Jón Jónsson

Biography

Jón Ragnar Jónsson (born 30 October 1985) is an Icelandic singer. He was signed by Epic Records and has released three albums, Wait for Fate (2011), Heim (2014), and Lengi lifum við (2021).

Life and career

Jón has been a performer since the age of 10. He is a native of Iceland. His brother is pop singer Friðrik Dór.
He started music in his local music school in Iceland and took part in productions in high school and college. He studied in Boston University on a soccer scholarship. While in college, he pursued acting while writing, recording, and performing his own music at local venues.
After graduating in 2009, Jón returned to Iceland and became a professional musician. He cooperates with Kristján Bjarnason who takes part in arrangements and recording of Jón Jónsson's music in their studio. His first singles "Lately" and "Kiss in the Morning" had considerable radio play and his third single "When You're Around" reached number 2 in Lagalistinn Top 30 followed by "Sooner or Later".
Debut album was released on 4 July 2011 called Wait for Fate and was certified gold. "Get In" his fifth single reached number 2 on "Lagalistinn". Another single "All, You, I" was a non-album release. He took part in a number of festivals including Icelandic Culture Night, the Icelandic Independence Day, and the Þjóðhátíð Music Festival.
In August 2012, Jón traveled to New York with his friend, Kristján Bjarnason, and after an audition with L.A. Reid was signed to Reid's Epic Records label.
Jón's first four singles were in the top 30 on Iceland music charts and he also received a People's Choice Award as the Best New Artist from Iceland's FM 957. His songs are heard in regular rotation on radio and some have reached top 10 on Bylgjan and Rás 2 radio as well as the Icelandic Billboard.
He was signed by Epic Records after he was said to impress record producer L.A. Reid.
In addition to his music career, Jón is the editor-in-chief of Monitor, a youth weekly for Monitor. He is active in awareness campaigns for various causes.
He lent his voice to the main character in the Icelandic voice-over for the animated feature, The Lorax.

Music style

Jón has been referred to as the European version of Jack Johnson, John Mayer, and Gavin DeGraw. His music contains a mix of pop and R&B with undertones of R&B. His songs range from romantic lyric ballads to piano and guitar driven pop.

Band

Kristján Bjarnason - piano, keyboards, arrangements
Steini Gudjonsson - electric guitar
Brynjar Unnsteinsson - bass
Andri Bjartur Jakobsson - drums

Singles

2010: "Lately"
2010: "Aron, Axel og Alex"
2010: "Kiss in the Morning"
2011: "When You're Around"
2011: "Sooner or Later"
2012: "All, You, I"
2013: "Feel for You"
2014: "Kæri vinur" (duet with Björgvin Halldórsson)
2014: "Ljúft að vera til"
2014: "Gefðu allt sem þú átt"
2015: "Ykkar koma"

Football career

Jón came up through the junior teams of FH. He played his first match in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla in 2008 for Þróttur Reykjavík. He rejoined FH in 2009 and played there, with the exception of 2016, until 2017. He won the Icelandic championship with the team in 2012 and 2015. He announced his retirement from football in January 2018.