30-year-old Robert Grace from Graiguenamanagh (Kilkenny County) in Ireland is not just a celebrated singer and songwriter, he is a true innovator. He’s developed a potent formula for compelling tracks that see people all across the globe feeling both understood and entertained. “Happy sad songs”, as he loves to call them, have become his ultimate trademark. Having kicked off his career at the height of the pandemic, he can already look back on an impressive track record that includes 2.4 million followers on TikTok (where he was the most followed Irish Artist in 2022, ahead of artists like Niall Horan & Dermot Kennedy), and numerous tracks and videos boasting streams and views in the double-digit millions. Latest since his viral hit single "Fake Fine", most people will already know him. For the oblivious rest, now is definitely the time to check him out properly, because things are only just getting started for Robert Grace.
His success story begins in early 2020 when Robert Grace decides he wants to try getting signed to a label as a songwriter. Stemming from a musical family - his brother played in a punk rock band, and his father has been performing with his Irish band for as long as anyone can remember - it had always been evident to Robert that he’d be making music for a living one day, but it wasn’t until he wrote and released his track “Fake Fine” one fateful day, that the when and how of it all would transpire so clearly: “In January 2020, right before everything went to shit, I was having a hard time mentally. I wrote the verse of a song, and I really really liked it. It was completely different than anything I’d done before. It was very personal and based on my own experience, and I finished it just before the pandemic. The chorus was what everyone was feeling at that time, and then luckily the song took off.”
In a huge effort to build momentum for the upcoming release, Robert creates videos daily and manages to organically grow a huge fanbase on TikTok, before the track is even out. By the time “Fake Fine” is finally released, evidently, the world is ready for it. Born right into the heart of the covid & lockdown era, the track becomes an instant hit and practically turns Robert Grace’s life upside down overnight. All of a sudden, Rob sees himself meeting with renowned songwriters from all over the world via Zoom, creating tracks over time that are now accumulating into the promising collection that will become his debut album.
Today, “Fake Fine” boasts nearly 18 million plays on Spotify alone, but aside from its impact in terms of sales, streams, and views, „Fake Fine” also marks the very moment in which Robert Grace knew he had found his very own niche: tackling mental health-related topics in a refreshingly open and surprisingly humorous way. The track offered something for everyone. Those who could relate emotionally were grateful to have an artist let them know they were not alone with what they were going through, and those who were simply looking for a fun tune could easily dance to the catchy ear-worm. His own unique style was born!
Following that same fashion and to the delight of his fans, Robert Grace has continuously been releasing further highly celebrated tracks since. Among them is “Not OK” from last November, which, with 1 million streams in the first week after release alone, has celebrated the fastest rise of all his singles so far. At over 14 million streams to date, “Not OK” features a nostalgic 2000’s sound with catchy guitars and ultra-melodic, impressively soulful vocals. According to Robert himself, “It’s basically emo pop, in a nutshell!” “Hate Me” is another one of Robert Grace’s top 3 successful singles, and also set to be included on his upcoming debut album, the title of which is yet to be announced. Despite already being released in 2021, “Hate Me” has garnered over 15 million plays in the last year alone, and is his second most streamed single release thus far.
While for many, summers coming to an end is generally a reason to feel sad, for fans of Robert Grace, this year’s fall season can’t come soon enough. With live shows across Germany, Canada, and the US, and an album featuring his greatest songs to date, autumn will certainly mark a new high point in Robert Grace’s career. As an appetizer, to tide us over until said album release, Robert Grace is now ready to introduce his newest track, “Casper”, a track about chronically committing to plans days or weeks in advance, but then realizing the day of that you’d much rather stay at home, watch tv, and be alone. “I feel like I’m just that friend who constantly says they’re gonna do stuff and then just ghosts everyone. Sometimes I don’t even mean to do it, it’s just I’m so bad at texting people back ... I’m literally the worst person for communicating with (through text).”
There is without a doubt a certain kind of magic surrounding Robert Grace, and even just going by his sound, anyone would agree that his success is most deserved. But perhaps what’s most magic about his music is that creating it, to him, is like a cathartic outlet and a form of therapy, and at the same time, listening to his music has become therapeutic for so many other people - and that’s exactly his objective. Robert Grace has made it his mission to make people who are struggling feel less alone and to let them know there’s hope and to keep pushing through: “Music is my outlet for everything. I’m not great at talking about how I’m feeling, but I find it very easy to put it into songs, and then I feel better. I sometimes feel very alone, even when I’m surrounded, and I know there are a lot of people out there that feel the same. I want people to know that it’s ok to feel the way you’re feeling. You’re not going to feel that way forever. You’re loved and there are people who care about you. Essentially, I want to let people know there’s a group of us out here that feel the same.”
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