Leon Thomas

Biography

Leon George Thomas III (born August 1, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. He began his career as a child actor on Broadway, appearing in the musicals The Lion King, Caroline, or Change and The Color Purple across the 2000s as well as voicing Tyrone in the Nick Jr. animated series The Backyardigans (2005-08) and starring in the film August Rush (2007). He gained wider recognition for starring as Andre Harris in the Nickelodeon teen sitcom Victorious (2010–2013).
Shifting focus onto his music career, Thomas achieved success in the 2010s as a member of the production duo The Rascals with Khris Riddick-Tynes. During this period, he co-wrote and co-produced for artists including his Victorious co-star Ariana Grande, Babyface, Drake, Rick Ross, SZA, and Toni Braxton. He also released three mixtapes and an extended play under Rostrum Records.
In 2022, he signed with Ty Dolla Sign's EZMNY Records and Motown. At the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, he won Best R&B Song for co-writing the SZA song "Snooze". He achieved critical and commercial success with his second album, Mutt (2024), which became his first entry on the Billboard 200. Its lead single, "Mutt", became his first solo entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number six. At the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, he received six nominations, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist, and won Best R&B Album for Mutt and Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Vibes Don't Lie".

Life and career

Thomas was born on August 1, 1993, in Brooklyn, New York City, to Jayon Anthony and Leon George Thomas II. His maternal grandfather is John D. Anthony, a jazz musician and opera singer who appeared on Broadway in Jimmy and Porgy and Bess. Thomas' parents divorced when he was young and his mother remarried to musician Jon Kevin Jones when he was 6 in 1999. He has a younger half sister through his mother's second marriage. Thomas made his Broadway debut at the age of 10 in 2003 as Young Simba in the Broadway production of The Lion King. In 2004, he appeared as Jackie Thibodeaux in the original Broadway cast of Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change. and toured with the company during its five-month run in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Thomas also performed in the Broadway production of The Color Purple. In 2007, Thomas appeared in the film August Rush as Arthur, performing the song "La Bamba", and briefly after signed a development deal with Nickelodeon appearing as the singing voice for Tyrone in the animated series The Backyardigans. Thomas has also guest-starred on Jack's Big Music Show and Just Jordan. He also appeared as Harper in the iCarly episode "iCarly Saves TV" and was featured on The Naked Brothers Band "Christmas Special".
He played a main character on Victorious, portraying Andre Harris, which premiered on Nickelodeon on March 27, 2010. Thomas also appeared as Andre in the crossover episode between Victorious and iCarly, iParty with Victorious. He also appeared as himself in an episode of True Jackson, VP. On August 2, 2011, the soundtrack album Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show was released, with Thomas featured in the songs "Song 2 You" and "Tell Me That You Love Me". On June 5, 2012, Victorious 2.0: More Music from the Hit TV Show was also released, with Thomas featured in the songs "Countdown" and "Don't You (Forget About Me)". Victorious ended production in July 2012 and the series' last episode aired on February 2, 2013.
In 2012, Thomas started to record his first mixtape called Metro Hearts; it was released on August 1, 2012. Songs on the mixtape include "Forever", "Bad", "Moving On", "Vibe", "Like Clay", and "Never Look Back". The mixtape also included a cover of Drake's "Take Care" with Ariana Grande. Thomas co-wrote the song "Ain't No Other Me" for the British girl group Stooshe, which features as a deluxe edition track on their debut album, London with the Lights On. Thomas co-wrote four songs on his former co-star Ariana Grande's 2013 album Yours Truly. He also co-produced four songs on the album, in addition to the song "Last Christmas" from Grande's EP Christmas Kisses, as a member of production duo the Rascals alongside Khristopher Riddick-Tynes. His production work under the Rascals was also included on Toni Braxton and Babyface's Grammy Award-winning album Love, Marriage & Divorce, contributing to the solo "I'd Rather Be Broke", performed by Braxton.

On September 24, 2013, Thomas released a new single, "Hello How Are You" (featuring Wiz Khalifa). On January 1, 2014, Thomas released a new mixtape, V1bes×V1bes1 January 2014 · Studio album · Mixtape/StreetSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Can't Tell3:282Rivers3:543Pain 2X2:544Bonita3:275Chill3:046Wu Tang1:217You and Me4:428Aquarius2:09, under the name Leon Thomas, via DatPiff. He also announced that a music video for "Hello How Are You" was in the works. In 2016, he served as a co-producer for Post Malone's album Stoney.
In 2016, Thomas released the mixtape Before the Beginning via SoundCloud, which compiled eight songs which he had "[held on] for a long time". In 2017, he appeared in the Kathryn Bigelow-directed film Detroit.
2018 saw the release of Thomas' debut EP Genesis×Genesis24 August 2018 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1Favorite3:312PLW3:553Sunken Place3:284Moments After3:235Blessing1:526Beg3:337Mrs. Variety3:51, which featured guest appearances from Buddy and Tayla Parx. The next year, Thomas earned a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song nomination at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards for co-writing and co-producing the song "Gold Roses" by Rick Ross (featuring Drake).
Thomas would also go on to write and produce more records under the Rascals production duo, as well as a solo producer, co-writing, and co-producing two songs on Ariana Grande's Positions, and three songs on Drake's Certified Lover Boy.

In May 2022, Ty Dolla Sign signed a joint venture deal with Motown for his newly launched EZMNY Records imprint, announcing Thomas to be the label's first artist.
He was one of the writers and producers on the track "Burn" by ¥$ (Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign) from their album Vultures 1, released on February 10, 2024. Furthermore, in 2024 Leon won his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for his contribution to SZA's hit song "Snooze".
On June 13, 2025, the track "Brown Sugar" was released; a collaboration between Thomas and Dylan Sinclair. Thomas released the NPR Tiny Desk version of "Mutt" on August 9, 2025.
In 2026 he was featured on Chris Brown's single "Fallin'".
On July 31, 2026, Thomas was featured on "Tell Everybody," a track on Nigerian Afrobeats artist Davido's sixth studio album, Oriadé, released via Columbia Records UK. Sony Music described the track, built around the refrain "Tell everybody, how you leave me wanting more," as exploring the vulnerability of love, with Thomas's "soulful vocals and rich harmonies" complementing Davido's performance; its official music video premiered on August 2, 2026.

Broadway appearances

The Lion King
Caroline, or Change
The Color Purple