A Great Big World’s Chad King will release his first EP, The Road Ahead, on April 17. The EP will mark a personal note for the GRAMMY-winner: his own experience with multiple sclerosis. The EP is expected to be a folkier departure from the theatrical pop of A Great Big World.
“I sometimes think of my life in two chapters — before my MS symptoms began affecting how I move through the world, and after. This EP was written in the ‘after’ chapter,” he said in a press release in March.
King’s MS diagnosis in 2007 kicked off years of personal study for the then-recent college graduate, who explored numerous forms of medication and alternative medical options. Amidst all this, he and his A Great Big World-partner Ian Axel won a GRAMMY for the Christina Aguilera-collab “Say Something” in 2015, released three albums and toured the world.
When the pandemic hit, King’s symptoms increased, resulting in difficulty walking, a decrease in stamina, and changes to his guitar-playing and voice.
He spoke about his struggles as a gay man living with multiple sclerosis to Out Magazine in 2016.
“As a symptom of MS, a couple years ago I started losing strength on the left side of my body by noon every day. This heavily affected my ability to play and perform music,” King said last month in a press release for the single “All in Time.” “This song was a way to make peace with my new reality, and it specifically uses guitar chords that I can play even in the afternoon.”
Proceeds from that song were donated to Race to Erase MS for National MS Awareness Month in March.
King has also recently been working alongside Axel composing the music for the new musical Wonder which premiered at A.R.T’s Loeb Theatre (American Repertory Theatre) in Boston.
Over the four-song collection, King pulls lyrics and inspiration from his very own journal entries to provide insight into the ways MS has influenced his ability to make and express himself musically while remaining optimistic.
Listen to the track “All in Time” from the album below:
–Rich Lopez