The British musician breaking Grammy records who you have never heard of

  • Video report by ITV News Arts Editor Nina Nannar

Young British singer Jacob Collier made history yesterday after he secured his fourth Grammy, making him the only UK performer to ever win a gong for all four of their first albums - and yet most people haven't heard of him.

The 26-year-old now has a better record than The Beatles, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Elton John, Coldplay and Adele.

Chris Martin from Coldplay has called Collier a modern-day Mozart, but who is he?

The singer performs on a wide variety of instruments and uses a unique mix of Jazz, RnB and a variety of other genres.He won the Grammy for best arrangement, instruments and vocals for 'He Won’t Hold You' on Sunday.

Jacob Collier at the 2020 Grammys Credit: AP

He was also nominated for album of the year for Djesse Vol 3 and best R&B performance for All I Need.

Taylor Swift eventually secured the ceremony’s biggest prize for her lockdown album Folklore.At the award show, he said his nomination for best album "was completely surreal."

He said: "I'm really honoured to sit among these giants these legends of the industry."

Collier still lives with his mother in Finchley, London, and makes all of his music from his bedroom.

He told ITV News: "I've been so lucky in the last year as I've had a room with musical instruments in it, and some recording equipment.

"And I've actually been working out of that room for 26 years, so it's like the room I grew up in."

His music often features a multitude of instruments that he plays himself and then edits together to make one song.

He reportedly began experimenting with mixing music at the age of seven and was first noticed when he was 17 after he uploaded covers of R&B songs demonstrating a serious amount of skill.

Music runs in his family, his mother is an accomplished violinist and conductor as well as a professor at the Academy of Music's Junior Academy. 

His extremely complex mixing and instrumental ability has won him supporters from right at the very top of the music world who are impressed with his talent.

He is represented and tutored by Quincy Jones one of the most influential people behind the scenes in the American music business.

Quincy Jones has been instrumental to Jacob Collier's success Credit: AP

Jones helped produce many of Michael Jackson's greatest hits and projects he's worked on have won 28 Grammys.

Through Jones, the 26-year-old has become very well connected with people in the American music business and has led to collaboration with many top artists.

This has led to Collier's music being more popular in the States than it is in the UK, where he is still relatively unknown.

Collier won his first Grammy's in 2017 for his cover of the Flintstones theme tune and Stevie Wonder's 'You and I'.

He had another successful night in 2020 when he won the same two Grammy's (Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals, and Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella) for covers of All Night Long and Moon River.

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