Conrad Sewell Australian Singer Born 1988 in Bristol

Conrad Sewell is an Australian singer and songwriter. He was born on 31 March 1988 in Bristol, England, and grew up in Brisbane. He is best known for the vocals on Kygo's single "Firestone" and for his own number-one song "Start Again". His music is listed as pop and rhythm and blues.

Early life

Sewell grew up in Brisbane and began pursuing music young, sending out demo recordings from the age of eight. He came from a musical family. His grandparents toured with the Bee Gees and the Gibb brothers, and his sister Grace is also a singer. In 2004 he auditioned for the second season of Australian Idol. He did not pass at first, then travelled to another state to audition again and reached the top 100 singers of that season. He moved to the United Kingdom in 2006.

Career

In 2007 Sewell and the guitarist Matthew Copley formed a pop rock group called The Frets. After more members joined, the band became Sons of Midnight. They released their debut single "The Fire" in 2012 and a self-titled album in 2013, but the group faded from view shortly before a planned second album.

In 2014 Sewell wrote and sang on Kygo's "Firestone", which was a top-five hit across Europe. His own first single, "Hold Me Up", followed in 2015, written and produced by Brian Lee, The Euroz and Louis Bell. In March 2015 he opened for Ed Sheeran on 13 dates of the Australian tour, and he was chosen as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month, which led to a performance of "Start Again" on NBC's Today show. Later that year he joined Maroon 5 on the Maroon V Tour and supported Jess Glynne on her UK tour in October and November. "Start Again" reached number one on the ARIA Charts in June 2015. His EP All I Know came out on 13 November 2015, and its final single, "Remind Me", was released in February 2016. A Coca-Cola campaign song, "Taste the Feeling", featured his vocals and production from Avicii. Another early single, "Who You Lovin", appeared in 2015.

In May 2018 he signed with Sony Music Australia. He released the Ghosts and Heartaches EP on 18 May 2018, which included "Come Clean" and "Healing Hands". His debut studio album, Life, was released on 17 May 2019 and entered the ARIA Charts at number one. That year he performed the Australian national anthem before the AFL Grand Final.

After a gap, he released "God Save the Queen" on 9 September 2022, his first new music since 2019, and followed it with "Make Me a Believer" on 14 October. He supported the Irish band The Script on their Australian tour and announced headline shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne for late 2022. His second studio album, Precious, was released in March 2023. In 2023 he took part in the fifth season of The Masked Singer Australia as the character Bouncer and finished third, behind Darren Hayes and Dami Im. A headline outing called the Bloodline Tour is listed for 2026, following earlier headline tours in 2015-16, 2019 and 2022.

Recognition

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2015, Sewell won Song of the Year for "Start Again" and was also nominated for Breakthrough Artist and Best Pop Release. Across the ARIA Music Awards he has one win from four nominations. When "Start Again" topped the chart, he and his sister Grace became the first Australian-born siblings to reach number one on the ARIA Charts as separate acts, after her version of "You Don't Own Me" had hit the top in May 2015. His credits also include nominations at the APRA Awards and the Queensland Music Awards.

Personal life

Sewell comes from a large Catholic family and was confirmed in 2005. He is the brother of the pop singer Grace Sewell.