Austin Mahone

Austin Harris Mahone (/məˈhoʊn/; born April 4, 1996) is an American singer. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, he gained initial recognition performing covers of pop songs on YouTube. He was discovered by record producers Rocco Did It Again! and Mike Blumstein in 2012, and subsequently signed with their label, Chase Records in a joint venture with Republic Records in June of that year. His 2012 debut single, "Say Somethin'" and its follow-up, "Say You're Just a Friend" (featuring Flo Rida) both received gold certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while his 2013 single, "What About Love" did so and marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. All three were included on his titularly-titled debut extended play (2013), which was released only in Japan. In September of that year, his recording contract entered a triple joint venture with Birdman's Cash Money Records, an imprint of Republic.

His 2014 single, "Mmm Yeah" (featuring Pitbull) received platinum certification by the RIAA and became his highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100—at number 49. It served as lead single for his second extended play (EP) The Secret (2014), which peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. After the release of his 2015 single "Dirty Work", he parted ways with the labels in favor of Pitbull's Mr. 305 Inc. The song entered the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), leading his debut studio album, Dirty Work – The Album (2017) to be released exclusively in the country—where it entered the Oricon Albums Chart. Preceded by a number of follow-up mixtapes and EPs, his second album, A Lone Star Story (2023) marked a full departure from pop in favor of country music.