Jaclyn Cole Miskanic (born May 5, 1996), known professionally as Jax, is an American singer-songwriter and social media personality, who competed on the fourteenth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

''. Her 2022 single, "

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

", reached number 35 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, ''Dear Joe,'' was released on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

on June 28, 2024.

Early life

Jax was raised in Atlantic Beach, New York, and moved with her family in 2005 to

East Brunswick, New Jersey East Brunswick is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York metropolitan area and is located on the southern sho ...

. She began singing at age 5. Her father, John, was a firefighter who was injured on duty during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, and her mother, Jill, is a New York City school teacher. After attending the East Brunswick Public Schools, Jax was homeschooled starting in the eighth grade in order to allow her sufficient time for voice lessons, performances, and recording. In mid-2014, she studied at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in London, where she won a John Lennon Scholarship in songwriting through the BMI Foundation. She earned a bachelor's degree from the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college under the State University of New York, in New York City. It focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It was founded in ...

Career

''American Idol''

In 2015, Jax auditioned for the fourteenth season of ''

'', with the song "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963 in the United Kingdom, it was the first Beatles recor ...

" by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. She sang "

Toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

" by

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

for her first solo audition during Hollywood Week, and sang The Beatles' "

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (song), the title song from the album Let It Be may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 film), ...

" for her final solo performance. She was the only contestant out of 80 to be declared safe immediately after the performance. She performed Janis Joplin's "

Piece of My Heart "Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart ...

" with

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

during the show's season finale. Jax finished third in the competition, and her first single, "Forcefield", was released following the finale. In July 2015, Jax and the other top five ''American Idol'' contestants embarked on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2015.

Performances

''Funny'' and ''Dear Joe,''

Jax's second single, "La La Land", was released on January 6, 2016, along with her first music video. "La La Land" is about Jax's experience on ''American Idol''. In 2017 she released the EP, ''Funny,'' which charted at number 17 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 Albums The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

. In 2018, Jax was invited to perform at the White House's Independence Day celebration. This caused some controversy, due to the feelings surrounding Trump's presidency at the time. Jax then appeared on '' Fox and Friends'' to defend her decision to perform at the White House, calling the criticism "vulgarity" and "bullying" rather than political commentary. She continued to explain "I come from a really patriotic family" and that she was intent on honoring the troops during this celebration without listening to the "pettiness" coming from public forums. In January 2021, she signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. In October 2021, her single "Like My Father" debuted at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Pop Airplay, her first song to chart on ''Billboard'' charts. The song reached 80 million streams on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. In April 2022, Jax was named

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

's first-ever TikTok Songwriter of the Year. That year, she released the single "Victoria's Secret." It charted at number 35 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 15 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart, number two on the

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

US Viral 50, and was certified Gold in the United States. It also charted in Australia, Ireland, Canada, Sweden, and New Zealand. The song was inspired by a girl Jax was babysitting, to write a song about body positivity that could inspire young girls. In an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post,

CEO Amy Hauk thanked Jax for "addressing important issues in her lyrics." Jax performed on the 2022 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball tour. Her next single, "Cinderella Snapped", peaked at number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Airplay chart. In October 2023, Jax joined Canadian rock band

Simple Plan Simple Plan is a Canadian rock band formed in Montreal, Quebec, in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals, studio bass guitar), Chuck Comeau (drums), Jeff Stinco (lead guitar), and Sébastien Lefebvre (rhyt ...

for a re-recorded version of the track "Iconic" from their 2022 album '' Harder Than It Looks''. In 2024, Jax joined Simple Plan on their Australian tour. On June 28, 2024, she released her debut studio album ''Dear Joe,'' on

. It reached number nine9 on the ''Billboard''

chart, and number nine on Spotify's US Albums chart. On July 23, 2024, Jax released a series of TikTok videos with Haliey Welch. Jax has 14.5 million followers on TikTok. In October 2024, through Musicians on Call and Hyundai Hope on Wheels, Jax teamed with Sam Hollander to write the song "Hope Lights the Way" in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Personal life

In August 2016, Jax revealed that she was battling thyroid cancer. Jax married Braverijah "Brave" Gregg in November 2023, in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

, in a ceremony officiated by her brother Matthew. Their daughter was born in 2025.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Writing credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jax 1996 births Living people 21st-century American singers Singers from New Jersey Singers from New York (state) American Idol participants American TikTokers People from East Brunswick, New Jersey People from Atlantic Beach, New York 21st-century American women singers American people of Italian descent American people of Croatian descent American people of Jewish descent Jewish American songwriters Atlantic Records artists