Tag: HITS Sessions

A vibrant singer and songwriter of uplifting pop anthems, Massachusetts native Rachel Platten started piano lessons at age four and began writing songs while in college. While finishing a degree in international relations from Trinity College in 2003, she self-released an R&B album titled Trust in Me, and eventually obtained a record label internship while abroad in Trinidad in 2005. During her stay, she sang backup for a band performing before large crowds throughout the Caribbean and determined to try to make career in music, moving to New York City in 2006. Over the next few years, she worked on preparing her sophomore album, and toured at every opportunity, including support spots for the Strokes, Regina Spektor, Rusted Root, and Ziggy Marley. Along the way, she began to land licensing deals for advertising and TV series, and her song “Seven Weeks” appeared in the 2009 romantic comedy The Good Guy. Her second album, Be Here, which included collaborations with Fredrik Thomander (*NSYNC), the Wizards of Oz (Avril Lavigne), and Jerry Abbott and Grant Black (Julian Velard), was finally released by Rock Ridge Music in the spring of 2011. The single “1,000 Ships” hit number 24 on Billboard’s Adult Pop Songs chart, and she toured on and off in support of the album for the next two years. Meanwhile, the U.S. cable TV show Jane by Design (2011-2012) used her song “Work of Art” as its theme, and multiple Platten songs appeared on Pretty Little Liars, also on the ABC Family network. Her song “Smile” was co-written with Dave Bassett and Christopher Umana (aka C4) for the 2014 film Annie, and an empowering single titled “Fight Song” from her third album was released in late 2014. Early the next year, Platten announced she had signed with Columbia Records. She then opened for Andy Grammer’s tour with U.S. X Factor winners Alex & Sierra into the spring of 2015.