Rachel Platten

Rachel Platten is a New York City singer-songwriter, pianist and beatboxer
She has collaborated with top-tier production teams, including Fredrik Thomander (Nsync, Lady Gaga), Jerry Abbott and Grant Black (Robbie Williams, Craig David) and the Wizardz of Oz (Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne)
She started piano lessons when she was only four and spent her childhood soaking up a stunning spectrum of influences; everything from the Beatles to Billy Joel, Motown to Madonna and Tapestry to Graceland.
When Lauryn Hill, and later the Roots, were added into the rotation, Platten discovered beatboxing
In college, Platten began taking her first steps into the world of songwriting
She went abroad in 2005 to the Caribbean isle of Trinidad, where she landed an internship at a local record label
One of the soul- and calypso-fusing soca bands she was working with scored a hit during carnival season and Platten was recruited to sing backup on a whirlwind tour through the islands
It was her first taste of performing for huge crowds, and the experience lit a fire inside her
When she returned to the States, Platten enrolled in a songwriting course at the Berklee College of Music before heading to New York City in the fall of 2006
Over the next four years, she wrote her songs