Drake Bell

Jared Drake Bell was born on 27 June 1986 in Orange County, California,US and started an acting career in the mid 90s, appearing in shows like “Home Improvement” and movies such as “Jerry McGuire” and “High Fidelity”. It was through his role as an actor that he came to terms with the music world. While working on the film “Chasing Destiny” he became acquainted with his co-star Roger Daltrey (lead singer of the Who) and received his very 1st guitar lesson from the rock legend.

Bell continued on with his music endeavors in parallel with his acting career. During his stint on the Amanda Show he often contributed musical performances and while he was starring on the show “Drake & Josh” he showcased many of his original compositions (one of which was the theme song to the series). Bell’s sound was heavily influenced by 60s pop groups like the Beatles, Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones as well as 50s rockabilly acts such as Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly.

His first studio album, “Telegraph” was independently released through the label Nine Yards on 23 August 2005 and was later reissued in 2007. It was met with strong critical acclaim and featured the hit song “Found Away”, which has since been covered by Ariana Grande and Elizabeth Gillies. Later that year Drake Bell acted in the movie “Yours Mine and Ours” and performed the song “Bring Em Out” with the guitar pop act Hawk Nelson for the soundtrack.

Towards the end of 2006 Bell issued his 2nd studio album “It’s Only Time” trough the label, Universal Motown. This proved to be his most successful release yet, peaking at no. 81 on Billboard’s Top 200, no. 21 on Billboards Rock Charts, and no. 4 on the Mexico Top 100. The album sported the singles “I Know”, “Found a Way (Acoustic)”, and “Makes Me Happy”. The latter title rose to no.3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The three closing tracks: “Rusted Silhouette”, “Break Me Down”, and End It Good” acted as a medley and a homage to the Beatles album “Abbey Road”.

Drake spent the larger part of the remaining decade acting in movies like “Drake & Josh Go Hollywood”, “Superhero Movie”, “College”, and “Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh”. He also devoted a portion of his time touring the world and in 2008 released a DVD entitled “Drake Bell In Concert”.

On 22 April 2014, Bell released the rockabilly inspired album “Ready, Steady, Go!”. This release was produced by one of Bells’ favorite musicians, Brian Setzer. Though Bell composed a few of the album’s tracks it was predominately comprised of covers, including works by the Kinks, Bill Joel , Queen, The Jags and the Moves. The Brian Setzer cover “Bitchcraft” acted as the leading single and received a remix from the French electro-swing band Caravan Palace. The album hit no. 182 on the Billboard 200 and was supported by an extensive US tour, on which Bell played varying high schools.