Ian Axel

Ian Axel is an American singer and songwriter. After becoming well-known with his song "This Is the New Year", he developed a solo career, eventually joining forces with long-time writing partner, Chad King, to form the duo band A Great Big World in 2012.

Career

Axel grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He graduated from Fair Lawn High School (Class of 2003). He then moved to Manhattan, attending NYU. In 2006, Axel began performing publicly as a solo act. His song "This Is The New Year" became well-known originally when iTunes selected it as a Discovery Download and for its video on YouTube. Later it was featured as the theme song for the MTV documentary series I Used to Be Fat, which premiered December 29, 2010.

Axel's album, named after the title single, was initially released in 2010 as a self-release, then released a second time in partnership with tinyOGRE Entertainment. The tinyOGRE version was released digitally on February 15, 2011 and on CD on April 12, 2011. Later "This Is The New Year" {was used in the opening sequence of Garry Marshall's film New Year's Eve. The partnership with tinyOGRE ended when the company dissolved in December 2011.