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‘I’m a firecracker’: singer Jacob Lusk on survival, stardom – and singing with Elton John

He had his first shot at stardom on American Idol but, when it was over, Jacob Lusk found himself homeless. After a rare second chance, as lead singer of the band Gabriels, he’s been nominated for multiple awards, gone on tour with Harry Styles and been anointed for greatness by Elton John. He talks to Tim Lewis about why, this time, he’s giving it his all...

Backstage at last summer’s Glastonbury, as Elton John made his first appearance at the festival and played his last-ever gig in the UK, the singer Jacob Lusk was hard to miss. When I first heard it, on the radio in the autumn of 2020 on the single Blame, I distinctly remember thinking that it must be an old-timer heritage artist that I had somehow missed before: like Nat King Cole and Nina Simone had a secret love child. Lusk’s vocals – sometimes whispered, other times belted out – are swept along by Balouzian and Hope’s dramatic production, full of horns, percussion and string arrangements, that often soar to ecstatic finales.

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