Trail of Broken Hearts: A Jon McLaughlin Fansite

Jon McLaughlin, born Jonathan Michael McLaughlin on Septermber 27, 1982, is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Anderson, Indiana.

Jon, the youngest of three children, is a classically trained pianist.  He began taking piano lessons at the age of four, following in his older siblings’ footsteps.  By the age of 15, Jon had been taking lessons for about 11 years and was growing tired of classical piano.  He continually pleaded with his parents to let him stop taking lessons, but they insisted he persist.  Then, as a freshman in high school, in an act of rebellion, Jon ran out of his house on his rollerblades, thinking that he would just skate for a few minutes.  In a weird twist of fate, Jon ended up falling and shattering both of his wrists within a minute of leaving his door.  In the months that followed, Jon was unable to play piano, and his parents eventually conceded to him and agreed to stop making him take lessons. 

It wasn’t until Jon saw a notice for a keyboard player in a church group that he rediscovered his muse for piano.  He realized it wasn’t so much piano that he was burned out on, just classical piano.  He attended went to the call-out for the keyboardist and saw himself among a group of peers who were just there to play music.  It was the exact opposite of the rigid structure he was used to and he loved it.  They played without written music, adlibbing and playing off one another.  He admits that a lot of what they did must have sounded awful, but it was so much fun. 

With a newly re-ignited passion for piano and music, Jon entered Anderson University beset on studying music business and began for the first time, writing and singing his own original music.  When Jon was a sophomore, Anderson University created it’s own student-run record label, Orangehaus Records and held a talent competition to find who would be its first release.  Jon entered and won, and went on to record two albums under the Orangehaus imprint, Up Until Now and a self-titled album. 

Thanks to Myspace, Jon caught the eyes and ears of an Artist and Repertoire (A&R) representative for Island Def Jam Records.  Still in college at the time of their first email exchange, Jon insisted on finishing college prior to pursuing a career in music.  Once he graduated, he was flown to New York to perform for three major labels, including Island CEO L.A. Reid.  A few days after, Jon was signed to Island Def Jam Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group – the largest music company in the world.

Before releasing his debut album on Island Records, Jon wrote, recorded and released a piano-based 8-track EP titled Songs I Wrote and Later Recorded in 2005, showing off his raw piano-playing and vocal skills. He says that he really didn’t go into it with an artistic purpose.  He just had a bunch of songs written that he was sick of people not being able to hear. A year after signing with Island, Jon’s first major debut album was finally released on May 1^st, 2007 with 10,000 units sold within the first few months.  Jon had extensively toured with Micah Dalton, Matt Wertz and Stephen Kellog & The Sixers to promote the debut album before its release.  His first single release “Industry” was about “the prospects of life in the music business.” It had a certain vulnerability unseen before from typically braggadocios  pop/rock stars.  “Industry” questioned failure and success in the music industry before even stepping foot in it and bared an insecurity that was all at once provocative and endearing with lines like:  “This is me on my knees / singing take it all from me / take it all”.

In 2007, McLaughlin provided vocals on a track written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for the soundtrack of the Disney film Enchanted.  He was a last minute addition to the film itself to be part of the grand ballroom dance scene.  He was flown to New York, put in a tuxedo and brought into the film to sing in person while the main characters danced.  He says he must have gone over the song a million times in the week it took to shoot his scene, but was very grateful to be given that opportunity.  Disney songs aren’t something he would have normally been excited for, but “So Close” had a certain nostalgic, old-school blue-eyed crooner quality to it that harkened back to Frank Sinatra that Jon couldn’t refuse.  The song went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song and Jon was invited to perform the song live at the 2008 awards.

His appearance and performance of "So Close" at the 2008 Oscars caused a surge in sales of his Indiana album by over 1,000% and it wasn't even on the album.

Photo by: Darren Decker (A.M.P.A.S.)

In October 7, 2008 he released his second major label album titled OK Now.  The release was preceded with the release of the single titled "Beating My Heart" and a summer tour where Jon performed at venues across the United States to give his fans a taste of what was to come. “Beating My Heart” reached number 18 on Billboard’s Hot Adult Top 40 chart, the highest he has accomplished for released singles.  The single received praise from Billboard reviews editor Chuck Taylor, citing the track as “a joyous uptempo romantic romp, featuring hook after hook, from tinkling piano to driving percussion” and “with instantaneous hit potential, and proper promotion of it could propel the artist to superstar status."

By Spring of 2009 Jon wrapped up the “Salute to 2009” tour.  Recently, he has frequently updated his Twitter and Myspace stating that he is currently writing songs for his next album. On his “Salute to 2009 Tour” he introduced a new song to his setlist titled, “You Belong With Me”, which could be off his upcoming release, although there is only speculation at this point.  On September 1st, 2009, Jon announced on his Facebook & Twitter that he had finished a brand new song called "You Are My Girl Tonight," citing it as a love song.

He cites Billy Joel, Elton John, Harry Connick, Jr., and Ben Folds as his musical influences.

McLaughlin has also toured with the likes of Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Jonny Lang, Paolo Nutini, Dave Barnes, Sara Bareilles and up-and-coming band Parachute.

Bio written by: Miguel Soto
Additional notes by: Trong N
Edited by: Miguel S, Tracey V, Trong N

Independent albums:

Up Until Now (2003)
Jon McLaughlin (2004)
Songs I Wrote and Later Recorded (2005)

Albums released under Island Records:

Indiana (2007)
OK Now (2008)

Singles:

Industry (2007)
Beautiful Disaster (2007)
Human (2007)
Beating My Heart (2008)

Non-album releases:

My Debut's Coming EP (2005)
Industry EP (Digital - 2006)
Proud Father (Digital single - 2007)

Music Videos:

Industry
Beautiful Disaster
For You From Me
Beating My Heart

For full track listing of each release, check The Music section.

Enchanted (2007) - as Ballroom Singer