Andy Grammer
From busking on the boardwalk in Santa Monica to belting songs in stadiums, Andy Grammer has always kept his head up. “Optimism is a personality trait of mine,” he says. “But as you get older and you get beaten down, it becomes a choice. Most of the greatest moments in my life have come from choosing sweetness, sincerity, and love when it would be maybe easier not to.”
That’s truly encapsulated in his sixth studio album, Big Stupid Heart, out this fall via S-Curve / Hollywood Records. A poppy, joyful ode to positivity at all costs — studded with cello and choral vocals — Grammer says the record’s sound “aligned perfectly with the message of the record, which is very much in defense of optimism.”
The first singles, “Best Hearts” and “Big Stupid Heart”, out July 10, are the epitome of that. Grammer penned “Best Hearts” as part of his new podcast, Showing Up With Andy Grammer. Grammer launched that show in April, inviting fans to call in and share a time someone showed up for them: he then writes a song in response, an act of his own of “showing up”. “Best Hearts” was inspired by a mother who left a voicemail sharing the strength and kindness her son displayed while battling mental health struggles, highlighting how he showed up for another individual in treatment, despite going through his own battles. “Can you write a song about people who are getting crushed but still show up for others in that moment?” she asked Grammer. The result is the kind of song that stirs your soul, lifting even the most jaded of spirits. As Grammer says, “the best hearts are broken.” It’s a celebration of hardship, struggle and life experience, viewed through the lens that it makes us stronger and more deeply connected to one another.
“When I get into my studio and I listen to these voicemails, it's like a direct line to the sweetness of humanity,” Grammer says.
After getting discovered on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade in 2009, Grammer broke out in 2011 with his upbeat, sunshine-laced song, “Keep Your Head Up.” From there, he’s become music’s king of positive pop, with four multi-platinum certified singles and 8 total (gold or platinum), racking up billions of streams and nearly 50 national TV appearances, and spreading his message of light and love across the world. Recently, he’s also had songs go viral on social media, contributing to trends that have spider-webbed over the globe — including a TikTok dance to 2014 hit, “Honey I’m Good.” “People will come up to me and do the dance in the street,” Grammer says. “If you just keep making things that you love and send them out into the world, you’ll always be surprised at the amazing ways that the world uses them.”
Through it all, Grammer has remained committed to giving back. His 2016 single “Fresh Eyes" was released as a charity single to raise awareness around the unhoused, with all proceeds benefiting Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row in Los Angeles. In 2013, following the passing of his mother Kathy from cancer, he launched the KathyGramm Campaign with Tahirih Justice Center to raise funds for immigrant women and girls fleeing violence, honoring her lifelong dedication to women’s issues. Grammer tackled his own trauma around broken relationships with 2024’s Monster. “It’s the first album where anger showed up, and I didn’t totally know how to write about that before this moment,” he told American Songwriter at the time. “I don’t like to take up space in anger. I’m down to take up space to cheer everybody up, but I found that authenticity taking up space is cool. If you’re dealing with some of the stuff I’m dealing with, you can’t be authentic without being angry.”
Big Stupid Heart, then, is an evolution — not a return to form. Grammer started work on the record with the intention of countering the turmoil he sees unfolding worldwide with something sweet, pure, fierce. “There's a tension and a divide that is just hard to be in the middle of at this moment in history,” he says. “I'm feeling all the feelings more than I ever have in my life.” It's not toxic positivity, Grammer says, but rather a call to keep our hearts open amidst it all, even when true sadness finds its way in — as demonstrated in “Best Hearts.” Bittersweet, sure, but sweet.
That theme of positivity even in the face of the worst tragedies is woven through the record — take the title track, “Big Stupid Heart.” “There's kind of a desperation at this moment to stay true to your heart,” Grammer says of the song. “This is a war cry to myself to stay open.”
It’s not all heavy; there’s the bouncy, cheeky, “Don’t Want to Fall in Love” about two friends who got together after one teasingly told the other, “Don’t hang out with me if you don’t want to fall in love.” “We need some simple, sweet love songs,” Grammer says. And “Happy Place,” a sweetly danceable collaboration with Walk Off the Earth. “Many people can fit into that happy place,” Grammer says. “My wife, my daughters, a friend who every time you see them, the world gets a little bit lighter.” Speaking of his wife, the sultry “Mysterious” is about seeing her with fresh eyes every day, even after 15 years. “Love doesn’t fade,” Grammer says. “It grows deeper.”
In the coming months, Grammer will have the chance to share his optimism with crowds both intimate and massive, playing everywhere from The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor to Montana’s KettleHouse Amphitheater . He’s bringing his one-man-show tour back this fall, complete with personal moments with audience members who want to share their stories. But, first, he’s heading out on his Big Stupid Heart tour in July, where he’ll blanket the country with sunshine and light. “When I was street performing, you’re out there every day, just being ignored, trying to find yourself,” Grammer says. “I’m still doing that today, even though I have an audience. I’m just trying to spread love. So, I cannot wait to go on tour and scream-sing these songs with everybody this summer. It’s going to be amazing.”