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“Don’t wait forever. This is your chance. Don’t waste another moment making other plans.”
from Chad King’s “Golden Door”
Today, A Great Big World’s Chad King announces his debut EP, ‘The Road Ahead’, set to arrive April 17th. The EP, alongside new track “Golden Door” (out today), comes from a very real place for the GRAMMY-winning King: his own experience with multiple sclerosis. A folkier departure from the theatrical pop of A Great Big World, ‘The Road Ahead’ pulls much of its lyrics from Chad’s own journal entries recounting his journey with MS.
“I sometimes think of my life in two chapters — before my MS symptoms began affecting how I move through the world, and after. This EP was written in the ‘after’ chapter,” shared Chad.
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“It feels like we all need a little reminder every now and again to keep going,” added Chad about “Golden Door”. “It felt like the right sentiment for this one.”
Chad’s MS diagnosis in 2007 kicked off years of personal study for the recent college graduate, who explored numerous forms of medication and alternative medical options. Amidst all this, Chad and his A Great Big World-partner Ian Axel won a GRAMMY for their Christina Aguilera-collab “Say Something” in 2015, released three albums, and toured the world.
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When the pandemic hit, Chad’s symptoms ignited further, resulting in him having difficulty walking, a decrease in stamina, and changes to his guitar-playing and voice near day-end. But his spirit has kept him on his path of musical expression and advocation. This message of perseverance is echoed in “Golden Door” – a fitting follow-up to sister tracks “All In Time” and “Change Is Hard” (earnest admissions of fear yet acceptance in the face of life’s obstacles).
Chad has also recently been busy at work alongside Axel composing the music for the acclaimed new musical Wonder which premiered at A.R.T’s Loeb Theatre (American Repertory Theatre) in Boston, leaving the Boston Globe praising it as “extraordinary, unexpected, and rewarding” and the Wall Street Journal saying the “score has a bright, likeable pop sheen that…captures the perky and heartfelt spirit of the book.”
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