Billy Raffoul

Ontario-born Billy Raffoul, a rock singer-songwriter whose gritty voice and atmospheric style blend the influences of Jeff Buckley, Joe Cocker, and Bruce Springsteen, issued a string of well-received EPs and singles throughout the second half of the 2010s. Tracks such as "Acoustic" and "Dark Four Door" accumulated millions of streams. His first full-length project, the intimate International Hotel, arrived in 2020. He then shifted sonic palettes, embracing the anthemic heartland rock of the 2021 JJ Wilde collaboration "Born to Die" before turning toward the spare acoustic fingerpicking of 2022's "Jim Carrey."

Raffoul received early musical training at home. As the son of regional solo performer Jody Raffoul, he absorbed rock traditions by observing his father's shows and teaching himself guitar. In his late teens he began gigging in Leamington, Ontario, and surrounding areas, refining original material and live performance skills. A vocal session booking in nearby Detroit opened the first significant door, securing management and, soon after, a contract with Interscope. Dividing his time between Nashville and Los Angeles, Raffoul issued his debut single "Driver" in spring 2017, followed the next year by the 1975 EP. A busy 2019 brought the single "Hell or Highwater," penned for the PlayStation title Days Gone, plus the Running Wild EP, a live recording, and further singles including "Easy Tiger" and "When We Were Young."

After graduating from opening-act slots to his own U.S. headline dates, Raffoul launched 2020 with the optimistic "It's a Beautiful Life" ahead of the EP A Few More Hours at YYZ. Although prior EPs had sampled assorted textures, his debut album adopted a leaner setup. Captured live with only two microphones, an acoustic guitar, and harmonica, International Hotel surfaced in mid-2020 and signaled a fresh path. One year later he joined Canadian singer-songwriter JJ Wilde for the Springsteen-inflected collaborative EP Born to Die. In 2022 he kept testing contrasting approaches, releasing raucous rock tracks such as "We Could Get High" alongside restrained acoustic pieces like "Jim Carrey."