The Grammy-nominated Justin Jesso has made a significant mark in the music scene. As featured artist and co-writer on Kygo’s global smash ‘Stargazing’, Justin shot to prominence with over 500 million streams in less than a year. He then joined Kygo on his sold-out world arena tour before focusing upon his blossoming solo career with this year’s debut EP. As he toured Europe with Tears For Fears, the single ‘Getting Closer’ became a Top 10 airplay hit across GSA.
Now Justin Jesso adds a new layer to his growing profile by sharing his new single ‘Let It Be Me’ with Nina Nesbitt. It’s dramatic widescreen electro-pop anthem in which Justin Jesso’s soaring vocals exude emotion and vulnerability. And in Nina Nesbitt, he’s found the perfect voice to amplify the song’s magnetic power.
“‘Let It Be Me’ is what I would say to the person I want to spend the rest of my life with,” says Justin. “I would want them to know that no matter what hardships we would face, I would be there. I knew the song needed something special to finish it off, and when I heard Nina for the first time, I knew she was the missing piece. Vocally, she is a gentle powerhouse and her voice has this emotional honesty that just jumps off records while also drawing you in.”
Nina adds, “I came across Justin on the Kygo track, ‘Stargazing’. I instantly fell in love with his voice and when he reached out to collab I was really excited about it. ‘Let It Be Me’ is such a beautiful song and feels like the perfect track to collab on.”
The original version of ‘Let It Be Me’ is the opening song of Justin Jesso’s debut EP which shares the same title. Released in March, the EP’s five tracks have already amassed over 10 million streams.
Growing up in Chicago, Justin was instinctively drawn to music, with early influences including Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder and James Brown. He learned piano and then started writing his own songs at the age of 16. Just two years later, he was touring North America.
He later moved to New York and then Los Angeles but spent most of his time at various writing camps in Europe. He was inspired by how Bruno Mars and Julia Michaels established themselves as in-demand songwriters before launching their own artist careers. Justin Jesso has written for HRVY, AJ Mitchell, The Backstreet Boys and Armin Van Buuren, and was even nominated for a Latin Grammy as a co-writer for Ricky Martin. That dedication to songwriting resulted in him working with Jamie Hartman and Stuart Crichton on ‘Stargazing’— the song that would change his life.
A regular fixture in the UK charts, the Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nina Nesbitt recently dropped her critically acclaimed second album ‘The Sun Will Come Up, the Seasons Will Change’. Featuring the singles ‘The Best You Had’ and ‘Somebody Special’, the album has achieved a huge milestone by exceeding a quarter-of-a-billion streams. Backed by playlists at both Radio 1 and Radio 2, Nina has exceeded 10 million monthly listeners and she’s set to tour as guest to Jess Glynne this summer.