Jakob James Markus Nowell (born June 25, 1995) is an American musician based in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. He was a founding member of the band LAW, and was their vocalist until his departure in 2021. Nowell went on to form the band Jakobs Castle. In 2023, Nowell was brought on as the frontman of Sublime, a role previously held by his father

Bradley Nowell Bradley James Nowell (February 22, 1968 – May 25, 1996) was an American musician and the lead singer of the band Sublime. Born and raised in Belmont Shore, Long Beach, California, Nowell developed an interest in music at a young age. Nowell ...

Career

LAW

Nowell was the vocalist of ska-punk band LAW, a trio that was established in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

in 2013. Their first show was supported by

Miguel Happoldt Michael "Miguel" Happoldt (born July 5, 1969, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American musician, producer, songwriter, mixing engineer, and label executive. Career While studying at California State University, Dominguez Hills, Happoldt met alternati ...

. LAW's debut EP was released on

Skunk Records Skunk Records is a Long Beach, California based record label that was founded by Michael "Miguel" Happoldt and Bradley Nowell in 1990. Skunk is affiliated with the spinoff label Cornerstone R.A.S. The inspiration for forming a record label cam ...

. LAW released their only full-length album, ''There and Back Again'', in 2018. It was a departure from their original ska and reggae based influence. Nowell had a falling out with the other members of LAW in 2021, and they subsequently broke up.

Jakobs Castle

Nowell went on to form Jakobs Castle with producer Jon Joseph. In 2023, the project made their label debut with

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

. Their debut album ''Enter: The Castle'' was released in April 2024. It features songs co-written by

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid (band), Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup T ...

. In addition to his work with Jakobs Castle, Nowell briefly joined the progressive metal band Death of the Author. He contributed writing and vocals to several tracks. Nowell can be seen in the music video for their single, "Last Exit".

Sublime

In December 2023, it was announced that

Rome Ramirez Roman Rene Ramirez (born June 11, 1988) is an American singer and guitarist best known for playing with Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh from Sublime in the band Sublime with Rome. Early life Roman Rene Ramirez was born in Fremont, California on June ...

was departing

Sublime with Rome Sublime with Rome was a band that began as a musical collaboration between former Sublime (band), Sublime members Eric Wilson (bassist), Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. Ramirez began performing with Gaugh and W ...

at the end of 2024. It was later revealed that Eric Wilson and

Bud Gaugh Floyd "Bud" Gaugh is an American drummer who is a member of the band Sublime, and previously played in Long Beach Dub Allstars (1997–2002), Eyes Adrift (2002–2003), Volcano (2004), and Sublime with Rome (2009–2011), as well as Phil & the ...

had agreed to revive Sublime, with Jakob Nowell as a member of the band. Their first show as a trio was that month. They also performed at

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

in 2024. Nowell is the band's current lead singer.

Personal life

Nowell was born on June 25, 1995, at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, California. He is the only child of

, the founding guitarist and vocalist of Sublime, and Troy Dendekker. Jakob was 11 months old when his father died of a

heroin overdose An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to Hypoventilation, respiratory depression, a let ...

in 1996. Nowell became interested in music at a young age, and taught himself how to sing and play guitar on his own. Nowell began drinking at the age of twelve and started to battle with alcoholism. Drug use was normalized in his household. Nowell explained that his drug and alcohol exploration stemmed from a "subconscious desire to kind of understand what my dad's experiences were". Nowell became sober in 2017. His sobriety was documented in the 2017 film ''The Long Way Back: The Story of Todd Z-Man Zalkins''. The documentary explores the story of Todd Zalkins, a drug interventionist, former opioid addict, and childhood friend of Nowell's father. In the film, Zalkins succeeds in his quest to get Nowell clean. Nowell, along with his grandfather and aunt, helped start the Nowell Family Foundation, a non-profit that provides addiction recovery services and support for musicians. In 2021, he married Ashlyn Zeda. They divorced after only a few months of marriage.

References

{{authority control 1995 births Musicians from Long Beach, California Sublime (band) members Singers from California American lead guitarists 21st-century American male singers American male guitarists Guitarists from California 21st-century American guitarists American alternative rock musicians Reggae rock musicians Living people