Ravinia 2023 Issue 1

OMAR CRUZ (JESSE & JOY) CHARLIE PUTH Over the last decade, Charlie Puth has be- come one of music’s most consistent hitmak- ers and sought-after collaborators. While in high school, he attended the Manhattan School of Music’s Pre-College program with a focus on jazz piano, which led to him enroll- ing at the Berklee College of Music to study music production and engineering. Puth started his YouTube channel during a Berklee summer program and soon began posting a series of acoustic covers. He gained wide at- tention from a cover of Adele’s “Some- one Like You,” and before graduating from Berklee in he had independently cre- ated two EPs of original songs. Puth scored his rst major hit in early with “Marvin Gaye,” his o cial debut single, which featured guest vocals from Meghan Trainor. Within a month, he was heard even wider as a guest on Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” which they co- wrote for the movie Furious . Puth released his rst o cial EP, Some Type of Love , shortly therea er; his next single, “One Call Away,” had cracked Billboard ’s top by summer , and “Marvin Gaye” earned platinum sales by December. Nine Track Mine , Puth’s rst full album, was released at the start of and quickly tapped into Billboard ’s top alongside the single “We Don’t Talk Any- more” featuring Selena Gomez, continuing his streak of songs that would go multi-plat- inum. In anticipation of his next album, “At- tention” hit earbuds in early and became his highest-charting song at number ve. Be- fore Voicenotes was released in , its sec- ond single, “How Long,” gave Puth his h multi-platinum certi cation. Across and early he released a series of singles that ultimately weren’t attached to an album, but became a banner year for Puth, starting with winning a Billboard Music Award for “I Hope” with Gabby Barrett. e Kid Laroi/ Justin Bieber single “Stay,” which he co-wrote, broke records as the longest-reigning Bill- board number-one, and he also contributed “A er All” to Elton John’s Lockdown Sessions record. Puth’s newest album, Charlie , ap- peared in October a er its hit singles “Light Switch,” “Left and Right” featuring Jung Kook of BTS, and “That’s Hilarious.” Charlie Puth is making his Ravinia debut. ALEXANDER STEWART Growing up in Toronto, Alexander Stewart began his music career on YouTube, singing covers of pop anthems by artists such as Char- lie Puth, Camilla Cabello, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna, among many others. Af- ter school, he packed up his bags and moved to Los Angeles, where he is currently based, to develop his songwriting skills and sound. Stewart released his rst original track, “En- amorado,” in , and the following year he guested on the song “You” for Shaggy’s album Wah Gwaan?! , also appearing in the music video. In he assembled his rst album, the seven-track EP Backwards , which featured six originals and a remix of the title track by Dave Audé. A er a half-dozen more singles, including collaborations with dance- pop artist Mime and singer-songwriter Ha- ven on “Stop & Go” and “Di erent People,” Stewart followed up with the A ermath EP, another six-song collection. As his fanbase has grown, so has his catalogue: across , he released several renditions of “echo” as well as the singles “when you love someone” and “back to you,” plus another collaborative song, “Would You Lie,” featuring EDM duo Seeb. At the tail end of the year, he gained a massive following with the single “blame’s on me” and its unconventional but resonant theme of owning responsibility for a rela- tionship’s conclusion. In the last few months, Stewart released the tracks “leave me in the dark” and, while on a transatlantic tour in May, “i’m trying.” Alexander Stewart is mak- ing his Ravinia debut. PAVILION 7:30 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 2023 JESSE & JOY † † Ravinia debut JESSE & JOY Growing up in Mexico City, siblings Jesse & Joy began making music together in their teens—Jesse often on piano or lead guitar while Joy carries the lead vocals and rhythm guitar. By , just a couple years into their career, the duo signed with Warner Music and were introduced to a massive audience by Sin Bandera. e following year they released their debut album, Esta Es Mi Vida , and the popular single “Espacio Sideral,” leading them to win the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in . eir next full-length album, Electricidad , appeared in , but it was their follow-up ¿Con Quién Se Queda el Perro? that captured major attention. e album cracked the top on multiple charts and included Jesse & Joy’s rst four number-one singles: “ ¡ Corre!,” “Llorar,” “La de la Mala Suerte,” and the title track. At the Latin Grammys, the collection was nominated for Album of the Year and won for Best Contemporary Pop Album— later nominated for Best Latin Pop Album at the Grammys—while “ ¡ Corre!” won both Record and Song of the Year honors. e popular single “Me Voy” also won for Best Short Form Music Video. Extensive tours led to the release of the concert album Soltando al Perro in while Jesse & Joy were in the studio recording their next big album, ’s Un Besito Más , which topped the Latin charts in the US and won pop album honors at both the Grammys and the Latin Grammys. A translation of the hit single “Ecos de Amor” from Besito kicked o a series of English-language songs that were released on the bilingual album Jesse & Joy . e duo collaborated on the hit “Mañana es Too Late” with J Balvin in and featured the track on ’s Aire , which also pro- duced the major single “Tanto” with Luis Fonsi. In , Jesse & Joy received special recognition at the GLAAD Awards for their contributions to championing LGBT+ rights. eir latest album, Cliches , was released mid last year. Jesse & Joy are making their Ravinia debut. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 6 – JULY 2, 2023