We’ve never hidden our love for Jedward here on Essentially Pop. The Irish duo continue to impress us with their talent and imagination, and they are for us – and should be for everyone – an example of what can be achieved if you refuse to give in and believe what others say about you.
From their earliest days singing to girls in school, and serenading actress Amy Adams, when she was in Dublin shooting her film, ‘Leap Year’, to their first foray into the public consciousness, with X Factor in 2009, then twin appearances for Ireland in 2011 and 2012 at the Eurovision Song Contest, John and Edward Grimes have gone from strength to strength.
With three albums under their belts so far (the first two, ‘Planet Jedward’, and ‘Victory’, went double platinum in Ireland, while third album, ‘Young Love’ went gold – all three charted in Europe and Asia) and 9 more singles released independently, Jedward’s star continues to ascend.
As many musical artists are discovering, it’s no longer enough to simply sing and release songs, and Jedward have likewise diversified their creative output. In addition to writing, composing, and producing their songs, the pair make their own music videos, and to date have made no fewer than 15 official, plus lyric videos, with several – most notably two of their recent self-written singles ‘Good Vibes’ and ‘Hologram’ – breaking through the one million views barrier: ‘Good Vibes’ alone has surpassed 1.25 million views.
Additionally, John and Edward have found time to appear on television, and earlier this year they finished in second place on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. They’re also about to cameo for their third consecutive time in the Sharknado film franchise. First appearing in Sharknado 3 as themselves, riding a roller coaster at Universal Studios, Orlando, they followed it up with small roles in Sharknado 4 as “Astro Techs”. This year, they will also be seen, this time in a European location, as Sharknado 5 goes global.
Independent artists (the pair broke ties with their former management over four years ago and have been managed since by their mother), John and Edward Grimes are forever on the go, successfully keeping “Brand Jedward” at the forefront of the public consciousness. Recently they have branched out into acoustic covers, several of which we’ve featured on here. While not actually a new thing – Jedward have treated their fans to covers for a number of years now – it’s now that they’re coming to the notice of the general public, and for good reason. The vocal quality and artistic technique have shown dramatic improvement, which is unsurprising when considering how much effort the pair put into improving upon their already considerable talents.
Last night John tweeted the latest of his covers, a beautiful arrangement of ‘Sad Song’, from We The Kings. At just over 2 and a half minutes long, with a video simply shot directly to camera in black and white, the song transfixes and beguiles as we’re caught between focusing on the lyrics, John’s sweet and husky voice, and his guitar playing. You can watch it here:
https://twitter.com/planetjedward/status/874698880432168960
You can find Jedward online on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and their official website. Check out their music on JedwardTV and JedwardVEVO. You can also buy their most recent track, ‘Oxygen’, from iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play Store, as well as stream it on Spotify.
