A singer-songwriter, pianist, bandleader, composer, music producer, and actor, he is a true multi-hyphenate artist based in New York.
Born into a musical family, he grew up surrounded by music, with Lionel and Harold Battiste—legendary figures of the New Orleans musical scene—as his uncles. He began playing percussion at the age of eight and switched to piano at eleven. In his teens, he started releasing music online, and at just 17 years old, he released his independent debut album Times in New Orleans. He later earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano from The Juilliard School. His major-label debut, Hollywood Africans, established him as a top-tier artist, with the track “St. James Infirmary” earning a nomination for Best American Roots Performance at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
As the leader of his band Stay Human, he serves as the musical director for the hit American talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He has also held the position of Creative Director at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, earning high acclaim for his work as a music director.
In December 2020, he contributed original songs, including the end-credit song, to the Disney and Pixar film Soul. In 2021, his compositions and songwriting were prominently featured in American Symphony, a large-scale genre-blending symphonic work premiered at Carnegie Hall, further expanding the scope of his artistic activities.
At the 64th Grammy Awards, he received 11 nominations and won five awards—the most of any artist that year—including Album of the Year, one of the ceremony’s four major categories, for We Are, propelling him to international prominence.
His August 2023 release World Music Radio explored globally inspired collaborations and featured artists such as NewJeans, J.I.D, and Camilo. In November 2023, his documentary film John Batiste: American Symphony premiered on Netflix.
In November 2024, he released his first solo piano album, Beethoven Blues, which reached No. 1 on the U.S. classical charts. His latest album, Big Money, was released in August 2025.
Jon Batiste
