Jonathan Roy - präsentiert von Rausgegangen

In the organizer's words:

Live Nation Presents Jonathan Roy

Support: Portair

The acclaimed alt-pop songwriter from Canada comes to Cologne, Berlin and Munich for three exclusive shows in 2024

Presented by Rausgegangen Munich

Canadian Jonathan Roy first had to take a long break and live "on the road" to really find himself and his sound. For a few years now, he has been one of the most exciting alt-pop songwriters from North America. In early summer 2024, he returns to the road - and will also be stopping by in Germany for three exclusive shows.

Strictly speaking, his debut album was already around 10 years old when Jonathan Roy composed the song "Keeping Me Alive" a few years ago - the streaming hit whose acoustic version has well over 100 million views on YouTube alone. He composed it during a lengthy journey of self-discovery after leaving his old life behind. On the road in a car of the same age (both born 1989), he criss-crossed the continent in search of himself, in search of meaning. And it was on the Pacific coast that he finally wrote the song whose title says it all about the immense importance of music in his life.

While songs such as "Lost" and "Hate That I Love You" from the 2021 EP "My Lullaby" also turned out to be massive streaming successes, the singer-songwriter from Montreal recently continued his self-discovery process on the current album "Life Distortions": "People want to hear something real. They immediately sense when you're bullshitting them," says Roy about the latest songs, which deal with personal crises and a feeling of emptiness - but also with encouragement, confidence and cohesion, with living in the moment. In terms of sound, he even brings vintage Motown sounds into play - which recently brought him around half a million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Until the end of his teenage years, it actually looked more like Jonathan Roy would continue the family tradition: he grew up in a famous ice hockey family (his father Patrick Roy is in the Hall of Fame) and had his sights firmly set on an NHL career in goal for the Remparts de Québec. However, he wrote poetry at the same time - and turned it into his first songs. In 2009, he hung up his skates and started his career as a musician: his debut "What I've Become" was followed shortly afterwards by the albums "Found My Way" and the French-language "La Route". After a role in the musical "Don Juan", he landed his first really big hits with songs such as "Daniella Denmark" (2017), and the accompanying album "Mr. Optimist Blues" also made it into the Canadian Top 3. And yet something was missing - passion? Directness? Realness? - which is why Jonathan Roy had to pause for a second time in his life and change direction. He left home and began a long period of self-discovery along the Pacific Coast Highway. And finally landed in Los Angeles, where the next phase of his career could begin with "Keeping Me Alive" and much more personal songs. His sound was suddenly much more genuine, haunting and vulnerable. And therefore more healing. In fact, the healing power of his music was recently even tapped for an online course at the University of Virginia.

This same power unfolds best on stage, where Jonathan Roy presents himself as approachable and unadorned as nowhere else. He loves the effect: "It was on the road that I really realized how healing the power of music is for me. It gives me meaning. When I realize that it does other people good too, it just blows me away."