The character arc of Jacob Collier
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 2 August 1994 in London, into a family of violinists. Between then and now sit a childhood of family harmony singing, an acting role at ten in 2004, classical treble parts that taught him harmony, a brief spell studying jazz piano at the Royal Academy, split screen videos that went viral from 2013, the attention of Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones in 2014, a debut album made alone in a back room in 2016, the four volume Djesse project from December 2018 to March 2024, and a seventh Grammy in 2025. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Jacob Collier?
One boy, one back room, and seven Grammys.
He grew up in North London with two younger sisters, in a house where the family sang Bach chorales together. His mother is a violinist, conductor and professor at the Royal Academy of Music's Junior Academy, and his grandfather was a violinist who taught there too. At ten he acted in a film, and at the same time sang treble roles in Mozart and in Britten, which is where he learned what harmony could do. He has said of Britten's harmonic language that his mind was shattered outwards.
In 2013 he began posting split screen videos in which he sang and played every part himself, and covers such as a version of a Stevie Wonder song went round the world. In 2014 Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones heard them and got in touch. That is the point at which most young musicians sign something. He did not. He stayed independent and made his first album himself, recording, arranging, performing and producing In My Room in the back room of his family home in Finchley. It came out in 2016 and won him two Grammy Awards for arranging the following year.
Then he did the opposite of a bedroom record. Djesse is a four volume, fifty song project begun in 2018 with more than two dozen artists and ensembles: the first volume with a full orchestra in December 2018, the second more acoustic in July 2019, the third in 2020 and the fourth in March 2024. He won Grammys for arrangements on each of them, becoming the first British artist to win one for each of his first four albums, and took a seventh in 2025, extending the run to five albums in a row. In concert he conducts the audience into three part harmony, which is a way of saying that the thing he learned singing chorales at home is now done with twenty thousand people at once.
The moments
Jacob Collier's timeline.
The 1990s
Born in North London
Everyday. A house where the family sang Bach chorales together for fun.
The 2000s
Tiny Tim, and Britten
Milestone, and it changed his direction. He learned harmony by standing inside it, on a stage, at ten.
The 2010s
Briefly at the Academy
Milestone. Briefly. The word is in the record, and it matters.
The split screen videos
Milestone, and it changed everything. Every part sung by the same face, in a grid, on a laptop.
Hancock, and Quincy Jones
Milestone, and it changed everything. Nineteen, and two of the biggest names in the music got in touch.
Sign, or stay independent
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: make it himself, taken, or take the offer. In My Room came out in 2016 and won two Grammy Awards for arranging the following year.
He stays independent
Milestone, and it changed everything. The moment most people sign something, he did not.
In My Room
Milestone, and it changed everything. A whole album, one person, one room at the back of a house.
Two Grammys for arranging
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two of them, for the arrangements, which is the part he cares most about.
Djesse begins
Milestone, and it changed everything. From one man in a back room to a full orchestra, on purpose.
The 2020s
Four albums, four Grammys
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Four albums, four wins, and nobody British had done that.
Djesse finished
Milestone, and it changed everything. Six years, fifty songs, two dozen collaborators, finished.
A seventh Grammy
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Five albums in a row, each one with a Grammy on it.
A back room in Finchley is still where a lot of it is made. What it has set moving is audible in any hall he plays: rooms of thousands of ordinary people, most of whom cannot read music, singing in three parts because somebody stood in front of them and assumed they could.
Your turn
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His began with a boy singing every part himself in a back room in Finchley. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Jacob Collier: frequently asked questions
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Sources
- Jacob Collier, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Recording Academy records for his Grammy Awards, 2017 to 2025.
- Release records for In My Room and the four volumes of Djesse.