Andy Grammer
Quick Facts
Biography
Andrew Charles Grammer (born December 3, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is signed to S-Curve Records.
His debut album, Andy Grammer, was released in 2011 and spawned the singles "Keep Your Head Up" and "Fine by Me". His second album Magazines or Novels was released in 2014, and featured "Honey, I'm Good" which is his most successful song to date, peaking at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. This single has been certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and was ranked one of the ten best-selling songs of 2015 by Nielsen SoundScan. The Magazines or Novels album also featured the certified gold single "Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)."
Early life and education
Andrew Charles Grammer was born in Los Angeles, the son of Kathryn Willoughby and recording artist Robert Crane "Red" Grammer. He is of German and English descent. He grew up in Chester, New York andgraduated from Monroe-Woodbury High School. As a child, he learned to play the trumpet and later the guitar and piano. He began writing songs at 15. At 20, he left Binghamton University in Vestal, New York, and returned to Los Angeles, where he currently resides. In 2007, he graduated from the California State University, Northridge, with a B.A. in music industry studies.
Musical career
Grammer started as a busker on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. He was discovered by his manager Ben Singer in July 2009 and signed with S-Curve Records in April 2010. Grammer's popular songs include: "Honey, I'm Good.", "Keep Your Head Up", "Fine by Me", "Lunatic", "Ladies", "Fresh Eyes", "Biggest Man in L.A.", "Numbers", "Stepping Stone", "Couple More Sleeves", "Fireflies", and "The Pocket".
His debut video "Keep Your Head Up", which featured actor Rainn Wilson, was an iTunes Video of the Week in 2010, and won MTV's "O Music Awards" for the most innovative video on April 25, 2011. He performed the song on The Rachael Ray Show on November 17, 2010. It has since debuted at No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 Grammer's debut album sales for the first week earned him the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart. He opened for Plain White T's for the second leg of their "Wonders of the Younger" tour in the spring of 2011. In January 2011, he was named an "Artist to Watch" by Billboard magazine. He performed at SXSW 2011, playing BMI's Acoustic Brunch, where he was one of the artists contributing to a recording produced by Hanson to benefit the victims of the 2011 Japan earthquake.
Grammer credits his music influences to three genres of music: guitar players like Jason Mraz, John Mayer and Jack Johnson; modern pianists like Coldplay, The Fray, and OneRepublic; and hip-hop vocalists like Common, Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z, and Kanye West.
2011–13: Andy Grammer
His debut album, Andy Grammer, was released on June 14, 2011 on S-Curve Records. The self-titled album was produced by Matt Wallace from Maroon 5, Matt Radosevich, Dave Katz, and Sam Hollander of Gym Class Heroes.
On the new album, Grammer said:
My ultimate goal is to try to be real. It just so happens that I'm usually more happy than sad when I'm writing. And in general I think that life is pretty great, and it's cool to be here, so that comes through in my music. I don't have a dismal outlook, but I don't aim to make positive music. It's just what I am.
He joined Natasha Bedingfield on her Less is More Tour, which began June 2011, and Colbie Caillat on her US and Canada tour, which began August 2011. The Grammy Museum, in Los Angeles, featured him in the first installment of its homegrown local artist series starting in May 2011.
2014–16: Magazines or Novels
On March 25, 2014, he debuted "Back Home", the lead single from his second album, Magazines or Novels. The song, co-written with Ryan Met from the group AJR, was released to iTunes on April 8, 2014. The album was released August 5, 2014.
In November 11 2014, he released his biggest single to date, "Honey, I'm Good." which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified triple-platinum by the RIAA.
On August 31, 2015, he was announced as one of the celebrities who will compete on the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars. He was paired with professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd until an ankle injury forced her to withdraw. His new partner was Allison Holker. Grammer and Holker were eliminated on Week 8 of competition and finished in 7th place.
In addition to his stint on the show, he released a new single "Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)" on August 24, which was another gold-certified hit for him, and was included on a re-issued deluxe version of his Magazines or Novels album.
On October 27, 2015, he performed the National Anthem prior to the start of the opening game of the World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. In January 2016, he performed an a cappella version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Denver Broncos–New England Patriots AFC Championship Game in Denver.
2016–present: The Good Parts and Naive
On July 29, 2016, Grammer released a new single titled "Fresh Eyes" which was another platinum hit for him that reach #19 on the Spotify Global Viral 50 Chart.
On June 9, 2017, Grammer released his new single featuring LunchMoney Lewis titled "Give Love". Grammer also wrote and performed the song "A Friend Like You" for the animated film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie.
The third single from his album The Good Parts, titled "Smoke Clears", was released on November 3, 2017. The album was released on December 1, 2017.
On February 21, 2019, Grammer released his new single, "Don't Give Up On Me", from the soundtrack of the film Five Feet Apart. It is also the lead single from his fourth studio album, Naive, which was released on July 26, 2019.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart position | Sales | Certifications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | USHeat | ||||
| Andy Grammer |
| 105 | 1 | ||
| Magazines or Novels |
| 19 | — |
|
|
| The Good Parts |
| 57 | — | ||
| Naive |
| 29 | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| The World Is Yours |
|
| Soft Lights on Bright Colors |
|
| Live from L.A. |
|
| Crazy Beautiful |
|
| Spotify Singles |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Adult | AUS | BEL(Fl) | CAN | FRA | NLD | NZ | SWE | UK | ||||
| "Keep Your Head Up" | 2011 | 53 | 5 | 53 | 27 | 61 | 156 | 94 | 34 | — | — |
| Andy Grammer |
| "Fine by Me" | 84 | 10 | — | 47 | — | — | 94 | — | — | — | |||
| "Miss Me" | 2012 | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Crazy Beautiful" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Crazy Beautiful | |
| "Back Home" | 2014 | — | 21 | 27 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Magazines or Novels |
| "Honey, I'm Good." | 9 | 1 | 64 | — | 4 | 175 | 100 | — | 72 | 65 |
| ||
| "Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)" | 2015 | 62 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| "Fresh Eyes" | 2016 | 59 | 9 | 5 | — | 59 | — | 42 | 8 | 33 | 50 |
| The Good Parts |
| "Give Love" (featuring LunchMoney Lewis) | 2017 | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Smoke Clears" | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Don't Give Up On Me" (solo or with R3hab) | 2019 | — | 12 | 49 | — | 87 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Naive |
| "I Am Yours" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Some Girl" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Wish You Pain" | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Best of You" (solo or with Elle King) | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Found You" (with Cash Cash) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Good Example" (with R3HAB) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "My Own Hero" | 2019 | Naive |
| "I Found You" |
Other appearances
Grammer made a guest appearance on the episode "SPARF-a-Rooney" of the Disney Channel series Liv and Maddie, performing the song "Honey, I'm Good."
