Joshua Kissiah Cumbee is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his artist collaborations with Armin van Buuren and as a songwriter for other artists.

Early life

After high school, in 2008, he enrolled in the music business program at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He graduated in 2011.

Early career

Already being a student, Cumbee released songs on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

as an independent artist ("Find The Light", "I Do My Own Stunts", "The End", "How To Say This"). He was working on television as a composer, writing music for commercials, television shows ("The Bachelor", "Ready for Love", "America's Next Top Model", "Polyamory", "Southern Nights") and short movies. Cumbee's first official appearance in credits for the song happened in 2012. He did strings programming on

Kerli Kerli Kõiv (; born 7 February 1987), better known mononymously as Kerli, is an Estonian singer and songwriter. Born in Elva, Estonia, Elva, Kerli entered multiple singing competitions before being signed to Island Records in 2006 by LA Reid. In ...

's song "Immortal" which was part of the soundtrack album " Frankenweenie Unleashed!". Later, Cumbee was hired for the studio of

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

winning songwriter Toby Gad where he was writing, producing, playing instruments, programming and engineering music for other artists. He worked for

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after ...

Heffron Drive Heffron Drive was an American duo formed by Kendall Schmidt and Dustin Belt, both originally from Kansas. It was originally formed in 2008 after Kendall and Dustin met each other by chance and realized they lived on the same street, Heffron Dri ...

Kygo Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (; born 11 September 1991), known professionally as Kygo (), is a Norwegian DJ and music producer. He first received international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track " I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his De ...

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

Galantis Galantis is a Swedish electronic music act consisting of producer Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson. Formerly, they were a duo, alongside rising musician Style of Eye, until he decided to part ways with the project shortly after their second albu ...

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She first gained prominence starring on the Disney Channel series ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017). She signed with the Disney Music Group, Disney ...

Lindsey Stirling Lindsey Stirling (born September 21, 1986) is an American violinist, songwriter and dancer. She presents choreographed violin performances, in live and music videos found on her official YouTube channel, which she created in 2007. Stirling per ...

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001), achieved chart success with the singles " I'm Outta Love", " Not That Ki ...

, Sia and many others. In 2015, Cumbee co-wrote 3 songs for Natalia Jiménez album "Creo En Mí" ("Creo En Mí", "Algo Brill En Mi " and "Tú No Me Quieres Más"). The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2015 Latin Grammy Awards but lost out to Juan Luis Guerra 4.40. Also in 2015,

's album " Full Frequency" received a Grammy nomination as Reggae album of the year, Josh was engineer on the track "Pornstar" from the album.

Breakthrough

Work with Armin van Buuren

The single " Sunny Days" by Armin van Buuren featuring Cumbee was released on June 16, 2017 on

Armada Music Armada Music is a Dutch independent record label that specialises in releasing electronic dance music. Armada Music was founded on 1 June 2003 by Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, Dutch business executive Maykel Piron, and music manager David ...

. It was written by Armin van Buuren, Benno de Goeij, Afshin Salmani, Josh Cumbee, Toby Gad and Gordon Groothedde. The music video was shot in

Bevagna Bevagna is a town and ''comune'' in the central part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria), in the flood plain of the Topino river. Bevagna is south-east of Perugia, west of Foligno, north-north-west of Montefalco, south of Assisi ...

and

Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Prope ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The single received double

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

status in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. A special Christmas version of the song called "Christmas Days" was released on December 9, 2017. On March 29, 2019 another collaboration with van Buuren "Don't Give Up On Me" was released. The song was made with Lucas & Steve. Cumbee and van Buuren performed live in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and at

Untold Festival Untold Festival is the largest electronic music Music festival, festival held in Romania, taking place in Cluj-Napoca at the Cluj Arena. It is held annually and has been designated Best Major Festival in the European Festivals Awards, European Fe ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

2019 - 2020

In April 2019, Cumbee signed a contract with

AVEX Group Avex Inc. ( kabushiki gaisha , commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex) is a Japanese Conglomerate (company), entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J- ...

as recording artist. The single "Lifetime" by Zonderling featuring Cumbee and

Damon Sharpe Damon Sharpe, born Damon Jared Reinagle, is an American record producer, songwriter, DJ and recording artist who works in Los Angeles. He first reached notability as a member of Guys Next Door. He has since contributed to various albums that hav ...

was released on August 23, 2019 on Armada. Collaboration with

Fedde Le Grand Fedde Le Grand (, ; born 7 September 1977) is a Dutch House music, house DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2006, his single "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" reached the top five on the Dutch Top 40, number one on the UK Singles Chart and staye ...

"Dancing Shoes" was out on January 24, 2020, on Interstellar Label. On February 14, 2020, Cumbee released his first solo single "Sound Of Your Name", with the music video filmed at Mount Myoko in Niigata,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

by director Yudai Maruyama. The second single "Brave Enough" was released on March 13, 2020. The third single "Worth Missing" released on July 3, 2020. Its music video was filmed in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Discography

Singles

As solo artist

* Sound Of Your Name (2020) * Brave Enough (2020) * Worth Missing (2020)

As featured artist

Source: * Armin van Buuren feat. Josh Cumbee - Sunny Days (2017) * Armin van Buuren feat. Josh Cumbee - Sunny Days (Club Mix) (2017) * Armin van Buuren feat. Josh Cumbee - Christmas Days (2017) * Armin van Buuren x Lucas & Steve feat. Josh Cumbee - Don't Give Up On Me (2019) *Armin van Buuren x Lucas & Steve feat. Josh Cumbee - Don't Give Up On Me (Club Mix/Trance Mix) (2019) * Zonderling feat. Josh Cumbee - Lifetime (2019) *Zonderling feat. Josh Cumbee - Lifetime (VIP & Acoustic) (2019) *

& Josh Cumbee - Dancing Shoes (2020)

As vocalist

* AFSHeeN - Let Me Down Slow (2016) * AFSHeeN - Tunnel (2016) * Florian Picasso - Final Call (2016) * Lazy Rich - Knock Me Out (2016) * Florian Picasso - Guns Down (2017) * Florian Picasso & GRX - Restart Your Heart (2020) * Timmy Trumpet & Florian Picasso - Armageddon (2020)

Songwriting credits

Source: 2012 *

- "Immortal" 2013 *

feat. Nyla - "Pornstar" *

Prince Royce Geoffrey Royce Rojas (born May 11, 1989), known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music, and in his teenage years began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

- "Already Missing You" *

Christina Grimmie Christina Victoria Grimmie (March 12, 1994 – June 10, 2016) was an American singer and internet personality. In 2009, she began posting covers of popular songs onto YouTube. After releasing her debut EP, '' Find Me'' (2011), her YouTube c ...

- " Absolutely Final Goodbye" * Christina Grimmie - "The One I Crave" 2014 *

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...

- " Chasing The Sun" *

- Broken Wings *

Sofia Reyes Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river and has many mineral springs, such as t ...

feat.

Wisin Juan Luis Alberto Morera Luna (; born December 19, 1978), known professionally as Wisin (), is a Puerto Rican reggaeton rapper, singer and record producer, best known as a member of the reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel. Wisin is noted for his uniq ...

- " Muevelo" * Kendall Schmidt - "Blame It On The Middletoe" *

- "Division of the Heart" * Heffron Drive - "Passing Time" * Heffron Drive - "Everything Has Changed" *

Alex & Sierra Alex & Sierra were an American duo consisting of Alex Kinsey (born September 8, 1991) and Sierra Deaton (born February 11, 1991), who won the third and final season of ''The X Factor (U.S. season 3), The X Factor US''. They were mentored by Simo ...

- " Little Do You Know" * Nick Howard - "Dancing As One" * Nick Howard - "Can't Break a Broken Heart" * Nick Howard - "Million Dollars" 2015 * Lena - "Lifeline" * Project 46 feat. Olivia - "Forgettable" *

- " No Filter" *

- "Will You Be There For Me" *

- "

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

" * Madonna - "Graffiti Heart" * Madonna feat.

Chance The Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' (2012) during one of his high school suspension ...

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

- "Iconic" *

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!; , ), known as Tohoshinki in Japan, is a South Korean pop duo formed by SM Entertainment, composed of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. Originally a five-member boy band which also consisted of members Kim Jae-joong, Hero ...

! - "Rise As One" * Sia - " Alive" (AFSHeeN Remix) * Fergie - " L.A.LOVE (la la)" (AFSHeeN Remix) *

feat. J.Cole - "No Sleep" (AFSHeeN Remix) * Natalia Jiménez - "Creo En Mí" * Natalia Jiménez - "Tú No Me Quieres Más" * Natalia Jiménez - "Algo Brilla En Mí" * Lazy Rich feat. Trinidad Jame - "Hit That" 2016 *

- "The Phoenix" * AFSHeeN - "Let Me Down Slow" * AFSHeeN - "Tunnel" * AFSHeeN - "Secrets" * Florian Picasso - "Final Call" * Florian Picasso feat. VASSY - "Cracked Wall" *

- " All We Have Is Love" *

Brooke Candy Brooke Dyan Candy (born July 20, 1989) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and tattoo artist. Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she rose to prominence after starring in Grimes' music video for " Genesis" (2012). Following its success ...

- " Paper Or Plastic" * Blasterjaxx & DBSTF feat. GO COMET! - "Hit Me" * Lazy Rich & Hot Mouth feat. GO COMET! - "Won't Stop" * Lazy Rich - "Give Me Crazy" * Lazy Rich - "Knock Me Out" 2017 * Florian Picasso - "This Is Our Time" * AFSHeeN - "Amélie" * AFSHeeN feat. NISHA - "Pull Me From The Waves" * Armin van Buuren feat. Josh Cumbee - " Sunny Days" * Florian Picasso - "Guns Down" *

- "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy" *

feat. ROZES - " Girls On Boys" *

Mat Kearney Mathew William Kearney (; born December 1, 1978) is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, and based in Nashville, Tennessee. So far, he has a total of five top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart. '' Just Kids'' was released on February 2 ...

& AFSHeeN - "Better Than I Used To Be" * AFSHeeN feat.

Rebecca Ferguson Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström (born 19 October 1983) is a Swedish actress. Ferguson began her television acting career in 1999 with the Swedish soap opera ''Nya tider'' and made her motion picture acting debut in 2004 with the Swedish slash ...

- "Uncrazy" * JP Cooper - "Masterpiece" *

NCT 127 NCT 127 () is the first fixed and second overall sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT (group), NCT, formed and managed by SM Entertainment. They originally debuted on July 7, 2016, with their debut extended play ''NCT 127 (EP), NCT#127'', ...

- " Sun & Moon" * Roy Wang - "Sleep" * Quinn XCII - "One Day At A Time" * Chris Lee (Yu Chun Li) - "Happy Ever After" * Armin van Buuren feat. Josh Cumbee - "Christmas Days" 2018 * AFSHeeN feat.

- "Creatures Of The Night" *

- "I Can't Wait for You to Get There" * Mat Kearney - "Keep On Loving You" * Joel Taylor - "Give Myself Away" * Ebi - "Nafas Nafas" * Benedict Cork - "Wildfire" * BoA - "Nega Dola" * NCT 2018 - "Black On Black" * YURI x Raiden - "Always Find You" * RYEOWOOK - "One and Only" * KUN - "Wait Wait Wait" 2019 * Armin van Buuren x Lucas & Steve feat. Josh Cumbee - "

Don't Give Up On Me Don't Give Up on Me may refer to: * ''Don't Give Up on Me'' (album), an album by Solomon Burke, or the title song * "Don't Give Up on Me" (Andy Grammer song), 2019 * "Don't Give Up on Me" (Kill the Noise and Illenium song), 2018 *"Don't Give Up on M ...

" * Florian Picasso feat. Echosmith - "But Us" *

- "Legends" * Flawes - "Don't Count Me Out" *

- " Feel Something" * KUN - "Bigger" * KUN - "没有意外" (No Exception) *

TAEYEON Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one ...

- " Four Seasons" *

Brennan Heart Fabian Bohn (born 2 March 1982), known professionally as Brennan Heart, is a Dutch DJ and hardstyle producer. Career Brennan & Heart In 2002, Fabian Bohn co-founded with Pieter Heijnen (known as DJ Thera) a duo named Brennan & Heart concentrati ...

- "Outcasts" *

and

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

- " Carry On" * Kinsey - "Hot Mess" * Kinsey - "Don't Be a Dick, Ted" * Merk & Kremont - "KIDS" * Zonderling feat. Josh Cumbee - "Lifetime" * Quintino x AFSHeeN feat.

Cher Lloyd Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer. She participated on the The X Factor (UK series 7), seventh series of the television talent show ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor'' in 2010, where she finished in fourth place. F ...

- "Don't Lose Love" * Marina Kaye - "Twisted" * Karry Wang - "Ain't Got No Love" *Audrey - "30 Years" *Audrey - "Crazy" *Klingande - "Only Breath" *

Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She began her career as a child, appearing in commercials and the direct-to-video film '' An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success'' (2015). She rose ...

& Julia Lester - "Wondering" - From '' High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'' *Olivia Rodrigo - "Out of the Old" - From ''High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'' 2020 *Josh Cumbee, Jordan Powers - "Wondering" - Instrumental *Josh Cumbee, Jordan Powers - "Out of the Old" - Instrumental *

& Josh Cumbee - "Dancing Shoes" *Flawes - "Take This Slow" * Milo Manheim &

Meg Donnelly Meg Elizabeth Donnelly (born July 25, 2000) is an American actress. She played Taylor Otto in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC sitcom ''American Housewife'' (2016–2021), Addison Wells in the Disney Channel film series Zombies (franchise), ...

- "Gotta Find Where I Belong" *Josh Cumbee - "Sound Of Your Name" * Ghali - "Good Times" *Josh Cumbee - "Brave Enough" *ENDURE & Souzda Ammo - "Esa Min" *Florian Picasso ft. Gashi & Ally Brooke - "Like You Do" *Florian Picasso & GRX - "Restart Your Heart" * DIAMANTE - "Serves You Right" *

NCT DREAM NCT Dream () is the third sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT (group), NCT, formed by SM Entertainment in 2016. They were initially intended to be the teenaged unit of NCT with an admission-and-graduation system, in which members would l ...

- "Puzzle Piece" *

NU'EST NU'EST (; short for New Establish Style Tempo) was a South Korean boy band formed and managed by Pledis Entertainment. The group consisted of five members: Kim Jong-hyeon, JR, Aron (singer), Aron, Baekho (singer), Baekho, Hwang Min-hyun, Minhyu ...

- "Moon Dance" * Timmy Trumpet & Florian Picasso - "Armageddon" * Caroline Kole - "Still Frames" *Josh Cumbee - "Worth Missing" * Roy Wang - "Stop the Clocks" 2022 *

Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piec ...

- "Villain" 2023 *

Monsta X Monsta X (; stylized as MONSTA X) is a South Korean boy group formed through the reality survival program ''No.Mercy'' under Starship Entertainment. The group is currently composed of six members: Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooho ...

- "

Beautiful Liar "Beautiful Liar" is a song by American singer Beyoncé and Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was written by Beyoncé, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Bey ...

" * Got the Beat - "Alter Ego"

Music for films

* Check Engine (2010) * Chance (2010) * Launch (2011) * Big Feet (2011) * Two Tickets to Paradise (2011) * Operation Terror (2012) * Spark (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumbee, Josh Living people Musicians from Anaheim, California Singers from California Songwriters from California Record producers from California Year of birth missing (living people)