Multiple Grammy Award winning artist Alex Chen wasn’t always as successful or popular as he is now. The artist, who has more than 15 million listeners on Spotify and Apple Music, shook the world 3 years ago with his debut album Daydream. So, how did Alex make it to where he is today? And what is his story?
Alex and his family moved from a foreign country to the US when he was only a child. Upon arriving, he did not know how to speak English, and the 8-year-old was terrified of everything and everyone around him. The culture shock was too much for Alex to handle. To make things worse, Alex lost his parents in a car crash, and he was sent to an orphanage until he was 18. There, Alex was often bullied and left alone. He hardly made friends, and life had become nothing short of misery.
Due to his past and the trauma he had been through, Alex could never really focus on one task, and because of this, he ended up only doing okay in school—he was never the best at anything. After leaving the orphanage at 18, Alex faced further rejection from the world. His past, combined with his mediocre school results, made him non-essential and unwanted.
During these days, he ate whatever he could find and slept on park benches trying to find a purpose. All he faced was rejection. Without any real purpose, job, or friends, Alex decides to travel around the US on foot and record music using the sounds of the different cities he visited. With no studio and a borrowed laptop, Alex started to record the most authentic and raw city sounds, including traffic, people walking by, children running around, and more.
While in California, he met a business executive and told him about his idea, and that was when things started to change for Alex. He landed a deal with a small music label that would help him release his album, and 2 months later, Daydream was released. It contained 8 songs, all named after major US cities and their true essence, sounds, and beats.
The album quickly became a sensation and hit #1 on most charts across the country and even abroad. People in this day and age had not heard music outside of a studio without professional equipment. Alex’s genius combined the city sounds into soothing and upbeat melodies with his vocals and sent waves across the music industry.
While Alex was offered major million-dollar contracts from all the largest music production companies, he decided to stick with the one that gave him his first-ever shot. From thereon, Alex rose to fame and success. Since then, he’s launched a total of 4 albums and 3 music videos. He’s received multiple Grammys for his incredible work, and Alex is now thinking of entering the music production side as well.
Alex wants to help donate to orphans and children in need in the future. He has also launched multiple anti-bullying campaigns to educate young minds. Alex wants to use his success and fame to do good for humanity.
