Over the past year-plus, former UPROXX cover stars Jonas Brothers and Tori Kelly couldn’t speak highly enough about Jon Bellion to UPROXX. Bellion executive produced Jonas Brothers’ May 2023 LP The Album and Kelly’s Tori EP and subsequent Tori. LP. The Jonas Brothers and Kelly were fans of Bellion’s music from afar before he joined them in the studio.
Bellion has served as a producer and songwriter for an overwhelming number of A-list artists — the engine behind several ubiquitous hits — but he’s finally resuming position as a solo artist.
On Wednesday, September 25, Bellion posted a video teasing his first solo single in six years. In the 25-second clip, Bellion’s silhouette can be seen in the studio as he sings, “I am a kid again / I could do anything / I am a kid again.” In red lettering, a message flashes simultaneously across the screen: “After a 6-year wait, Jon Bellion’s recording contract has been reversed. Freeing him to make music for himself again. KID AGAIN.”
This May, Bellion appeared on The George Janko Show and went in-depth in explaining the machinations of his former deal with Live Nation and record deal and how the situation plummeted him into “panic attacks.”
“I paid myself out of the deal, and I had to pay 25 percent extra on what they advanced me,” Bellion said of Live Nation.
He noted that, at one point, he was willing to walk away from music entirely: “I told my wife, ‘I’m going to work at McDonald’s. It’s over. I’m not doing this anymore.’”
Later in the episode, the multi-platinum-certified artist opened up about his forthcoming album, which will be his first solo LP since releasing Glory Sound Prep in November 2018 via Capitol Records.
“The stuff I’m making, I’m like, thank God I waited six years to get my spirit more correct than it was before,” Bellion said. “Thank God I’m coming from a different place of [gratitude] and whatever because the music now really reflects that. If I can give people gems on this album, to some degree, of a man who’s been through it but isn’t just covered in bitterness, you’re going to receive wisdom in a palatable, edible way that will edify a lot of people. That’s what I hope the music does.”