Biography
A Great Big World, the melodic singer/songwriter duo, first captured widespread attention with their breakthrough single "Say Something" from the 2014 debut album Is There Anybody Out There?. The track, bolstered by Christina Aguilera's guest vocals, earned the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and set the stage for the follow-up full-length When the Morning Comes, which surfaced in 2015.
Ian Axel and Chad King established the project in 2010 during their time as music-business students at New York University. Early on, the pair hit the road performing original material alongside covers drawn from Ingrid Michaelson and Five for Fighting. Their visibility surged in 2013 once "This Is the New Year" received a prominent cover on the Fox series Glee and appeared across multiple additional television programs. That same year the duo inked a deal with Epic and issued the three-song EP This Is the New Year, whose lead single was "Say Something." Although initial traction proved modest, a newly recorded rendition featuring Christina Aguilera dropped in November 2013 and carried the song to the summit of charts worldwide, ultimately lifting Is There Anybody Out There? into the Billboard 200's top three. The single later claimed its Grammy in 2015.
When the Morning Comes, the duo's sophomore album, arrived toward the end of 2015 and, while falling short of its predecessor's commercial peak, yielded the Hot 100 single "Hold Each Other" that spotlighted rapper Futuristic. For their third long-player the pair delivered a cover of Jeff Lynne's "When I Was a Boy" in 2017; later that year they unveiled "Life Is Good," a contribution to the animated feature The Star. In 2018 they released "Younger," the second single from their self-titled LP, and the following year reunited with Christina Aguilera on the expansive track "Fall on Me." In 2020 the duo offered their first holiday recording, "Wrap Me Up Under the Christmas Tree."
Ian Axel and Chad King established the project in 2010 during their time as music-business students at New York University. Early on, the pair hit the road performing original material alongside covers drawn from Ingrid Michaelson and Five for Fighting. Their visibility surged in 2013 once "This Is the New Year" received a prominent cover on the Fox series Glee and appeared across multiple additional television programs. That same year the duo inked a deal with Epic and issued the three-song EP This Is the New Year, whose lead single was "Say Something." Although initial traction proved modest, a newly recorded rendition featuring Christina Aguilera dropped in November 2013 and carried the song to the summit of charts worldwide, ultimately lifting Is There Anybody Out There? into the Billboard 200's top three. The single later claimed its Grammy in 2015.
When the Morning Comes, the duo's sophomore album, arrived toward the end of 2015 and, while falling short of its predecessor's commercial peak, yielded the Hot 100 single "Hold Each Other" that spotlighted rapper Futuristic. For their third long-player the pair delivered a cover of Jeff Lynne's "When I Was a Boy" in 2017; later that year they unveiled "Life Is Good," a contribution to the animated feature The Star. In 2018 they released "Younger," the second single from their self-titled LP, and the following year reunited with Christina Aguilera on the expansive track "Fall on Me." In 2020 the duo offered their first holiday recording, "Wrap Me Up Under the Christmas Tree."
Albums
Singles
