A Great Big World
A Great Big World is an American musical duo from New York[1] made up of singer/songwriters Ian Axel and Chad King and signed to Epic Records. The group is best known for their single "This Is the New Year", which was performed by the cast in an episode of Glee and reached the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart in May 2013,[2] and their worldwide hit "Say Something", particularly after recording it as a duet collaboration with Christina Aguilera. The duet peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
A Great Big World
Career[edit]
Early beginnings[edit]
Ian Axel and Chad King met at New York University, where they were attending the Steinhardt Music Program.[3] Both were music business students and Axel is said to have convinced King to write a song together. King agreed to work with Axel after hearing him sing. They both wrote and performed songs together prior to Axel embarking on a solo career in which he released an independent album featuring songs that were all co-written by King.[3]
2011–2013: Breakthrough and Glee[edit]
In 2011, their song "This Is the New Year" was licensed to various television networks and was used as the theme song for MTV's I Used to Be Fat as well as being featured on The Amazing Race, ESPN, One Tree Hill, and Good Morning America.[4] Ian Axel and Chad King went on national tour and performed as the openers for Ingrid Michaelson, Matthew Morrison (Glee), and Five for Fighting.[3]
The duo re-branded itself in 2012, when they took the official name A Great Big World. They released a six-song EP after obtaining funding from the crowdsource funding website Kickstarter.[4]
In 2013, "This Is the New Year" was performed by the cast in an episode of Glee.[3]