Cody Fry

A Nashville resident with a flair for emotive delivery, Cody Fry brings his talents as a vocalist, composer, producer, and orchestrator to a blend of soul-infused pop, jazz textures, electronic elements, and sweeping ballad arrangements. National attention arrived for the Illinois transplant during his 2015 run on the fourteenth season of American Idol, yet wider commercial breakthrough came in 2021 once “I Hear a Symphony”—originally included on his 2017 album Flying—gained widespread online traction. Signing with Decca Records paved the way for his first major-label project, the orchestral-pop-focused The End, issued in 2023.

Born in Northfield, Illinois, Fry was raised in a household steeped in creativity; his father earned a living writing advertising jingles. During adolescence he began composing and laying down his own material, later enrolling in the music program at Belmont University in Nashville. After completing his degree in 2012 he issued his first full-length effort, Audio:Cinema, and spent the next several years performing as a sideman for various acts. His sophomore release, Keswick, arrived in 2014 and preceded an early-round callback on American Idol’s fourteenth season, where judges offered encouragement even though he did not advance into the final twenty contestants. The televised exposure nonetheless expanded his audience, leading to the 2017 arrival of Flying—his third solo album—whose single “Nobody But You” showcased his growing interest in cinematic scoring through expansive string and brass writing.

In 2019 he unveiled the seasonal project Christmas Music: The Complete Collection, followed in 2021 by Pictures of Mountains, a richly orchestrated collection of modern pop pieces sparked by travels through France. That same year his earlier recording of “I Hear a Symphony” surged in popularity, surpassing two hundred million streams and claiming the top spot on Billboard’s Classical Tracks chart. A Grammy nomination in the Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals category recognized his interpretation of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” featured on the 2022 album Symphony Sessions. The 2023 compilation Symphonic gathered notable selections from Fry’s orchestral catalog, while later that year the buoyant single “Waltz for Sweatpants” introduced his Decca debut, The End.