James Marriott

James William Marriott (born 7 July 1997) is a Swiss-born English musician and YouTuber. He is best known for his 2025 No. 1 UK-charting album Don't Tell the Dog and 2026 top-40 single "California Rain". Prior to this, he charted at No. 17 on the UK Albums Chart in 2023 with Are We There Yet? and No. 67 on the UK singles chart with "I Don't Want to Live Like This".

After uploading videos of his instrumental acoustic music, he attracted attention after diversifying into caustic YouTube commentary videos and Twitch livestreams. He stepped back from YouTube to pursue music full-time, releasing his debut single "Slow Down" in May 2020. This was followed by the extended plays No Left Brain and Bitter Tongues. His debut album Are We There Yet? was released in 2023, and his second album, Don't Tell the Dog, was released in 2025.

Marriott cites Foals and the Strokes as major influences, and his music is generally described as indie rock. In 2025, he founded iced coffee company Rodd's alongside close friend and frequent collaborator WillNE.

Early life James William Marriott was born on 7 July 1997 in Kilchberg, Switzerland, but grew up in Buckinghamshire, England. Marriott was interested in music from a young age and his father was a pianist. In 2008, he began attending Aylesbury Grammar School, and uploading animations online; by 2012, he had diversified into uploading videos of his instrumental acoustic work.

Marriott moved to London in order to study modern languages at University College London. He spent six months of the course in Granada, Spain, to foster proficiency in Spanish and Portuguese. and Marriott later gained a following as a live streamer on Twitch.

Later, in an interview with Brig News, Marriott discussed his regrets about his commentary videos and his journey through YouTube. "It’s what got me here in the first place, but I was really mean," he stated. "It’s a weird thing, because I feel like one of the reasons I’m here is because I had that moment. If I could have found another way to have made it on YouTube, without doing commentary, I would have absolutely taken that route ten times out of ten.” Following the release of "Wake Up!", Marriott moved from London to Brighton. One of the songs on the EP, "Grapes", gained viral popularity for a trend done with grapes in September, and has experienced a revival in popularity every September. In an interview with Brig News, Marriott describes the various rewrites "Grapes" went through: “I said the ‘did nobody ever tell you grapes are better in September’ [lyric] to someone, and then I immediately wrote it down, and then I just had that lyric like rolling around in my head for a while." and Lovejoy on tour. That May, he performed at Brighton's annual Great Escape Festival, though Capaldi later cancelled the gig due to poor mental health. Marriott then released the singles "So Long" and "Romanticise This", the latter a deeply personal track about suicidal ideation. Marriott debuted "Don't Blame Me", which was released as an official single in October 2023.

In early November, Marriott released Are We There Yet?, an album that describes Marriott's hypothetical leaving of the United Kingdom to return to Spain, and his own desire to know if his personal struggles would follow him to some new place. The album was produced and written in close collaboration with Marriott's guitarist and keyboardist Jono Suter, as well as Aleksi Kiiskinen. Are We There Yet? charted at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart and number 2 on the UK Independent Albums Chart. That year, Marriott performed his first Australian shows in Sydney and Melbourne

In February 2024, Marriott was announced to be playing at the annual Reading and Leeds Festivals on the BBC Radio 1 stage, as well as performing on the Big Top stage at the Isle of Wight Festival later in June 2024. A concert at Leeds Festival in August 2024 had to be cancelled on safety grounds due to Storm Lilian, following which Marriott was criticised for charging fans for a replacement gig at The Wardrobe in Leeds city centre.

2025-2026: Don't Tell the Dog and chart success In February 2025, Marriott released the indie pop single "I Don't Want to Live Like This". The song charted at number 67 on the UK singles chart, The album was Marriott's second recorded at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate, after Are We There Yet?. and "It's Only Love". The latter was indie folk track accompanied by a folk horror-inspired music video. . The fourth and final single, "Something's Wrong", was released later that year, accompanied by a music video that featured Marriott's friend and collaborator WillNE.

Don't Tell the Dog was released in June 2025, and the album peaked at #1 on the UK Official Albums Chart. In an interview with Billboard, Marriott stated, "Thank you so, so much for my first-ever official No. 1 album. It’s been such an amazing week traveling up and down the country, doing a little show. I’m just mind blown! Thank you so much for supporting me over the last week, and the last few years." It peaked at 22 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming his first top 40 single. Later, Marriott stated that the song would not be included on his upcoming third studio album.

2026-present: O2 Brixton and upcoming third album In August 2026, Marriott performed on the main stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals.

Artistic influences Marriott initially "fell head over heels in love with music" after attending an ABBA tribute concert with family as a child. His early guitar work was inspired by Rodrigo y Gabriela, a flamenco and metal music duo. Marriott later deemed the guitar in his music as a "priority", and said he often sits down with an Epiphone Casino whenever emotions hit. Marriott also noted that a Dodie concert he attended "made [him] fall in love with having a string quartet over indie music". For Don't Tell the Dog, Marriott was inspired by the laissez-faire production style of Fizz's The Secret to Life. Advertised as "iced coffee in a bottle that tastes like iced coffee not in a bottle", the brand debuted exclusively in the United Kingdom at 300 Sainsbury's stores. Rodd’s rapidly expanded from the 300 original Sainsbury’s stores to nationwide Sainsbury supermarket distribution within six months, while also launching in Sainsbury’s Meal Deals, convenience, and forecourts. Distribution expanded again to include supermarkets Morrisons and Ocado.

Band members

Live members Matt Gavin – lead guitar (2021–present)

Format: Digital Label: Independent

Released: 24 June 2022 (digital) Label: Independent

Singles Title Year Peak chart positions Album Video director(s) UK NZHot "Slow Down" 2020 — — — "Wake Up!" — — — Will Dawson "Gold" — — — Bitter Tongues Ted Nivison "Sleeping on Trains" 2022 — — — James Marriott "Grapes" — — — James Marriott; Ash Kabosu "So Long" 2023 — — — Are We There Yet? Kieran Wall "Romanticise This" — — — Maya Katherine; Orr Piamenta "Don't Blame Me" — — — James Marriott "I Don't Want to Live Like This"2025 67 — 31Don't Tell the DogOrr Piamenta "Toothache" — — — "It's Only Love" — — 37 "Something's Wrong" — — 35 "California Rain" 2026 22 68 11 Herbie Elton "Burn Down the Disco"——— "—" denotes recording did not chart in that territory.

Tours

Headlining Bitter/UK Tour (2023) Australia Tour (2023 + 2024) Are We There Yet? Tour (2024) Summer '24 Tour (2024) US + Canada Tour #1 (2025) North America: A James Marriott Tour (2025) UK & EU Tour (2025) Australia: A James Marriott Tour (2026)