Biography
South African vocalist Connell Cruise crafts vibrant, tuneful pop. Johannesburg provided his birthplace in 1987, and piano instruction started for him at age four. Music functioned mostly as a pastime even after he enrolled as a law student, until he tried out during the sixth season of Idols SA in 2010. Early elimination from the contest did not prevent his audition tape from reaching David Gresham Records executives, who promptly offered a management agreement. His self-titled debut album arrived in 2013 and proved a breakthrough by generating three number one singles, among them a cover of Avicii's "Wake Me Up." The ensuing year brought three South African Music Award nominations for Best Adult Contemporary Album, Male Artist of the Year, and Record of the Year. Momentum from those honors prompted a recording contract with Sony/Epic Records. His first release under that deal, the Ido Zmishlany-produced single "Into the Wild," surfaced in 2015.
Albums
Singles
