Bio
Beginning with an impromptu a cappella clip of “Over the Rainbow,” Stella Cole has become a global viral sensation for simply doing what she has been passionate about her whole life - singing songs from the Great American Songbook. Buoyed in part by her weekly livestream concerts on Tiktok from 2020 to 2022, the multi-talented singer’s ever-growing numbers both embody and defy every superlative cliché (staggering, mind blowing, through the roof). Her most viral singing video has a whopping 27 million views. With a combined social media following of over 1.6 million, Stella has caught the attention of superstars David Foster, James Taylor, Michael Buble, John Mayer and Meghan Trainor. Countless devoted fans from social media flock to see her perform, many of them traveling cross country and overseas to attend her sold out headlining concerts around the world. She has performed in venues like Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Birdland and the Cafe Carlyle. In 2023, she toured the United States, Australia and New Zealand with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. She released a stylish, swinging rendition of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” with the group in 2023 to mass acclaim, racking up more than 6 million views.
Stella’s enduring influence as a viral artist and live performer lays a promising foundation – and gives her an eager built-in audience - for her highly anticipated self-titled debut album, an exquisite collection produced by Matt Pierson.
Among Pierson’s hundreds of credits in the pop and jazz worlds is Samara Joy’s Linger Awhile, a 2023 Grammy winner for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album. A testament to Stella’s vast artistry, the singer worked on the project with some of the top studio talent in the industry, including multiple Grammy-winning arranger/pianist Alan Broadbent, Brazilian guitar master Chico Pinheiro, pianist/keyboardist Ben Paterson and bassist Neal Miner. The first half of the album features a lushly orchestrated string section arranged by Broadbent, while Stella is backed on the latter half by the trio of Paterson (on piano or Hammond B-3 organ), Miner on double bass and Keith Balla on drums.
True to her eclectic tastes, Stella Cole features both very familiar and delightfully obscure Songbook tunes including “Over the Rainbow,” “(Love Is) The Tender Trap,” the Judy Garland classic “The Boy Next Door,” the Streisand-inspired “When the Sun Comes Out,” “Detour Ahead” and “Moon River,” the iconic Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer tune she has chosen as the album’s lead single.“We picked ‘Moon River’ because it’s a very important song for me,” Stella says. “When I started posting on social media, the first well known musician to notice me was James Taylor, reposting a video of me singing ‘Moon River’. That was a big moment!” Stella also cites the song as symbolic of her goal for the entire album. “What I’ve been trying to do with this music is comfort people. To me, ‘Moon River’ always feels like a deep breath; hopeful, calming and nostalgic. There’s so much negativity and chaos in the world and I want people to stop, listen and feel they can breathe again.”
Among Pierson’s suggestions to the track list were “P.S. I Love You” and one of the album’s greatest surprises, Billie Eilish’s Top Ten hit “My Future.”Performed as a vocal-acoustic guitar duet with Pinheiro, the Billie Eilish song serves as a uniquely contemporary love story in an album of songs from the midcentury. The track list also includes the ballads “My Foolish Heart” and “Blame it On My Youth” and a spirited, swinging rendition of “On the Street Where You Live” featuring Jerry Weldon on tenor sax.
“Many people of my generation aren’t familiar with these songs, and I’m excited about the opportunity to introduce this timeless music to a new audience,” says Stella. “Often when people hear my voice, they tell me I was born in the wrong decade. I definitely feel an artistic connection to those earlier time periods, but I don’t want to overly romanticize the past. Right now is the perfect time for me to be singing because the world needs this soothing and joyful music now just as much as they needed it in the 40s and 50s.”
Stella’s musical story began when, at three years old, her mom pressed play on a VHS tape of The Wizard of Oz. Stella was immediately obsessed with the film, watching it at every opportunity. By kindergarten, her VHS collection had grown to a large stack of classic movie musicals, setting the stage for a remarkable journey.
“I’ve been singing since I could talk and began voice lessons really early,” says Stella. “Throughout middle school and high school, I was in musicals both in school and local community theatre, sometimes two shows at the same time. I remember when I was a teenager, I didn’t listen to pop music, instead I loved singing along with Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, slowly realizing my range or tone sounded a bit like them. But I lacked confidence when I was starting out. I had no idea if there was an audience for the kind of songs I loved.” Enrolled at Northwestern University with a double major of theater and international relations, Stella continued to look for spaces for her voice. Fortunately, towards the end of college, she took a Great American Songbook class, an important step in rediscovering her passion for her first musical love, eventually allowing her to grow in skill and confidence.
The pandemic caused a temporary move back home, and her dad came up with a wild idea, encouraging her to post singing videos on social media. Fresh out of the shower and wearing a bathrobe and green clay face mask, she posted “Over the Rainbow.” Quickly encouraged by the growing number of viewers, she made it her daily job. Stella knew she was on to something after her clip of Stephen Sondheim’s “Everybody Says Don’t” hit 40,000 views.
Amidst her burgeoning viral success, she graduated from Northwestern and moved to New York, where she began singing at clubs and restaurants (starting with a regular weekend gig at Giovanni’s in Brooklyn), developing her repertoire and becoming part of a local creative community of singers and actors.“I think what makes me stand out as an artist is that I’ve learned that being a good singer is more than just having a pretty voice,” she says. “It’s about effective storytelling, communicating feelings and emotions through lyrical narratives. A few years ago, I was too focused on how my voice sounded, but since I began concentrating on telling a story, I’ve become a better all-around artist. I love that with the exception of the Billie Eilish tune, these songs were written decades before I was born, yet they feel like they are about my life. The album paints a very full picture of me, allowing me to share these stories in a very honest, vulnerable way. Whether people are longtime fans of my Tiktok or have never heard me before, I hope these songs can bring listeners as much joy as they bring me.”