Rachel Platten

Growing up in Boston, Rachel Platten recalls harmonizing with her family to finely crafted pop songs - from Sam Cooke to The Beatles - that dominated her parents’ vinyl collection. As a teenager, Rachel gravitated towards, and began to become affected by, hip-hop and female singer-songwriters. “My CD collection was Tori Amos and Patti Griffin but then A Tribe Called Quest and Nas.” The commonality between the two seemingly different genres: confessional and vulnerable songwriting.

Rachel would find her first big spark with “Fight Song,” which took two years for the singer/songwriter to complete. She turned inward by telling her own story through the song. Turns out it was just the message people needed. “The reactions were honest, and intense. People have been sending me the most beautiful stories of how they refuse to give up,” she recalls. “Fight Song” is without a doubt the life-changing inspirational song of 2015, topping iTunes and radio charts, and selling more than 2 million downloads in the U.S. alone.

The fire that “Fight Song” ignited has connected not only with music fans but also Columbia Records. Now planning her major label debut in early 2016, Rachel is touring the world, performing on countless television shows and being played on radio stations coast to coast. Rachel just recently premiered the beautifully uplifting music video for her newest single “Stand By You,” another emotionally empowering anthem from the songstress. But ask Rachel what she wants people to take away from her music and she says, “I’m in love with the idea of connecting people. Bringing people together is to me, the most important thing we can do in this life. I feel like that’s my mission with my music. I think that’s why I’m getting this chance right now.”