HE’S the sharp dressed pop star whose soulful, uplifting voice is responsible for huge global hits.
And while Aloe Blacc is very much still passionate about his music – his latest single, a reimagining of top songwriter Toby Gad’s Little Do You Know with Hollywood star Keke Palmer, was released on Friday – the 45-year-old is dedicating most of his time to a very different venture.
Aloe founded his own biotech firm, Major Inc, following a bout of coronavirus in 2022, which he contracted despite having received a booster jab.
Before his music career took off, Aloe had wanted to study neuroscience at the University of Southern California, but it didn’t offer the course.
More than two decades later, he is finally pursuing his passion for science albeit in another field.
Through Major Inc he’s hoping to combat the next tranche of infectious diseases as well as providing hope for those suffering from chronic ailments.
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In an exclusive interview with The Sun, he said: “The biotech is certainly taking the majority of my time. It is an important new development in my life and I think I can have as much impact in biotech as I’ve had in music, but the music helps me to get into certain rooms. I use the celebrity to make the phone calls and emails I wanna make and I think it’s a noble use of my celebrity because the scientists I’m working with definitely have transformative medicine.
“When you think about the kind of technology we’re developing in order to treat infectious disease, in order to treat chronic disease and eliminate something like a viral pathogen so we can get ahead of the next pandemic.
“Instead of an immune boosting system like mRNA vaccines we’re talking about prophylaxis, prevention up front. That, to me, is game-changing. We talk about inflammatory disease like sepsis or Crohn’s disease and having an option, a treatment that currently doesn’t exist. That excites me and I think certainly worth tapping into my network.”
That crucial celebrity status was afforded to him thanks to the success of songs like I Need a Dollar, My Way, Wake Me Up – the huge hit with the late DJ Avicii, and The Man.
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With billions of streams in total, the royalties are significant and a portion of them have propped up the new business venture.
Aloe said: “The initial investments I’ve made are off the back off the resources I’ve made from these big songs. If I can do more then even more can happen.”
TikTok made my flop single a phenomenon – now I’ve re-made it with huge stars
Four years on from his last album, the gloriously optimistic All Love Everything, Aloe has released a new version of an old song penned by Toby Gad.
Little Do You Know was initially released by US X Factor winner’s Alex and Sierra in 2014, but it failed to make the charts and disappeared without trace.
Several years later out of the blue, it began to gain traction on social media platform TikTok and has gone on to amass more that 710m streams on Spotify as a result.
Toby revealed his own daughter didn’t even know that he had written the track and was stunned to find out that the ‘TikTok song’ was his handiwork.
I can have as much impact in biotech as I’ve had in music
Aloe Blacc
It now is one of Toby’s best-loved creations, sitting alongside his monster hits All of Me, If I Were a Boy and Big Girls Don’t Cry.
Remade for the Piano Diaries Vol. 1 – a stripped back collection of Toby’s biggest hits – he, Aloe and Keke are hoping it gets the chart success it richly deserves second time around.
Speaking from his home studio in LA, Toby told The Sun: “It’s now one of my biggest earners. Just by itself it blew up on TikTok. It’s one of these complete TikTok phenomenons.
“I’m now at a point where I’m re-recording my greatest hits with new artists on a project called Piano Diaries.
“Aloe is an amazing singer. Of course I was a massive fan of Wake Me Up with Avicii, it’s one of my all time favourite songs. The lyrics make you think for days. So Aloe’s always on my mind. I’ve always wanted to do something great with him, so this song I felt was the perfect collaboration we could do.”
The emphasis now really is on the songwriting with moving lyrics, sang beautifully by Aloe and Keke, backed up by an emotive piano line.
On what he wanted to bring to the table, Aloe said: “It’s a really amazingly tender lyric and my goal was to pay tribute to the message, to the feeling and offer Toby the best parts of my voice. As a producer, he’s always there guiding every melody, every nuance. I wanted to make it sound like it was an urgent request for everlasting love.”
And the release is the perfect gateway to his next solo release which is heavily inspired by his philanthropic work.
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“I’m always creating,” he said. “This single is a special treat. It’s a nice opportunity to collaborate with friends and deliver something to the world that says ‘hello, I’m still around’.”
Little Do You Know is available to stream and buy now.
