Jonny Craig

Biography

Jonathan Monroe Craig (born March 26, 1986) is an American-Canadian singer, widely recognised for his tenure as the former lead vocalist of renowned post-hardcore bands such as Dance Gavin Dance, Emarosa, and then Slaves, as well as his role as co-lead vocalist in the short-lived supergroup Isles & Glaciers. Presently, he serves as the lead vocalist for the American post-hardcore band Old Flame. As a solo artist, Craig has released two studio albums, two EPs, and a live album, garnering acclaim for his distinctive soul-based singing style.

Early life

Jonathan Monroe Craig was born in Minot, North Dakota, but grew up mostly in Canada and moved back to the United States when he became an adult. In a further interview with the music blog Eat Yo Beats, Craig said "my mom made me listen to tons of shit when I was kid, everything from Michael Bolton to some weird ass Christian rock bands" and also that it was this that became his main influence, rather than gospel music. Craig cites some of his early idols as Boyz II Men and New Found Glory.
Craig was placed into his school's choir as a default elective but was ultimately kicked out. As a child, he says that he "had a hard time keeping out of trouble" and that "high school wasn't for him." He would explain later that that was the reason he left high school and attained his G.E.D, then focused on music full-time. "I just wanted an escape from a lot of the things when I was a child I guess. I just wanted to get away from a lot of the problems that I was dealing with at home and stuff", Craig states in an interview with KLSU radio as his reason for starting his path in music.

Beginnings as a musician (2000–2007)

After moving to the United States from Abbotsford, British Columbia, and attending high school in Washington State, Craig auditioned for bands but ultimately was not accepted into one. Craig then formed the band westerHALTS in 2000, a garage band from Tacoma, Washington. At age 15, Craig released his first known song with them titled "Change, Leisure, and Retirement" in 2001. In an Alternative Press Podcast he stated that the band was "...just something to help pay for weed, something I played over the weekends." He then joined as the lead vocalist for Tacoma-based pop-punk band Ghost Runner on Third in 2002. Craig said that he met the guitarist of Ghost Runner on Third in high school. He received positive reviews with this band's debut EP, Speak Your Dreams, released on January 4, 2005. AllMusic stated that Craig was, "the band's secret weapon, a passionate vocalist. There's not a bad track to be found here, but Craig tends to outshine his bandmates throughout."
Early on in his career with Ghost Runner On Third it has been cited that overwhelming drug problems led to his departure, as told by Dance Gavin Dance in an old blog post concerning Craig after he was kicked out of the band. Though Craig has denied the statements made, Dance Gavin Dance has not backed off from those remarks, which they explain was the reason for all the band's problems and partly for his former band Ghost Runner on Third. Dance Gavin Dance has also partially blamed guitarist Sean O'Sullivan's departure on Craig's behavior, although there were other contributing factors. Despite their past differences, both past and present members of Dance Gavin Dance have since become friends. Consider the Thief (O'Sullivan's band after Dance Gavin Dance), was also listed in Emarosa's Relativity album on the "special thanks" section of the info-booklet.

Dance Gavin Dance and Emarosa (2007–2012)

Craig's singing in Dance Gavin Dance's debut EP Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean and debut full-length album Downtown Battle Mountain received positive reviews from critics. Allmusic stated that "co-frontman Jonny Craig's regularly hysterical yelping may change your mind forever."
In March 2007, it was explained that Craig came up with the name Dance Gavin Dance and had planned to name his previous band, "Ghost Runner On Third", by that name. After being kicked out of Dance Gavin Dance after the "Saints and Sinners Festival" in New Jersey, Craig immediately filled in for A Skylit Drive's Lead Vocalist Jordan Blake while he was ill. The band said at shows, and on their website, that he was not the new lead singer and the situation would only be temporary. It had been only two weeks since he was fired from his position in Dance Gavin Dance in which he joined Emarosa, who was at the time without a lead singer.
On August 18, 2010, Dance Gavin Dance parted ways with vocalist Kurt Travis. Craig returned to the band to record a new album, along with original vocalist Jon Mess. The reunited lineup would also embark on a headlining run the following spring. Craig was to remain in Emarosa as well.
The rapper Game and DJ Skee sampled Craig's vocals on the song "Heels & Dresses" from their Break Lights mixtape album, which comes from the song "The Robot With Human Hair Pt. 1." Rapper Bizzy Bone also sampled Craig's vocals on the song "Bottled Up Like Smoke" from his Crossover EP and Crossroads album, using portions of "I Still Feel Her pt. III" from his debut solo album, "A Dream Is a Question You Don't Know How to Answer."
On April 11, 2011, Emarosa publicly announced Craig's departure from the group. According to a statement made by the band, "This decision has been a hard one to make, but we feel it is in the best interest for the band going forward." "Jonny Craig" was the top trending topic on Twitter the day of the announcement.
On August 13, 2012, Craig was "kicked out" of Dance Gavin Dance once again after being "publicly scolded by the owner of Sumerian Records for multiple offenses". The news surfaced after Jonny released a statement on his personal Twitter.

Isles & Glaciers (2008–2010)

In early September 2008, Chiodos and Cinematic Sunrise vocalist Craig Owens, announced that both he and Jonny Craig would be recording an EP record by the end of the year, also mentioning Vic Fuentes and others.
On December 15, 2008, Alternative Press officially announced and revealed the name and lineup of this new project, Isles & Glaciers. The band's first EP, The Hearts of Lonely People, was produced by Casey Bates in Seattle, Washington, was reworked in April 2009 in Michigan and was released March 9, 2010.
A tweet reading in part "...and people wonder why we won't do another I & G record." was posted by Craig Owens in 2011, as the MacBook scandal was breaking.

Solo work (2009–present)

Craig released his debut solo album A Dream Is a Question You Don't Know How to Answer on August 18, 2009, through Rise Records. This is the first individual artist on the label. For promotional purposes he took press photos for the release in late 2009 with photographer Gage Young in Orlando, Florida. He further released three songs on his Myspace profile from the solo album, titled; "Istillfeelher III", "Children of Divorce" and "7 AM, 2 Bottles And The Wrong Road". Craig went on his first solo tour from November through December, supporting acts AFI, Cinematic Sunrise, and then headlining with support from Tides of Man and Sleeping With Sirens. He was headlining a tour with support from Tides of Man and Eye Alaska and will be playing The Bamboozle festival and SXSW.
Craig headlined the "White Boys With Soul" tour with Fight Fair, Breathe Electric, Mod Sun, and The Divine. Craig has also recently revealed that he is recording another solo album. In an interview at Warped Tour with MindEqualsBlown.net, Craig revealed he's attempting to work with Alex Deleon of The Cab on a B-side from his solo album. Craig announced on January 16, 2011, that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus to "pursue the filming of his documentary", stating that all his currently planned records and tours would be canceled. He later added that he would play out the tours with Dance Gavin Dance and Emarosa. On January 21, 2011, Craig announced that he would not actually be taking this hiatus, stating: "hate me all you want people I love what i do and im great at it. IM NEVER GONNA STOP. [sic]" He later stated that he was going to quit because he had been touring and recording "NON STOP" for seven years, and stated "Now i know there's nothing out in the world for me".
Craig was featured in Alternative Press's issue #288 that was released June 5, 2012.
In November 2012, Craig's personal e-mail was hacked. The hack resulted in some leaked demos circulating on the internet; Craig stated the leaked material would not be on his upcoming solo EP. From Craig's personal Twitter page: "don't trip the songs that leaked are not what my album is going to sound like. that was me just fucking around with some stuff."
Craig set up an account on Indiegogo where fans donated money to produce his upcoming EP. He also confirmed in a recent interview that he had bought out his contract with Rise Records. He released his solo EP, Find What You Love and Let It Kill You×Find What You Love and Let It Kill You24 September 2013 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1The Lives We Live4:062I Still Feel Her Pt 54:013(Diamond)3:334“The Open Letter”3:325Jesus Died for You.. Not Me5:356The Upgrade4:137The Ratchet Blackout3:45, on September 24, 2013, as an independent release.
On November 26, 2013, Craig released the special edition of Find What You Love And Let It Kill You. The special edition included a new song, featuring two top backers from his earlier Indiegogo campaign. On the same day, he released the song "Dirty Christmas×Dirty Christmas26 November 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Dirty Christmas5:15".
In September 2021, Craig released his second and most recent solo album, "The Places We'll Never Be".

Slaves (2014–2019)

Artery Recordings have announced the signing of Craig's new band, Slaves, which also features members Alex Lyman and Christopher Kim (Hearts & Hands) with Tai Wright (Four Letter Lie). The band have released their debut album in the summer of 2014 via Artery. They've released a short video trailer, which features clips of the new music. The band's debut album entitled Through Art We Are All Equals, was released June 24, 2014, via Artery Recordings. The album features guest vocals from Kyle Lucas, Tyler Carter of Issues and Vic Fuentes of Pierce The Veil. Its lead single "The Fire Down Below" premiered April 22, 2014.
In early 2015, Craig released the albums The Blueprint For Going In Circles×The Blueprint for Going in Circles27 January 2015 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1We Black Hearts Bear the Cross.4:572Nightmares4:423Burn Baby Burn3:324Destiny, the Two Way Street.3:265Istillfeelher Pt.54:006Attention! Drifters!3:427Give Me a Museum and I’ll Fill It.4:068Peopleinhellwanticewater (interlude)2:349Worth It3:2910Party and the Dream3:2411Detroit Winters.3:18, in collaboration with singer-songwriter Kyle Lucas, and The Le Cube Sessions, respectively.
In 2017, Slaves released a new single entitled "I'd Rather See Your Star Explode" along with an accompanying music video. The group's third studio album, Beautiful Death was released on February 16, 2018. An acoustic EP called "Revision" was released on January 18, 2019.
The following Thursday, January 24, 2019, in a message posted on the band's official Twitter account, Slaves announced that they had removed Craig from the band.
During his solo tours in the US and UK in 2022, Craig announced that Slaves would reform consisting of a new line up and future music releases.

Old Flame (2024–present)

In March 2024, Craig launched his new project called Old Flame along with its debut single, "Pray".
A second single called "Thank You For The Patience×Thank You for the Patience31 May 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Thank You for the Patience3:422Pray4:24" followed in May 2024.

Personal life

In a 2013 acoustic set with music magazine Alternative Press, Craig explained the story behind his single "Children of Divorce." Craig claimed his then-girlfriend had become pregnant, and after an admission by Craig months later that he didn't love her, she left. He said he never heard from her again and was unable to see his child.
Craig also has a son with ex-fiancée Sydney England. They revealed their pregnancy on March 27, 2020, and announced their son's birth on July 13, 2020. Craig and England's relationship subsequently broke down following a series of intervention from the authorities, including Jonny's arrest for alleged domestic battery, and the admittance of their infant son into child protective custody.
In an interview, Craig described himself as an atheist with a Christian background. He states that all of his music is soulful and has some kind of meaning mainly because his music career began as a child singing gospel music with his church/school. Craig credits his musical talent to his grandmother (Ruth Lyons) who he says, "taught me everything I know about music, she was super Christian, super gospel. Her husband was a preacher. She taught me everything I know about music and despite the fact that I may not believe in her beliefs, I believe in what she taught me."
Craig claims to be inspired by soul music, mainly artists Aretha Franklin, Boyz II Men, and Craig David. He has also mentioned Motown acts and the band Mewithoutyou as influences. Craig has performed live covers of the songs "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake, “Marvins Room” by Drake and "Fuck You" by Cee Lo Green.
Hollywood Music Magazine stated of Craig, "The guy's a legend and if you've yet to hear him sing you have been missing out."

Internet scam and drug-related issues

In February 2011, several of Craig's fans accused him of being involved in an internet scam. According to the alleged victims, Craig would claim to be selling a used MacBook through his Twitter account. After accepting an online payment on average between 600 and 800 US dollars for the product from at least 16 individuals, Craig was reported to have discontinued communication with the buyers, and the people who had purchased the MacBooks never received them. He initially denied the accusations and claimed that his Twitter had been hacked and he had no involvement. However, the following week it was announced that Craig had dropped off his current tour in Emarosa with Chiodos to enter detox in order to treat his ongoing battles with heroin addiction. Rise Records and the Artery Foundation assumed financial responsibility for the internet scam and intended to reimburse anyone who had been victimized. Tilian Pearson, formerly of Tides of Man, substituted for Craig during his absence from Dance Gavin Dance. A public apology was issued by Craig after his detox treatment was completed on March 8, 2011.
In October 2011, Craig was jailed for two counts of possession of narcotics, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, and one count of failure to appear on a felony charge with bail set at US$15,000. As a result of this incident, Dance Gavin Dance cancelled their upcoming tour and went on hiatus. Craig was released from jail a few weeks later and was scheduled to enter a court-ordered rehabilitation facility. His follow-up hearing was scheduled for April 30, 2012. Dance Gavin Dance went on with their tour as planned but without Craig. He completed a 30-day court-ordered detox and was released March 30, 2012.
On April 2, 2014, Craig was accused of using narcotics again by an ex-girlfriend. Craig addressed the issue in a now-deleted video where he took a drug test on screen. He is quoted saying, "just woke up to a nice surprise from the ex. So I'm headed right down to the office to prove to you guys without a doubt I'm not using and that those videos are old. She's crossed a line and needs to get it through her head that this isn't the way you deal with someone not loving you anymore. So let's go! I have nothing to hide".
On April 14, 2016, a few days following Slaves' split, Craig posted an open letter via the band's official Facebook page, confessing that he was continuing to struggle from his addiction and will seek the help he needs following his already booked solo tour. The tour consisted of the US and a few European dates with Slaves (with select members). On May 20, 2016, Craig announced on Slaves' Facebook page that the band was going through difficult times but had not broken up.
On January 24, 2019, in a Twitter post made by the official account for Slaves, it was announced that Craig had been kicked out of the band. The message said in part, "We all have struggles in our daily life, but for some, those struggles are personally and physically dangerous. It is no secret that Jonny has battled with addiction in his personal life, sometimes those battles are won, and most recently lost. It's also unfair for a band to rely on someone who just can't rely on themselves. Addiction is a disease, and we hope Jonny gets the help that he needs. Unfortunately, Jonny chose his addiction over the band and left them high & dry while checking in for their international flight while he boarded a plane back home.”

Sexual assault allegations

In 2015, Slaves were kicked off the Warped Tour after Craig allegedly bullied and sexually harassed a female merchandise worker while he was intoxicated.
In 2017, numerous ex-girlfriends accused Craig of sexual assault which led to Slaves being dropped from their record label, Artery Recordings, shortly before the scheduled release of their third album Beautiful Death.

Bands

With westerHALTS
2001: Change, Leisure, and Retirement (self-released)
With Ghost Runner on Third
2005: Speak Your Dreams EP (Goodbye Blue Skies)

Solo

Studio album
2009: A Dream Is a Question You Don't Know How to Answer (Rise Records)
2021: The Places We’ll Never Be (SBG Records)

Singles
2013: "Nobody Ever Will×Nobody Ever Will18 February 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Nobody Ever Will4:03"
2013: "Rhythm in My Soul×Rhythm in My Soul25 February 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Rhythm in My Soul3:30"
2013: "House of War×House of War4 March 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1House of War3:19"
2013: "The Lives We Live×The Lives We Live14 May 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1The Lives We Live4:07"
2013: "Dirty Christmas×Dirty Christmas26 November 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Dirty Christmas5:15"
2016: "Back to Life×Back to Life18 April 2016 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Back to Life3:31" (Collaboration with Tilian)
2020: "Under My Skin×Under My Skin29 February 2020 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Under My Skin3:43" (Collaboration with PFV)
2021: "Memories×Memories22 January 2021 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Memories3:02"
2021: "Going Under×Going Under26 February 2021 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Going Under3:52"
2021: "Sadness×Sadness16 April 2021 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Sadness3:52"
2021: "U.S.S. Regret"
2022: "Tape Six.×Tape Six.17 June 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Tape Six.3:12" (feat. Kyle Lucas)
2022: "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
2022: "Never Back Down×Never Back Down27 November 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Never Back Down4:26" (Collaboration with burnboy, 7kingZ, KEEPMYSERCRETS, Chris Dudley)
2023: "The One×The One23 June 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1The One2:36" (Collaboration with Shaker)
2023: "GOOSEBUMPS×GOOSEBUMPS14 July 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1GOOSEBUMPS3:132The One2:36" (Collaboration with Shaker and KEEPMYSECRETS)
Other songs
2011: "Lenon Bus" and "Goddamn, I'm Good Lookin' (ft. Metasota)"
2012: Four unreleased songs were leaked on November; "I Belong Out There", "You're Just Another Whore", "When It Rains It Pours", and "Rhythm in My Soul"
2014: Four unreleased songs were leaked on April 30; "Attention", "Burning Bridges", "Empty California Winters", and "Fake Love"
Covers
2013: Cry Me a River - originally by Justin Timberlake
2013: Best I Ever Had (ft. Stephen Parrish & Kezo) - originally by Drake
2013: Rehab (Live Session) - originally by Amy Winehouse