Be Here (album)

Rachel Platten
Platten performing at the closing of the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando, Florida.
Born	Rachel Ashley Platten (1981-05-20) May 20, 1981 (age 36) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Singer songwriter
Years active	2003–present
Home town	Newton Centre, Massachusetts, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Kevin Lazan (m. 2012)
Website	RachelPlatten.com
Musical career
Origin	New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Pop indie pop
Instruments	Vocals piano guitar keyboards marimba vibraphone
Labels	Rock Ridge Columbia RCA
Associated acts	Taylor Swift Colbie Caillat Christina Grimmie Christina Perri

Rachel Ashley Platten (born May 20, 1981) is an American singer and songwriter. She released three independent albums between 2003 and 2014, before signing with Columbia Records in early 2015.

She rose to fame in 2015 with the release of the single "Fight Song", which peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, topped the charts in the United Kingdom and peaked within the top ten of multiple charts worldwide. Platten won an Emmy Award for the live performance of the song on Good Morning America. Her major-label debut album, Wildfire, released in 2016, was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and featured the hits "Stand by You" and "Better Place".

Platten was born on May 20, 1981, in New York City to a mother of Irish ancestry, and grew up in Newton Centre, Massachusetts and attended the Mason-Rice Elementary School. She was raised Jewish. Platten studied classical piano from the age of 5 and then took up guitar in high school. She attended Buckingham Browne and Nichols high school, where she sang in the school's singing group. At Trinity College, she was a member of the Trinity College Trinitones, the college's first all-female a cappella group.

As a part of a study abroad program, she went to Trinidad to do an internship at a diplomat's office and at a record label. While she was there, she sang backup for a friend's band in front of over 80,000 people at the International Soca Monarch finals in 2002. According to Platten, from that moment on she knew she had to pursue music full-time.