Magic! (stylized in all uppercase) is a Canadian
reggae fusion
Reggae fusion is a Music_genre#Subtypes, fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop music, pop, rock music, rock, hip hop music, hip-hop/rap, Contemporary R&B, R&B, jazz, funk, soul music, soul, disco ...
band from
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. Based 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, ...
, the band comprises lead vocalist, guitarist/producer
Nasri Atweh, guitarist/keyboardist
Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer, and bassist
Ben Spivak. Active since 2012, the band is signed with Latium,
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
, and
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 ...
, releasing their debut studio album ''
Don't Kill the Magic'' in 2014, their second studio album ''
Primary Colours
Primary colors are colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a broad range of colors in, e.g., electronic displays, color printin ...
'' in 2016, and their third studio album ''Expectations'' in 2018. They are best known for their hit single "
Rude", which charted at No. 1 in several countries worldwide, including the US and UK.
The band is heavily inspired by
the Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...
and
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...
. They are known for having a signature
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
-influenced
pop sound.
History
Early years
All members of the band are from the
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
area of Canada. The lead singer of Magic!, Nasri, had worked with and written songs for different
pop acts prior to the start of the band, mainly alongside
Adam Messinger, together known as
the Messengers. He met Mark Pellizzer in the studio and within a week they wrote the song "
Don't Judge Me" for
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 ...
. Nasri described the chemistry between himself and Pellizzer as "different than writing chemistry, it was more artistic." A few weeks later, while Mark was playing a reggae tune on the guitar, Nasri suggested starting a band like "modern-day
Police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
."
Next to join the band was
Alex Tanas. He and Mark Pellizzer knew each other since they both had been members of the Justin Nozuka band for several years.
Finally,
Ben Spivak joined the band in May 2013. Prior to joining Magic!, Spivak had been playing with the Toronto-based Julian Taylor Band, releasing "Never Gonna Give You Up" in 2012. Julian Taylor and Jeremy Elliot had enjoyed success playing in
Staggered Crossing with "Further Again" hitting #6 in 2001 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart.
2013–15: ''Don't Kill the Magic''
Magic!'s debut single "
Rude" was released on October 12, 2013. The song peaked at number six on the
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...
and also proved a great international success, topping the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom and peaking within the top ten of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.
"Don't Kill the Magic" was released as the second single from the album on April 4, 2014, peaking at number twenty-two on the
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...
and fifty-three in Australia.
The band released their debut album ''
Don't Kill the Magic'' on June 30, 2014. The album peaked to number 5 on the
Canadian Albums Chart
The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...
and number 6 on the
''Billboard'' 200.
On October 7, 2014, "Let Your Hair Down" was issued to contemporary hit radio by
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 ...
as the third single from the album (the second to be released in the US). It peaked at number 20 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. The official music video, directed by David Rousseau, was published online on October 31, 2014.
Magic! was among the performers at the 15th Annual
Latin Grammy Awards
The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...
held on November 20, 2014.
Marc Anthony
Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer and actor. He is the top selling salsa artist of all time. A four-time Grammy Award, eight-time Latin Grammy Award and twenty-nine-tim ...
joined the band on stage for a special performance of "Rude".
On November 23, 2014,
Wyclef Jean
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...
and Magic! performed together at the 42nd
American Music Awards
The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
.
From February until June 2015, Magic! opened for
Maroon 5
Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...
in North America and Europe on their
Maroon V Tour. The band also had additional solo gigs.
In March 2015, Magic! won two
Juno Awards
The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...
- for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Single of the Year, out of five nominations.
Adam Messinger won the Juno Award for Producer of the Year.
In April 2015, "No Way No" was released as a single. It peaked at number 23 in Canada. The official video had been uploaded on YouTube since March 2, 2015.
On June 13, 2015, the band was part of the line-up at the
Pinkpop Festival.
On June 22, 2015, Magic! was awarded the International Achievement Award by
SOCAN at the 2015 SOCAN Awards in Toronto.
On July 1, 2015, Magic! performed at
Canada Day
Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...
in
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, and later performed at the Coca-Cola Stage at the
Calgary Stampede
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, fair, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year a ...
on July 12, 2015.
On July 17, 2015, Magic! released a new single, "#SundayFunday"; this ended up being a non-album single.
2016–17: ''Primary Colours''
On March 25, 2016, Magic! released their first single from their second album ''
Primary Colours
Primary colors are colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a broad range of colors in, e.g., electronic displays, color printin ...
'', called "Lay You Down Easy", this was a collaboration with Sean Paul.
On the evening of June 18, 2016, Magic! released their second single from "Primary Colours" called "Red Dress". The song was premiered on Apple's radio station Beats1. The band first heard the song premiered as they were broadcasting a Facebook live video to their fans.
On the morning of June 20, 2016, Magic! was part of the Muscular Dystrophy Association's #LiveUnlimited, they broadcast a live rehearsal video to Facebook to raise money for MDA.
The album ''Primary Colours'' was released on July 1, 2016.
On July 2, Magic! released a special version of their song "No Regrets" in memory of the victims of the shooting on June 12, 2016, at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
On March 10, 2017, they released a new collaboration with
Matoma and
D.R.A.M. called "Girl at Coachella" on digital and streaming services.
In October, they premiered their new single "Darts in the Dark."
2018–21: ''Expectations''
After some touring, they released a new single called "Kiss Me" on June 8, 2018.
Their third studio album ''Expectations'' was released in September 2018.
2022–present: ''Inner Love Energy''
In February 2022, the band announced the departure of drummer Alex Tanas.
A month later, the band announced the release of their future projects.
In September 2022, they released their first single since 2018 called "Aint Got Nothin' Figured Out" followed by "Inner Love Energy" two months later.
Their fourth studio album ''Inner Love Energy'' was released in April 2024.
Collaborations
Magic! is featured on
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...
's "Cut Me Deep", a track from her
self-titled album, released in March 2014 and on a track on ''
One Love, One Rhythm'', the official
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...
album titled "This Is Our Time (Agora é a Nossa Hora)" released in April. They are also featured on
Sun Goes Down, a track on
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...
's album ''
Listen'', which also features Sonny Wilson on the hook, as well as production from ''
Showtek
Showtek is a Dutch electronic dance music duo consisting of two brothers from Eindhoven, Wouter Janssen (; born 20 August 1982). and Sjoerd Janssen (; born 6 April 1984). The duo regularly manages to reach the top of multiple music charts and wor ...
''.
Band members
*
Nasri – lead vocals, guitars, piano (2012–present)
*
Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals (2012–present)
*
Ben Spivak – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2013-present)
Former
*
Alex Tanas – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2012–2022)
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
As a featured artist
Other appearances
Notes
Awards and nominations
Notes
There has been at least one significant
remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
of "Rude". A remix by Russian-born German producer/DJ
Zedd
Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...
was premiered in his set at
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...
2014. It was released on 2 September 2014, Zedd's 25th birthday. Zedd had said, "I'm gonna give myself a birthday present and release my remix of 'Rude' on my bday, sept 2nd!" He also released official, completed full-length audio on his Soundcloud on 28 August 2014, which garnered nearly 400,000 plays within 24 hours. While the original was still in number-one position on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, there was speculation that release of the remix on mainstream music outlets online would assist the original song in maintaining its position on the chart.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic!
Canadian pop music groups
Canadian contemporary R&B musical groups
Musical groups from Toronto
Canadian reggae musical groups
2012 establishments in Ontario
Canadian musical quartets
Musical groups established in 2012
RCA Records artists
Juno Award for Single of the Year winners
Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year winners