Parson James (born June 7, 1994) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for his single "
Stole the Show", a collaboration with Norwegian producer
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 ...
. The song became a hit in a number of countries as well as receiving certifications in Italy, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. He has collaborated with various artists including on the song "Insomnia" by
Audien
Nathaniel "Nate" Rathbun (born January 11, 1992), better known under his stage name Audien, is an American Disc jockey, DJ and electronic music producer. Audien has released many singles and remixes for Electronic music, electronic record labels ...
. On February 5, 2016, he released his extended play release ''The Temple EP'' on
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
with a full studio album due later on
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 ...
.
Biography
James was born Ashton Parson in
Cheraw
The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura,Sebeok, Thomas Albert''Native Languages of the Americas, Volume 2.''Plenum Press, 1977: 251. were a Siouan-speaking tribe of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands,Swanton''The Indians ...
of an
interracial relationship, with his father being black and his mother white. His mother, just 16, was kicked out of her parents' house because of the relationship. He and his single mother faced hardship in
Cheraw, South Carolina
Cheraw ( , ) is a town on the Pee Dee River in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,040 at the 2020 census. The greater Cheraw area in the zip code 29520 has a populatio ...
, where he was born and raised and where he grew up singing hymns in church.
At 17, he decided to move to New York City, partly because he wanted wider possibilities than his conservative hometown would offer to a
bi-racial and
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
young man.
James signed with
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 ...
in early 2015 after the release of his first single, "
Stole the Show", a collaboration he co-wrote with
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 ...
.
The song became a hit in a number of countries
[ as well as receiving certifications in Italy, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The video to the song was released at the ]YouTube Music Awards
The YouTube Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as YTMA) was an awards show presented by the American video platform YouTube to honor the best in the music video medium.
History
For the 2013 edition, the YTMAs were held at Pier 36 in New York C ...
, with the duo also performing a cover of Tove Lo
Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take on pop music. Referring to her autobiographical lyrics, ''Out (magazine), O ...
's single "Habits
A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
A 1903 paper in the ''American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...
" on BBC One's Live Lounge">BBC One">...
" on BBC One's Live Lounge.
Parson followed-up with his solo debut, "Sinner Like You", a song produced by Elof Loelv. In addition to releasing his own music under RCA, he has collaborated with additional artists including on the song "Insomnia" by
.
On February 5, 2016, he released his extended play release ''The Temple EP'' on Sony Music with a full studio album due later in the year on RCA Records. The EP included the title track "Temple", plus "Slow Dance with the Devil", "Sinner Like You", his great hit "Stole the Show" and finally "Waiting Game". James also appeared on ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' performing "Temple" from the EP after having been featured with Kygo in February 2016, performing "Stole the Show" live on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' alongside Kygo. The track "Waiting Game" from ''The Temple EP'' got huge exposure when
. In April 2016, James was featured on the cover and in the pages of ''