Julian Perretta

Perretta was born in London to an Italian father and an Irish mother, having one sister.[3] Perretta left school at 15 to pursue a career in music. He developed a fan base while playing regular live sets at The Water Rats in Kings Cross and other pubs and bars around central London.

In 2006, Perretta met Ed Sheeran; the two subsequently became close friends and performed regularly together at various open mic nights around the UK. Perretta regularly guests on Sheeran’s live shows to date, and has recorded and written numerous songs together.

In May 2008, he joined Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse on a European tour, and sung the Smiths' song, "Stop Me". In November 2009, Beyoncé invited Perretta to be special guest on her "I Am" Arena Tour. In July 2017 Beyoncé invited Perretta on the Formation Tour as her special guest.

Shortly after leaving school, he met the members of the band Jamiroquai and began working on demos. Jamiroquai went on to produce Perretta's debut LP and Universal Music Group signed him in 2010. Although a British artist, Perretta found greater success in continental Europe, notably France, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Germany. In January 2010, the debut single "Wonder Why" received its first play on national radio. BBC Radio 1 presented the single by host Annie Mac to a positive response by the public. In October 2010 the singer performed on French television shows Le Grand Journal and Taratata.

"Wonder Why" received large radio airplay and charted within the top 5 on multiple iTunes charts around Europe, reaching platinum status. The album, Stitch Me Up was released on 27 March 2011 and received positive reviews from critics. The album was certified platinum a year later, charting at number 1 in France and performing reasonably well in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Holland.

In March 2011, Perretta toured Europe, playing a total of 104 shows.

In October 2011 Universal released a deluxe edition of the album Stitch Me Up as a Christmas re-edition. It contained 7 new tracks including acoustic versions and behind the scenes videos of the singer on tour. A promotional video for Perretta's single "Ride My Star" was released online on 19 October 2011. Perretta has also appeared on Ed Sheeran tours on various occasions throughout Europe in late 2012, playing some original material and covers.

In July 2014, electronic DJ's Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike announced the release of "Body Talk" a collaboration with Perretta, who wrote and featured on the single. The single debuted at number 1 on various iTunes charts as well as top 10 on Beatport.

Perretta also collaborated with Los Angeles based producer Zhu, most known for the single, "Faded" which found fame.

Perretta released a single from his second album Karma on 13 November 2015 entitled "Miracle", a collaboration with Belgian producer Lost Frequencies. The song became Perretta's biggest solo hit to date, selling over 1.2 million copies and reaching number 1 in over 14 countries.

• Paul Lester (8 July 2009). "New band of the day No 580: Julian Perretta". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
• "Julian Perretta Interview". MTV.co.uk. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
• Natasha Richardson (6 April 2009). "Perez Hilton's Three Musical Acts to Watch in 2009". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 29 April 2010.

• Julian Perretta at myspace.com