Cody Simpson

Simpson performing at the Nevada Wild Fest outside the Rio in Las Vegas, Nevada 25 October 2012.

Simpson's rise to recognition was featured on The 7.30 Report in December 2009.[19] He released his debut single, "iYiYi" (which features American rapper Flo Rida), on 15 May 2010. The music video for Simpson's second single, "Summertime", was released on 20 September 2010.[20] Simpson relocated to Los Angeles in June 2010 with his family to record his songs with Atlantic Records' Shawn Campbell.[21] That same month, Simpson appeared on Sunrise.[22] On 22 June 2010, it was announced that Simpson would participate in the Camplified 2010 Tour, along with other artists, touring across the United States. The tour began on 5 July 2010 and ended on 14 August 2010.[23] Other tours that year included a middle school tour that took place from October–November 2010 and covered 9 U.S states.[24] An EP, 4 U was released on 21 December 2010. The EP included five tracks in total, four of them being previously unreleased.[25] Simpson recorded a remake of the song "I Want Candy" by The Strangeloves as the main theme song for the Easter-themed live-action/CGI-animated film Hop. In May 2011, Simpson was "egged" during a live performance at Westfield Miranda in Sydney. Simpson told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that he was not in fact hit by the eggs, and that he was upset on behalf of his fans because the remainder of his show was cancelled because of security concerns.[26] He then started the Waiting 4U tour with American singer Greyson Chance on 9 April in Ivins, Utah. The tour ended on 18 May 2011, in Portland, Oregon.

Coast to Coast was released on 20 September 2011 by Atlantic Records. It reached number 12 on the Billboard 200 and sold 24,000 copies.[27] On 23 April 2011, Simpson released the single "On My Mind". On 5 August 2011, he performed on The Today Show.[28] The following day, Simpson started his Coast to Coast Mall Tour in Lake Grove, New York to promote his second EP. He played nine dates around the United States and finished it in Orange, California on 18 September 2011.[29] On 22 September, it was announced that Cody Simpson hired Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, as his own.[30][31] In December 2011, The Wish Factory released a Cody Simpson doll in two formats.[32]

Simpson performing in Montreal in 2013

On 12 June 2012, Simpson released an EP titled Preview to Paradise containing four songs from his upcoming debut studio album, Paradise,[33] which was released on 2 October 2012.[34] In February 2013, Simpson toured Europe, doing his own tour dates as well as supporting Justin Bieber on many of the European Believe tour dates. Surfers Paradise, which was released on 16 July 2013, is Simpson's first album to debut in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. During summer of 2013, Simpson headlined the Paradise Tour, featuring opening acts Ryan Beatty and Before You Exit. On 19 November 2013, Simpson released an acoustic album called The Acoustic Sessions, featuring the songs "Pretty Brown Eyes", "All Day", "La Da Dee", "Wish U Were Here", and a cover of "Please Come Home for Christmas" recorded acoustically.

On 4 March 2014, Simpson was announced as one of the celebrities to participate on the 18th season of Dancing with the Stars during ABC's Good Morning America. He was partnered with professional dancer Witney Carson.[35] He was eliminated on Week 5 of the competition and finished in 9th place.[36]

From 30 June 2014 to 14 July 2014 Simpson did an acoustic tour through Europe with singer Jackson Harris.[37]

In August 2014 Simpson announced he had departed Warner/Atlantic. He cited creative differences as the reason for his departure and as a result is currently unsigned.[38]

Simpson's album Free was scheduled to be released on 23 June 2015[39] then was pushed back to 10 July.[40] Simpson performed the first single, "Flower" on Good Morning America on 6 February 2015.[41] It is his first album as an independent artist since leaving Atlantic Records to create his own label, Coast House.[42] The album was produced by Cisco Adler and includes songwriting collaborations with G. Love and Donavon Frankenreiter. John Mayer served as a sounding board.[43] Cody performed his single "New Problems" on NBC's Today show on 13 July 2015.[44] On 1 November 2015 it has been reported that Cody took a break from his long term solo career to start up a new band with his close mates Adrian Cota and Khari Mateen.[45]

In 2017, Simpson formed a new band billed as Cody Simpson and the Tide, making their debut with the single "Waiting for the Tide."[46] Cody and the Tide is composed of Cody Simpson on vocals and guitar, Adrian Cota on drums and Shareef "Reef" Addo on bass.[47] Cody and the Tide released their debut EP, entitled Wave One, in the fall of 2017. The music is a blend of pop, rock, blues, and surf-rock genres. The band used their varying influences and music tastes to create Wave One. In their four-track EP, Simpson sings of love, unity, environmentalism and ocean conservation. The EP's debut single, "Waiting for the Tide," was inspired by a poem Simpson wrote that tackled topics such as rising water levels and ocean conservation.[47] In August 2018, the band released "Underwater" music video song.[48] In October, Cody and the Tide went on a short tour of southern California to perform their EP.[49] In early 2019, after almost three years together, the band split up.

After parting ways with his band and focusing on his solo career again, Simpson released the song Golden Thing he wrote for Miley Cyrus on 18 October 2019 which crossed over 1 million views on Spotify.[50] In the same year, he participated on The Masked Singer Australia, as the "Robot" and went on to win the show.[51] He's set to release his upcoming full-length solo album which will cover pop, rock, and urban songs in 2020.[52]

In 2014, he made his television debut by making a cameo in a sitcom Instant Mom.[53] In 2015, Simpson guest starred on the American television sitcom Cougar Town, portraying Pete, a high school student.[54] In the same year he booked a role in Nickelodeon's film One Crazy Cruise where he played the love interest of Kira Kosarin's character Ellie Jensen-Bauer and starred as himself.[55] In late 2017, Simpson was cast in the supporting role in Bret Easton Ellis' thriller film, The Smiley Face Killers opposite actor Crispin Glover.[56][57] In October 2018, he debuted on Theatre when he was cast in the Broadway musical Anastasia as the leading male character Dmitry, alongside John Bolton and Christy Altomare.[58]

In 2019, he revealed that he is a member of the University of Southern California (USC)'s Trojan Swim Elite team.[59] As of early 2020, he has been training under the two-time Olympian Brett Hawke.[60] He competed in the 100 yard butterfly competition and finished in the 24th position out of 29 entrants. In December 2020, he shared on social media that he has qualified for the Australian Olympic trials in the 100m butterfly, which is set to take place in Tokyo in 2021.[61][62]

In 2012, he was a brand ambassador of Build-A-Bear Workshop.[63] A year later, he became a brand ambassador for Teen Cancer America.[64] In June 2017, he was named the first United Nations Development Programme advocate for oceans.[65] In the month of August, he was named one of Bonds brand ambassador for Home Grown campaign.[66] He also featured in Stellar.[66] He is signed with IMG Models.[67][68] His book "Prince Neptune" is set to release in April 2020.[69] In February 2020, he had appeared in Australia's new Bonds "WeGotsYou" campaign.[70] He is signed with the talent agency ICM Partners.[71]