Meet Noah Kahan: Music’s Newest Household Name
design: Ella Welch
He isn’t just sticking around for a season, he’s here to stay.
by CHLOE RUDNICK ★ JULY 28, 2024
From a small town in Strafford, Vermont to big stages around the world, Kahan’s success is growing unlike any other. Between listening to A-list artists, opening for them, collaborating with them, and now becoming one himself, Noah Kahan is quickly on the rise to stardom.
It is often in the music industry that an unheard-of artist will have a breakthrough number-one hit and then become everyone’s favorite one-hit wonder. But, it’s not often that these songs stick, and Noah Kahan is defying the odds and doing so with ease. In October 2020, Kahan posted a TikTok playing a verse of a song that would later be called “Stick Season” with the caption reading “This sucks..'' 390,000 views later, he took the chorus to TikTok. 10.7 million views after that, it was viral. Two years later, in July of 2022, he released the song as a single and quickly skyrocketed to fame. 555 million streams later, his life was changed forever. Just three months after that, he released a 14-song album which quickly grew in popularity. One year later, in 2023, he released an extended version of the album with 21 tracks titled Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever). The following year, in 2024, he released Stick Season (Forever). The third and final iteration of the album, with 30 tracks, features Post Malone, Lizzy McAlpine, Hozier, Kacey Musgraves, Gracie Abrams, Sam Fender, Brandi Carlile, and Gregory Alan Isakov. In the same month, he was nominated for Best New Artist at The Grammys.
Now, he is on a world tour and this week plays two of his dream venues, Madison Square Garden and Fenway Park, for two sold-out nights each. The path that he has been on is truly remarkable, especially considering it started on social media, and doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. As he said to the audience at Madison Square Garden earlier this week, “sometimes I hear you guys clapping and look behind me to see who you’re cheering for.” At that same show, prior to him taking the stage the screens showed an image of an old tweet of his reading “I prolly won’t sell out Madison Square Garden, or even all the shows on my tour but I’ll keep writing songs for you as long as you’ll have me.” That was at the second of two sold out nights at the Garden. His favorite artists have become his friends, fans, and collaborators which must create a sense of imposter syndrome like no other. And having your idols join you on stage as your surprise guests, one most notable to him is Hozier. There are tweets from Noah dating back to 2017 mentioning his love for him as an artist, one of them from August 2023 saying “Seeing Hozier this weekend gonna shit and piss fosho.” That night, he met him. Just a few weeks later, he was invited to join Hozier on stage to accompany him in singing “Work Song,” Noah’s favorite song from growing up. In October, Hozier shared Noah’s spotlight, joining him on stage to sing his song “Northern Attitude.” The following month, a version of “Northern Attitude (with Hozier)” was released.
Rather than letting the fame get to his head, Kahan is leading with authenticity and that demeanor is exactly what’s so captivating about him. Just last month in Nashville before his show began, he stood outside in the merch stand conversing with fans as they made their purchases. For those lucky enough to meet him, it altered their entire experience for the night to follow: it personified the “celebrity” they, along with 20,000 others, were about to watch perform. He is all-around, down to earth, and never lost the granola vibe that he came into the industry with. As a matter of fact, he is holding on tight to it. With him it’s plain and simple; there’s no fancy LA makeover, no designer clothes, no big changes. In interviews he has made it clear staying humble and taking pride in being the same person he was before, or at least in his mind that is the case. On social media, this is the case too. As mentioned above he tweets daily as if he is speaking to his close friends, and posts TikToks singing with his guitar as if he is some underground artist, which he is in fact, the opposite of. It is the same thing with his writing. In his music, he mentions things like growing up in New England, having divorced parents, and dealing with feelings that are unique to him, but shared by listeners throughout the world.
He does what songwriters do best: voices feelings everyone feels, but doesn't want to say. Whether it’s his relatable lyrics, inviting personality, or the addicting music itself, what he’s doing is working. “Everywhere, Everything” Noah does, we can’t wait to see.