Who Is Fancy

Jake Hagood was born March 29, 1991, in Bentonville, Arkansas. He taught himself to play piano at age eleven. He grew up listening to Christian and Country music.[4] After finishing high school in Arkansas, Hagood moved to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Trevecca Nazarene University.[5] The name, "Fancy," was a nickname given to him by coworkers at Forever 21 during this time.[6]

While attending university, Hagood wrote original music and performed around the Nashville area.[7] He left the University after being discovered by producers Scooter Braun, Scott Borchetta, and Dr. Luke.[5] Hagood is openly gay.[4]

Beginning in January 2015, Hagood, his management team, and his record label, built a viral campaign around the singer and his debut single "Goodbye". The single was released without revealing the person behind the "Fancy" pseudonym. A series of pseudo-music videos and a lyric-only clip were viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube, and with early radio support from stations like New York's Z100, the song reached number 29 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart,[6] number 48 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart,[8] and number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100.[9] Three music videos for the single were released, featuring three different actors lip-syncing to the song. Each video dealt with themes like gender identity and body positivity.[10] A fourth music video featuring the performer himself in the same setting was filmed but never released.[11]

In an interview with USA Today, Hagood said that one of motivations behind the campaign was for people to "know [his] art before they knew [him]".[12] However, the concept met with a mixed response from some of Hagood's friends, including pop singer Meghan Trainor, who says she was vocally against it from the start. "I felt like you're hiding this guy," she told The Canadian Press. "What I loved about (Who is Fancy) was his appearance. He's this bubbly, happy person … he has the confidence, he has everything, and they just — I don't like what they did."[11]

Hagood finally revealed his identity on April 7, 2015, in an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

To promote his second single "Boys like You", Who Is Fancy performed with collaborators Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande on Dancing with the Stars on January 23, 2016.

After "Boys Like You" failed to perform on the charts, Hagood parted ways with manager Braun and Republic. In an interview with The Canadian Press, he said that he hoped to relaunch his career in summer 2016.[11]

In 2016, Hagood was featured on Clean//Photograph, a Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran mashup by Nashville singer-songwriter Louisa Wendorff. The mashup received good reviews, and was featured on articles on Billboard, Seventeen etc.

Hagood reflected on his experience with a major label, and how they softened his gay persona: "It was everyone wanting to see me win, and they were like, 'Well, maybe you can't win if you're this (type of person),'" he says. "But maybe I could, you know what I mean?"[11]

Who Is Fancy has opened for both Meghan Trainor's MTrain Tour[13] and Ariana Grande's The Honeymoon Tour.[14]

• "Goodbye"
• "Boys Like You"

• Official website