Jason Rowe, who formerly recorded under the name Jai, is a British pop and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer currently residing in London, England.

Life and career

Jason Rowe was born in

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

, England, in December 1969. He moved to London in the mid-1990s and began working with producer

Joel Bogen Joel Bogen (born 3 September 1958) is an English rock and punk guitarist. He worked with Toyah Willcox from the late 1970s to 1983 as the guitar player in her eponymous band and was the co-writer on nearly all of the material they recorded. B ...

. A single, "Don't Give Me Away", was recorded under the name "Jai" and released on independent record label

M&G Records M&G Records was a record label founded by Michael Levy after he sold his previous label Magnet Records in 1988 to WEA for an estimated £10 million. History After Magnet was sold and was then merged into Eastwest Records in the UK, Levy set u ...

in February 1997. The success of the single in the UK and across Europe attracted the attention of

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, who released Rowe's debut album, ''

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

'', later that same year. The album featured mostly original works co-written by Rowe with Bogen, Christopher Bemand, and Rob Watson, as well as contemporary covers of the

Arthur Hamilton Arthur Hamilton Stern (October 22, 1926 – May 20, 2025) was an American songwriter. He is best known for the song " Cry Me a River", first published in 1953 and recorded by Julie London and numerous other artists. Life and career Arthur "Ar ...

standard " Cry Me a River" and J. J. Cale's "Magnolia". The single "I Believe" was a minor hit in the United States, and the album itself made a brief appearance at No. 49 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Heatseekers Album Chart. In a February 1998 interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Rowe discussed his vocal influences and overall style, likening the content of his first album to "a cross between Portishead and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

." After residing for a couple of years in New York City, Rowe returned to Europe, eventually settling in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He continued to write and perform his own music, and also penned songs for the

German hip hop German hip hop (locally known as ''Deutschrap'', ''Deutsch'' meaning German) refers to hip hop music in the German language. Elements of American hip hop culture, such as graffiti art and breakdancing, diffused into Western Europe in the ea ...

band

Die Fantastischen Vier Die Fantastischen Vier (, "The Fantastic Four"), often shortened to Fanta 4, is a German hip hop band from Stuttgart. The members are Michael Schmidt (Smudo), Andreas Rieke, Thomas Dürr, and Michi Beck. They were, together with Advanced Chemi ...

. Signing with manager Jobst Henning-Neermann, Rowe briefly returned to the U.S. in 2006 to record a new solo album. ''Lovelife'' was released 23 February 2007 on German record label

Four Music Four Music (''Four Music Productions GmbH'') is a German record label founded by hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier in 1996. It was originally located in Stuttgart, but has moved to Kreuzberg, Berlin. In 2004, Max Herre's debut album, as wel ...

, but received only limited promotion and distribution. Shortly thereafter, Rowe contributed a song, "The Dreaming", to an advertising campaign for the

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( ; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger (company), Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's P ...

fragrance of the same name. Rowe has since moved back to England. In June 2011, he married American musician

Daphna Dove Daphna Dove (born 14 July 1975 in Hamburg, Germany) is an American musician. She is best known for her appearance on the TV Show Rock Star: INXS. Early life Daphna was born in Germany in 1975 and raised in New York City, to which she moved at ag ...

, having met her several years earlier when she contributed backing vocals to ''Lovelife''. Most recently, Rowe collaborated with Dove in forming two musical groups, The Strings and VictoriA.

References

External links

* * * * 1969 births Living people English male singers Neo soul singers People from Yeovil {{UK-singer-stub