The album was recorded in its entirety on New York City Subway trains
- It was an idea that came to Batiste after questioning how to connect with people
- On April 22, 2017, the band played for the March for Science rally at the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
- In 2014, Batiste and Stay Human appeared on The Colbert Report to perform the group’s single “Express Yourself”, written and produced with Austin Bis
- On June 4, 2015, it was announced that Jon Batiste and Stay Human would serve as house band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
- The show premiered on CBS on September 8, 2015
- On the show, Batiste and Stay Human have performed alongside Billy Joel, Will Smith, Wynton Marsalis, John Legend, Grace VanderWaal, and Nas
- Batiste composed music for the 2020 film Soul, collaborating with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
- The trio went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score among many other wins and nominations
- On March 19, 2021, Batiste released WE ARE, his fifth solo studio album
- Speaking to Atwood Magazine, he described it as “a culmination of my life to this point” and “the most representative of where I’m at as a creative, and as an artist”
- In July 2021, Batiste released a live EP, Live at Electric Lady
- The EP was performed in one day at Electric Lady Studios
- The album was released exclusively to Spotify
- In the 64th Grammy Awards, Batiste earned 11 nominations
- Eight for WE ARE
- And three for Soul
- Batiste is married to journalist and author Suleika Jaouad
- In April 2022, the couple revealed in a television interview that they had been secretly married in February 2022, the day before Jaouad was to undergo a bone marrow transplant after she had been diagnosed with leukemia for a second time
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