Cobi (musician)

Early life and career

Cobi's interest in music began around age eight when a family friend visited with an electric guitar and taught him and his brother a few chords. After mastering those chords, his interest grew, and that summer he bought his first guitar, a Squier Stratocaster, with money saved from mowing lawns at $3 an hour. He taught himself to play by ear, repeatedly listening to songs until he could play them. He later formed a blues band with a longtime friend, performing cover songs at bars in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Cobi is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2008, he and five others formed Gentlemen Hall. The band was signed to Island Def Jam Records and won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Breakout Boston Artist in 2009. Gentlemen Hall performed at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, and in 2012 Cobi sang The Star-Spangled Banner at a New England Patriots game.

2015–present

He signed with 300 Entertainment on December 18, 2015. In April 2016, he joined the English progressive trance group Above & Beyond on their international tour, providing vocals at venues including Royal Albert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Sydney Opera House. His single "Don't You Cry For Me" premiered through Interview Magazine on May 3, 2016, and was released digitally on May 6, 2016. By July 2016, the track appeared on Billboard's and Spotify's Viral 50 list.

A music video for the song premiered through the Huffington Post in September 2016, and by October 2016 the song had over 12 million streams on Spotify. His second single "Prophet Story" premiered through Billboard on September 29, 2016, with its music video premiering through Billboard on January 17, 2017. On January 23, 2017, Cobi performed "Don't You Cry For Me" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with members of The Roots and Morris Hayes on keyboards.

He released the EP Songs From the Ashes, Pt. 1 on September 15, 2017. In November 2019 he released the single "Island In My Mind", in January 2020 "No Way Out", in March 2020 "Keep Climbing", and in May 2020 "Don't Stop".