Quick Facts
Capricorn
Biography
Stephen Wrabel (born January 7, 1989), better known by his stage name Wrabel, is an American musician, singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles.
Life and career
Wrabel attended high school at The Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas. After high school, he studied at the Berklee College of Music for a semester until he left Boston to move to LA and focus on songwriting. He got his first big break when he was signed to Pulse Recording as a songwriter.
In 2010, Wrabel recorded the theme song for the NBC game show Minute to Win It, "Get Up", produced by Eve Nelson.
Wrabel was signed to Island Def Jam in 2012 by Island Def Jam Music Group chairman and CEO Barry Weiss and Executive Vice President/Head of A&R Karen Kwak.
In 2014, Dutch DJ Afrojack released a version of Wrabel's song "Ten Feet Tall", resulting in an international hit. The song premiered in the United States during Super Bowl XLVIII in a Bud Light commercial and was viewed by around 100 million viewers. Wrabel later released the original piano-based version of the song on May 19, 2014. BuzzFeed named the Afrojack version of "Ten Feet Tall" one of the "35 Best Pop Songs You May Have Missed This Summer".
On June 24, 2016, Wrabel released his single "11 Blocks", which was heavily supported and promoted by Kesha. He also released both a lyric video and a music video for the song. He released his second single, titled "Bloodstain", on March 10, 2017. A lyric video for the song was released the same day. In May 2017, he released an EP titled We Could Be Beautiful. In July 2017, he released a song titled The Village, the song dedicated to show support for transgender people. The video shows a young trans boy living with his closed-minded family while the lyrics explain the difficulties in being transgender and a part of the LGBT community. The video ends with "#trans_rights_are_human_rights". The song was written in February 2017 after the removal of federal protections for trans students in public schools, and was quickly released after Donald Trump tweeted about banning transgender individuals from the military.
Achievements
On the April 22, 2019 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Pink praised Wrabel and his video for "The Village", stating, "The song ‘The Village' will break your heart into many little tiny pieces... he's great."
Billboard named Wrabel their Pride Artist of the Month in August 2019 saying "For the last decade, the 30-year-old singer-songwriter has been working with big names like Kesha and Adam Lambert while slowly building up his solo career. Now, he's ready for his breakthrough."
People magazine called Wrabel One to Watch in October 2019, saying "in 2019 he went from behind-the-scenes player to pop star."
In September 2019, The Huffington Post said Wrabel is "One of pop's unsung talents", adding "Recommendation from an artist of P!NK's stature, on a huge platform like The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was an overdue acknowledgment of a prolific, if still overlooked, talent."
Wrabel was named to the OUT100 in 2017 and is a GLAAD Media Award Nominee (Outstanding Music Artist).
Nylon says Wrabel's debut EP Sideways is "stocked with the soulfulness of a Sia or Sam Smith, and a melodic pop DNA that throws back to icons like Paul Simon, the title track twists heartbreak into something, well, beautiful."
BuzzFeed named "I Want You" one of "The Most Criminally Underrated Pop Songs of 2015".
MNDR released a remix of Wrabel's "I Want You" on October 21, 2015, which premiered on Noisey.
His songwriting credits include releases by Pink, Kesha, Louis The Child, Kygo, Marshmello, Backstreet Boys, and Ruel.
In popular culture
- In 2016, the song "Sideways" appeared in the season one finale of Quantico during the graduation celebration.
- In 2017, the song "We Could Be Beautiful" appeared on the reboot of Dynasty in episode 1x15 'Our Turn Now', during the wedding preparation scene. In 2020, this song also makes an appearance in the Hulu original series Love, Victor in the pilot episode 'Welcome to Creekwood'.
Personal life
Wrabel is openly gay. He is invested in promoting LGBTQ+ rights as a member of this community. His song "11 Blocks" is autobiographical describing his feelings about his first love who had moved 11 blocks away from him in California. In his song "Bloodstain", directed by Isaac Rentz, the video displays suffering and heartache in a relationship, while the star Wrabel is fighting for his life.
Discography
Extended plays
| Title | Year | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| USHeat. | ||
| Sideways |
| 10 |
| We Could Be Beautiful |
| — |
| One of Those Happy People |
| — |
| Piano |
| — |
Live albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| One Nite Only |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USBub. | USAC | USAdultPop | USDance | CANAC | |||
| "11 Blocks" | 2016 | 18 | 21 | 12 | — | 31 | We Could Be Beautiful |
| "Bloodstain" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "It's You" | — | — | — | — | — | non-album singles | |
| "The Village" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "First Winter" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "That's What I'd Do" (live) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | One Nite Only |
| "I Want You" (live) | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Woman" (live) | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Oh Love" | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | |
| "I Want You" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Love to Love U" | — | — | — | — | — | One of Those Happy People | |
| "The Real Thing" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Magic" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Flickers" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Flying" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Happy People" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Too Close" | — | — | — | 40 | — | TBA | |
| "(It Wouldn't Be) Christmas Without You" | — | — | — | — | — | non-album singles | |
| "Somebody New" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Hurts Like Hell" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Since I Was Young" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | USPop | USDance | CAN | CANCHR | |||
| "Ten Feet Tall" | 2014 | 100 | 22 | 9 | — | 43 | Forget the World |
| "Ritual" | 2016 | — | — | 11 | 82 | — | Non-album singles |
| "Another Side" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Resentment" | — | — | — | — | — | High Road | |
| "Mean It" | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Moon Rider" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Silent Night / Light of the World" | 2012 | N/A | Dream Christmas |
| "We'll Be Okay" | 2014 | Afrojack | Forget the World |
| "You Know It's About You" | 2015 | Magical Thinker | Leap! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
| "With You" | 2017 | Kygo | Kids in Love |
| "Written In The Scars" | Galantis | The Aviary | |
| "90 Days" | 2019 | Pink | Hurts 2B Human |
| "BFF" | 2020 | Kesha | High Road |
Songwriting credits
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Written with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Shine" | 2011 | Stan Walker | Let the Music Play | Jon Asher, Drew Pearson |
| "Loud" | ||||
| "Nirvana" | 2012 | Adam Lambert | Trespassing | Oligee, Josh Abraham, Adam Lambert |
| "So Easy" | Phillip Phillips | The World from the Side of the Moon | Pete Amato, Pete Salis | |
| "Kiss Kiss" | 2013 | Prince Royce | Soy el Mismo | Fernando Garibay, Dougy Mandagi, Amanda Warner |
| "Crazy Ass B*tch" | 2015 | Rozzi Crane | Space | Crane, Kendrick Lamar, Adam Levine, Ali Tamposi, James Valentine |
| "Blue" | Will Young | 85% Proof | Jim Eliot, Dan McDougall | |
| "Break" | Katharine McPhee | Hysteria | McPhee, Pearson | |
| "Rose Gold" | Pentatonix | Pentatonix | Scott Hoying, Avi Kaplan, Pearson | |
| "Devotion" | Ellie Goulding | Delirium | Goulding, Ali Payami, Klas Åhlund | |
| "In Our Bones" | 2016 | Against The Current | In Our Bones | Tommy English, Tamposi, Chrissy Costanza, Will Ferri, Dan Gow |
| "Cold" | Citizen Four | Cold | Pearson, Makeba Riddick | |
| "Everybody Knows" | Idina Menzel | idina. | Greg Wells | |
| "Tough" | Goldroom | West of the West | Josh Legg, MoZella, Nico Stadi | |
| "You Know It's About You" | 2017 | Magical Thinker | Leap! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | Christopher Braide |
| "Crave" | Dia Frampton | Bruises | Frampton, Stadi | |
| "Hey You" | Lea Michele | Places | Michele, Tamposi, Nick van de Wall | |
| "Run to You" | Michele, Tamposi | |||
| "Surround Me" | Leon | Surround Me | Jon Mills, Kurtis McKenzie, Léon | |
| "True Feeling" | Galantis | The Aviary | Candy Shields, Bloodshy, Henrik Jonback, Jimmy Koitsch, Linus Eklow | |
| "Written in the Scars" | ||||
| "Woman" | Kesha | Rainbow | Pearson, Kesha Sebert | |
| "Emotional" | ||||
| "With You" | Kygo | Kids in Love | Pearson, Erik Hassle, Kygo | |
| "Better Not" | 2018 | Louis The Child | Robby Hauldren, Frederic Kennett, Rogét Chahayed, Wafia | |
| "Joshua Tree" | Rozzi | Bad Together | Eric Leva, Rozzi Crane | |
| "Bad Together" | Rozzi | Bad Together | Eric Leva, Rozzi Crane | |
| "Baby” | Bishop Briggs | Sarah Grace McLaughlin, John Hill, Sean Douglas | ||
| "LY4L" | Katelyn Tarver | Tarver | ||
| "Water" | Bishop Briggs | Church of Scars | John Hill, Sean Douglas, Briggs | |
| "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" | Backstreet Boys | DNA | Jamie Hartman, Stuart Crichton | |
| "Healing Hands" | Conrad Sewell | Ghosts & Heartaches | Sewell | |
| "Still Good" | DNCE | People to People | Eric Leva, Crichton & Robin Hannibal | |
| "I'm Good" | Wafia | Wafia | ||
| "Here Comes The Change" | Kesha | Pearson, Kesha Sebert | ||
| "Rich, White, Straight Men" | 2019 | Kesha | Pebe Sebert, Kesha Sebert, Crichton | |
| "Best Day" | Kesha Sebert, Scott Harris, Ryan Lewis, Joshua Robert Rawlings, Elan Wright, Phillip Peterson, Saba Samakar | |||
| "Raising Hell" | Kesha Sebert, Ajay Bhattacharya, Sean Douglas | |||
| "Flowers and Superpowers" | Wafia | Wafia, Roget Chahayed, Hitboy | ||
| "Hard Sometimes" | Ruel | Free Time | Mark Landon, Ruel Vincent Van Dijk | |
| "call the police" | the three of us | Madi Diaz, Jamie Floyd | ||
| "for months now" | the three of us | Madi Diaz, Jamie Floyd | ||
| "Where We Started" | Bailey Bryan | Perspective | Scott Harris, Rick Markowitz, Bailey Bryan | |
| "Space" | Yoshi Flower | Peer Pleasure | Joshua Smith, Danny Parra, Adam Comstock | |
| "Strange" | Celeste | Celeste | Celeste Waite, Jaime Hartman | |
| "All The Feels" | Fitz and the Tantrums | All the Feels | Michael Fitzpatrick, Morgan Dorr, Jeremy Ruzumna, Noelle Scaggs, John Wicks, Joseph Karnes, James King | |
| "Bad Habit" | Ben Platt | Sing to Me Instead | Jesse Thomas, Ben Abraham, Ben Platt | |
| "Chateau" | Backstreet Boys | DNA | Stuart Crichton/Michael Pollack/James Newman/Cole Citrenbaum | |
| "Don't Let It Break Your Heart" | 2020 | Louis Tomlinson | Walls | Louis Tomlinson, Stuart Crichton, Cole Citrenbaum, James Newman |
