Isaac Slade
{{Short description|American musician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Isaac Slade
| image = Isaac Slade.JPG
| caption = Slade in 2014
| birth_name = Isaac Edward Slade
| birth_date = May 26, 1981 (age 43)
| birth_place = Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
| origin =
| death_date =
| genre = Alternative rock, pop rock
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|musician|songwriter}}
| instrument = Vocals, piano
| years_active = 1999–present
| label =
| past_member_of = {{hlist| Ember|The Fray}}
| website =
}}
Isaac Edward Slade (born May 26, 1981) is an American singer and musician; the former lead vocalist, main songwriter, pianist and co-founder of Colorado-based rock band The Fray.
Education
Slade attended the University of Colorado Denver, where he was enrolled as a music and entertainment industry studies major. He received a Bachelor of Music.{{cite web|last=Goodland|first=Marianne|url=https://www.cu.edu/sg/messages/4942.html|title=CAM Records returns with release of Colorado Cuts|date=April 20, 2006|publisher=cu.edu|access-date=August 27, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314225145/https://www.cu.edu/sg/messages/4942.html|archive-date=March 14, 2012}}
Slade started singing when he was eight years old, and began playing the piano at eleven, after temporarily losing his voice. He wrote his first song when he was sixteen and learned to play guitar when he was in high school.{{cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/fray/artist.jhtml#biographyEnd|title=The Fray|publisher=vh1.com|access-date=August 27, 2012|archive-date=October 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017064054/http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/fray/artist.jhtml#biographyEnd|url-status=dead}}
Career
=Formation and early stages=
Slade joined Ember, a band which consisted of Slade and his future band-mates Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki. The band soon dissolved, and later, in the spring of 2002, Slade ran into former school-mate and vocalist/guitarist Joe King in a record store. The two began regular jam sessions, which led to writing songs. They later added Slade's younger brother, Caleb, on bass and Zach Johnson on drums.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}
Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki re-joined Slade and King, to form the Fray. They soon released Movement EP, and in 2003, they released Reason EP to some local critical acclaim, particularly by Denver's Westword alternative newsweekly.{{cite magazine|last=Herrera|first=Dave|url=http://www.westword.com/issues/2003-12-25/music/music.html|magazine=Westword|title=All Mixed Up|date=December 25, 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203045549/http://www.westword.com/issues/2003-12-25/music/music.html|archive-date=February 3, 2009}}{{cite news|last=Heller|first=Jason|url=http://www.westword.com/issues/2004-02-19/music/playlist.html|publisher=westword.com|title=The Fray: Reason EP (self-released)|date=February 19, 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041112212727/http://www.westword.com/Issues/2004-02-19/music/playlist.html|archive-date=November 12, 2004}} Despite these reviews, the band struggled to launch a single. Denver radio station KTCL rejected eight of their songs before the band decided to submit "Cable Car". The song found airplay on a KTCL radio show highlighting local bands and the radio station received a large number of requests for it soon thereafter. The band changed the name of the song to "Over My Head (Cable Car)", and by the end of 2005, it had become KTCL's most played song of the year.{{cite magazine|last=Smith|first=Dane|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9550361/the_fray_live_the_high_life|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915054423/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9550361/the_fray_live_the_high_life|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 15, 2006|magazine=Rolling Stone|title=The Fray Live the High "Life"|date=March 30, 2006}}
=Departure from The Fray=
On March 12, 2022, Slade announced on Instagram that he had parted ways with the Fray, following a series of onstage panic attacks, with his final concert with the band held at Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois, on May 14, 2022. Since his departure, Slade now runs a record store on Vashon Island, Washington.{{cite web|url= https://www.king5.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/evening/former-lead-singer-of-the-fray-finds-happy-place-on-vashon-island/281-7504a395-de33-474a-9993-d69066464541 |title= Former lead singer of The Fray finds his happy place on Vashon Island|website=KING 5 News|date=May 16, 2024|access-date=May 24, 2024}}
Influences
Slade stated in an interview that one of the first songs that inspired him was "Swallowed" by Bush, and that the lyrics and tune had moved him enough to pursue his career.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Playlist/story?id=3482745#.UDvbh6CkBpQ|title=Nightline Playlist: The Fray|date=August 16, 2007|publisher=ABC News|access-date=August 27, 2012}} In a post on AOL Radio Blog, he wrote:
As a boy "Swallowed" was my siren's song. I was a sheltered church child and here's this man talking about living the life his way, doing whatever he felt like doing. Bush wasn't allowed in my house either, which made it that much more mysterious.{{cite web|url=http://www.aolradioblog.com/2009/09/30/top-10-lead-singers/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005012012/http://www.aolradioblog.com/2009/09/30/top-10-lead-singers|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 5, 2009|title=The Top 10 Lead Singers by The Fray's Isaac Slade|date=30 September 2009|publisher=aolradioblog.com|access-date=August 27, 2012}}
His other musical influences include Nine Inch Nails, Queen, Radiohead, R.E.M., Counting Crows, U2, and Led Zeppelin.
Philanthropy
Slade performed on the 2010 remake of the 1985 charity single "We Are the World".{{cite news|last=Kaufman|first=Gil|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1631021/we-world-25-haiti-artists-include-kanye-west-miley-cyrus-justin-bieber.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226025349/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1631021/we-world-25-haiti-artists-include-kanye-west-miley-cyrus-justin-bieber.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 26, 2011|title='We Are The World -- 25 For Haiti' Artists Include Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber|date=February 2, 2010|publisher=MTV|access-date=August 27, 2012}} He joined 85 other artists on February 1, 2010, to record the track for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.{{cite web|url=http://wearetheworldfoundation.org/the-song/|title=The Song|access-date=October 16, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217065800/http://wearetheworldfoundation.org/the-song/|archive-date=February 17, 2010}}
On October 27, 2013, Slade and the Fray played at the Colorado Flood Benefit Concert that raised nearly $500,000 for victims of the flood.{{cite news|last=Ferner|first=Matt|title=Colorado Flood Benefit Concert Raises Nearly $500K For Victims|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/colorado-flood-relief_n_4171231.html|date=October 28, 2013|work=Huffington Post|access-date=November 29, 2013}}
Political views
Slade considers himself to be a centrist. He often votes for independent candidates. Slade sponsored Neal Simon, who was running as an independent candidate for senator from Maryland during the 2018 elections.{{Cite news|title=The Fray's Isaac Slade plays first solo show at rally for Md. Senate candidate Neal Simon|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2018/09/25/the-frays-isaac-slade-plays-first-solo-show-at-rally-for-md-senate-candidate-neal-simon/|access-date=July 28, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Clear}}
{{The Fray}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slade, Isaac}}
Category:American rock singers
Category:American rock pianists
Category:American male pianists
Category:University of Colorado Denver alumni
Category:21st-century American singers