Jai Waetford (born 25 January 1999) is an Australian

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

singer and songwriter who came third on the fifth season of '' The X Factor Australia''. He subsequently signed with

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. SMEA also formerly published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of Sony ...

and released his debut single " Your Eyes", which peaked at number six on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. Waetford's self-titled debut EP was released in December 2013 and peaked at number 21 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Waetford joined the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'' in February 2016 as Angus Beaumont-Hannay; his debut episode aired on 2 May. His latest EP Heart Miles was released 3 June 2016.

Early life

Jai Waetford was born in 1999 and is from Campbelltown, a suburb in

south-western Sydney South Western Sydney is a region of the metropolitan area in southwest Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the predominantly working class area of Greater Western Sydney. The region lies in the Cumberland Plain. Local governm ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. He was raised by his mother Alana Dow and grandparents Hannah and Roger Dow. At a young age, Waetford's father left him and his mother. He taught himself how to play

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

from watching videos on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. He was educated at Campbelltown Performing Arts High School and left school in 2014 after completing Year 10.

Music career

2013: ''The X Factor Australia''

In 2013, Waetford auditioned for the fifth season of '' The X Factor Australia'', singing "Different Worlds" by Jes Hudak and an original song titled "Don't Let Me Go". He progressed to the super bootcamp stage of the competition. On the first day of super bootcamp, Waetford performed "

Titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...

" by

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

and advanced to the second stage of super bootcamp, where he sang "

Last Request "Last Request" is the debut single by Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini, from his 2006 debut album, ''These Streets''. The song was released on 3 July 2006, and peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and number 15 on the Italian Si ...

" by Paulo Nutini. On the final day of super bootcamp, Waetford performed " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

to the judges and a live audience of one thousand. He made it through to the home visits round and was put into the Boys category, which was mentored by

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career s ...

. At the home visits, he sang

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's version of " Always on My Mind" and made it through to the live shows. Waetford went on to reach the grand final, finishing third behind Taylor Henderson who came second and

Dami Im Dami Im ( , , ; born October 17, 1988) is a South Korean-born Australian singer and songwriter. She represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden with the song " Sound of Silence", placing second and ac ...

who won the show. denotes a performance that entered the ARIA Singles
denotes third place

Performances on ''The X Factor''

2013: ''Jai Waetford'' EP and ''Get to Know You''

After ''The X Factor'' ended Waetford signed a recording contract with

. His debut single " Your Eyes", which would have been his winner's single if he had won ''The X Factor'', was released that same day. The song peaked at number six on the

and was certified gold by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

for sales exceeding 35,000 copies. On 23 November 2013, Waetford toured alongside

Third Degree ''Third Degree'' is a 1986 album by Johnny Winter and the final one of the trilogy he made for Alligator Records. For the occasion Winter temporarily reunited with Tommy Shannon and Uncle Red Turner, who were the rhythm section on his first thr ...

, Taylor Henderson, Dami Im and Jiordan Tolli for The X Factor Live Tour, which ended on 2 December 2013. On 6 December 2013, he released his self-titled debut EP, which peaked at number 21 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Waetford's second EP, ''Get to Know You'', was released on 28 March 2014. Its title track was released as a single and peaked at number 32 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Waetford served as the supporting act for

Justice Crew Justice Crew is an Australian dance and music group consisting of John and Len Pearce, Lukas Bellesini, Paul Merciadez, Samson Smith, and Solo Tohi. Although the group is Australian, members Samson and Solo are from New Zealand. The group origin ...

's #HypeTour in April 2014 around Australia. Waetford's third EP, ''Shy'' consisted of six covers and one single.

2016–2017: "Living Not Dreaming" and ''Heart Miles''

He released the single "Living Not Dreaming" in February 2016. followed by the EP Heart Miles which was released 3 June 2016. Music videos have been recorded for both 'Living Not Dreaming' and 'Heart Miles' as well as a promotional video called Heart Miles EP which shows Jai discussing a long-distance relationship featuring snippets of each of the new songs from his EP. Jai toured a variety of cities to promote his new work across Europe, Indonesia and Thailand in May and June 2016, during which he performed his new material as well as covers of Drake's single "One Dance" and Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself".

2018: Return to music, "Lost in You", "Get Over" and "Friends"

In October 2018, Waetford released his first single in a year, titled "Lost in You". Waetford said: "I wrote 'Lost in You' about someone who I met in a dark time that captivated me to a point where my life suddenly revolved around this person. When I was writing this, it was strange to me because I found myself involving her in everything I did; I was living for someone else." Waetford spoke candidly about his past mental health struggles, in an interview with the ''Herald Sun'', saying he "couldn't find happiness in anything". After sharing his mental health struggles in
candid social media post in August
Waetford was approached by the Australian Suicide Prevention Foundation to become an ambassador for their ''You Are Not Alone'' campaign. Waetford then released the singles "Get Over" and "Friends", which premiered with urban music outlet Complex. "Friends" is co-written by Waetford with James Agnus (Carmouflage Rose, Tigerilla, Tkay Maidza) who also produced the record. "James and I were trying to find a sound that mashed urban drums with pop instrumentation and vocal melody," explains Jai of the collaboration. "We then stumbled across this beat James had made a while back, ran with it, and ended up really digging the result." "'Friends' is all about the online world and the real world colliding. Often we say things online that we wouldn't say in real life, and 'Friends' is about a situation where that happened to me."

Artistry

Aside from singing, Waetford also plays guitar and writes his own songs. He cites

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first ''Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's '' The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, sou ...

as his musical influences.

Concert tours

Headlining * The X Factor Live Tour (2013) *'Drunk Together' Tour (2017) *'Friends' Tour (2019) Supporting *

's #HypeTour (2014) *

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ...

The Get Weird Tour The Get Weird Tour was the third concert tour and the first worldwide tour held by British girl group Little Mix, in support of their third studio album, '' Get Weird'', announced in July 2015. The tour began on March 13, 2016 in Cardiff, Wa ...

(2016) *

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

's Revival Tour (2016) Joining * Amplify Live Australian Tour #Amplifylive

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Album appearances

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waetford, Jai 1999 births 21st-century Australian singers Australian child singers Australian pop singers Child pop musicians Living people People educated at Sydney Distance Education High School Sony Music Australia artists The X Factor (Australian TV series) contestants