Jon Batiste is a five-time Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and composer.
Batiste released his eighth studio album, Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1), in November 2024 via Verve Records/Interscope. Marking the first installment in his new solo piano series, the project showcases Batiste’s interpolations of some of Beethoven’s most iconic works, reimagined through an expansive lens. These reimagined classics embody the indomitable spirit of the blues, and—true to Batiste’s “message of open-armed inclusivity” (New York Times)—embrace a broad genre spectrum.
Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1) follows World Music Radio (released August 2023 via Verve), which draws inspiration from Batiste’s mission to create community and expand culture with the power of music. Featuring collaborators including Jon Bellion, Lana Del Rey, Lil’ Wayne, and more, the album received positive reviews from critics who praised the project for its universal message and genre-defying sound. Hailed by NPR as “a sprawling exploration of what global music can sound like,” the album received a total of five Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year. Batiste kicked off his first-ever headlining tour, Uneasy Tour: Purifying the Airwaves for the People, the following year.
Batiste’s innovative score is featured in Jason Reitman’s SATURDAY NIGHT, which released in theaters in October 2024. Depicting the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live in 1975, the film is underscored by Batiste’s musical masterpiece, which features a blend of jazz, classical, and contemporary elements. Batiste composed and produced the music live on the soundstage in front of the cast and crew, perfectly capturing the intensity and unpredictability of the show’s debut episode.
Batiste was the subject of Matthew Heineman’s moving 2023 documentary AMERICAN SYMPHONY, released on Netflix in partnership with Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground. Batiste and Grammy winner Dan Wilson penned the emotional song “It Never Went Away” for the film, which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song and two Grammy nominations.
In 2021, Batiste released We Are, which was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards across seven different categories, a first in Grammy history. He went on to win five Grammy Awards that evening, including Album of the Year. In 2018, he received a Grammy nomination for Best American Roots, and in 2020, he received two Grammy nods for the albums: CHRONOLOGY OF A DREAM: LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD and MEDITATIONS (with Cory Wong). Batiste also composed and performed music for the Disney/Pixar film SOUL, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Score alongside fellow composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. SOUL also earned Batiste a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, an NAACP Image Award, and a Critic’s Choice Award. From 2015 until 2022, Batiste served as the bandleader and musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS.