Daniel Powter

Powter's subsequent work never reached the same success as "Bad Day", with Billboard dubbing him the top "one-hit wonder" of the 2000s.

Daniel Powter studied at MacEwan University and Vernon Secondary School. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are piano rock and pop music. Residence is recorded at Vernon. Distinctions recorded are Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

• Name — Daniel Powter • Birth Name — Daniel Richard Powter • Born — 25 February 1971 • Birthplace — Vernon, British Columbia, Canada • Genre — * Pop rock • alternative rock • Occupation — * Singer • songwriter • Years Active — * 1984–present • Label — * Outside • Warner • Avex • EMI • Unleashed • KDS Farrell, Inc • Website — danielpowter.com

Powter grew up in Coldstream, outside of Vernon, in the Okanagan Valley region of British Columbia. Powter started playing the violin at four years old. He changed to piano at 16 years old due to bullying. Powter studied at MacEwan University but dropped out—partially due to his dyslexia—to pursue music full time.

Powter started a pop rock band in Victoria, British Columbia. The band won an award, which allowed them to produce a CD. Powter also worked as a keyboardist on The Chris Isaak Show. In his late twenties, Powter met producer Jeff Dawson in Vancouver. With Dawson producing, Powter released his debut album I'm Your Betty on June 21, 2000 through indie label Outside Music. A few songs on the album appeared on the Canadian television show Higher Ground.

• Illustration — Powter at the MTV Asia Awards 2006 in Bangkok, Thailand. Powter wrote the hook to "Bad Day" while on a ferry ride between Victoria and Vancouver. Powter wrote the song with a negative connotation to avoid sounding cheesy and chose "bad day" because it sang well. Powter recorded a demo for "Bad Day" with producer Jeff Dawson and fielded inquiries with several music labels. After acquiring a music manager in Los Angeles, he signed with Warner Bros. Music and recorded his 2005 self titled album with Mitchell Froom co-producing. Powter's first single, "Bad Day", was first released in Europe in mid-2005, in advance of his second album, Daniel Powter. Warner Bros. Records submitted the single for commercials, and it was subsequently chosen by Coca-Cola as the theme song for an ad campaign in Europe. The song achieved heavy airplay in most European countries, peaking at number three on the overall European airplay chart. It reached number one on national airplay in Germany, number one on the singles charts in the Republic of Ireland and Italy, number two in the United Kingdom—where it stayed in the top ten for thirteen weeks—and number three in Australia. In the United States, "Bad Day" was used extensively on the television series American Idol in its fifth season. Powter sang the song live at the end of the final show of that season on May 23, 2006. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, making Powter the first solo Canadian male artist to top the Hot 100 since Bryan Adams in 1995 (with "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?"). The song also reached number one in Powter's homeland, Canada. On May 31, 2005, Powter released his first extended play known as "Free Loop." On July 2, 2005, Powter performed at the Berlin installment of Live 8, a simultaneous group of concerts in nine countries intended to raise awareness of poverty in Africa. "Bad Day" came in fifth in the British Record of the Year 2005. In 2006, Powter won in the New Artist of the Year category at the Canadian Juno Awards, and was nominated for Best International Breakthrough Act at the BRIT Awards. "Bad Day" was nominated at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards for Hot 100 Single of the Year, and was named Billboard magazine's song of the year in 2006. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Powter received a Best Male Pop Vocal Performance nomination for the song. The subsequent singles from Daniel Powter – "Jimmy Gets High", "Free Loop", and "Lie to Me" – were released in different parts of the world, each failing to match the success of "Bad Day". "Free Loop" was deemed chart ineligible in the UK (as the release included a version of "Bad Day" as a B-side whilst "Bad Day" was still in the chart, hence breaking chart rules) and failed to chart in the U.S., though it reached the top forty on the Adult Contemporary chart. Following the release of "Lie to Me", "Jimmy Gets High" was to be the fourth single from the album in the UK, but its release was cancelled. A new track called "Love You Lately" was released as the next U.S. single, preceding a re-release of the album Daniel Powter that was also cancelled. On January 29, 2007, Powter released his first compilation album B-Sides.

section In March 2008, a song by Japanese singer Haru featuring Powter, "Find My Way", was released. In September, Powter released his third album, Under the Radar. Love you Lately was also rerecorded and released on December 9, 2008 as a new single. This was the same year in which he embarked on the Wolfbaggin' Tour, joining the likes of Alphabeat and Lil Chris. Powter also performed piano on tracks for what was scheduled to be Marcy Playground frontman John Wozniak's solo album, Leaving Wonderland... in a Fit of Rage, but the album was released under the band's name. Powter was still given credit for his contributions to the song "Gin and Money". Under The Radar was also given an exclusive CD and DVD release for the Asia Market known as the Asia Tour Edition. It was released on February 14, 2009. On March 16, 2009, Powter performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival then in December 2009, Powter was named as the decade's top One-Hit Wonder by Billboard. The magazine describes one-hit wonders as acts whose second hit did not reach the top 25; they only included acts from 2000 to 2007. In Powter's case, "Bad Day" is his only Hot 100 hit. On January 1, 2010, he performed O Canada at the NHL Winter Classic. In that same year, he released his greatest hits album, Best of Me, and with it, recorded three new songs and a new version of the title track to go along with 'Bad Day', 'Jimmy Gets High', 'Next Plane Home' and his other singles. Only one was released as a single: 'Lose To Win', on November 10, 2010. On December 1, 2010, Powter made a tribute to English singer and songwriter John Lennon with his cover version of Happy Xmas (War Is Over). This single was released in Europe, the UK and Japan. Powter took a hiatus in 2011 to focus on his family life.

On April 10, 2012, Powter's single "Cupid" was released to US and Canadian iTunes stores. The single was written after his divorce. Powter's album, Turn On the Lights, was released in July 2012. On September 10, 2012, he released "Crazy All My Life". The song peaked at number 23 on the Canadian Hot 100 and became his biggest hit in Russia, where it reached number 12 on the radio chart and has over 1.4 million lifetime plays. On December 5, 2012, Powter was featured in a song with Japanese singer May J. titled "Back To Your Heart". On the 18 he released the single "Christmas Cupid", which is a Christmas version of his song "Cupid". On June 5, 2013, Powter announced on Twitter that he was working on an album with Jeff Dawson, who co-produced most of his songs in the past, and John Fields, who was a co-writer on "Crazy All My Life". He also said: On July 15, 2013, Powter performed at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals performing "Bad Day" and "Whole World Around." Matthew Perry also attended the event. On August 9, 2013, he performed at the Festival of Friends. On September 5, 2013, Powter later released 4 songs as bonus tracks for his album Turn on the Lights called Ur My Radio, Doesn't Matter, Cheers To Us and Goodbye. These tracks only appeared as part of a re-release for the Japanese market on March 17, 2014. On November 27, 2016, Powter performed at The 39th Jazz Goes To Campus Festival performing Bad Day. On January 6, 2017, Powter released a single called "Delicious" featuring Australian singer Vanessa Amorosi. The music video was uploaded to his official YouTube channel on March 14, 2017. On December 10, 2017, Powter performed at the President's Star Charity event in Singapore singing Bad Day and joined Sandra Riley Tang in a duet performing her band's song "Save Myself." On April 6, 2018, Powter released a single called "Perfect For Me." On April 13, he released his fourth extended play known as Daniel Powter. There are 4 songs in this album: a remastered remix of Bad Day, Tell Them Who You Are in an acoustic version, his 2017 single "Delicious" and his 2018 single "Perfect For Me." On September 21, 2018, Powter released a single known as "Do You Wanna Get Lucky" It was followed by another called "Survivor" released on October 26 and Perfect for Me was later re-recorded and released on November 23 for the Asia market. He released an album called Giants on December 14 where songs in the album include the re-recording of "Perfect For Me", "Survivor", "Delicious", re-recordings of "Bad Day", "Free Loop" and "Tell Them Who You Are" (from the EP). A remixed version of "Do You Wanna Get Lucky" is also included known as the Holiday version. Powter went on to feature with The Untamed Boys, a Chinese pop group, in January 2020, where they released the song "Just Isn't Me." and performed it alongside "Bad Day" while touring in Bangkok, Thailand. Powter also collaborated with other artists in the MOSHIMO Project in May 2020. On February 3, 2021, Powter was featured in a song called "Save Your Life" with Japanese pop singer Ayaka Hirahara. In 2024, Powter performed "Bad Day" during his audition on the fourth season of Canada's Got Talent, making his first Canadian television performance. In August 2025, Powter announced on Instagram that his new song "City of Angels" will be released on September 12, 2025. Following this, he released a new song on October 17, 2025 called "Celebrate the Holidays." It is Powter's first ever original holiday song.

Powter moved to Los Angeles in 2005. As of 2024, Powter resides with his wife Christina in Portland, Oregon. He has three children: two daughters and one son. Powter disclosed in July 2013 that he was sexually abused by a female babysitter for three years starting from the age of seven and turned to drugs and alcohol to get over his guilt and shame. He said in an interview:I thought that (addiction) was my problem. But it wasn't. That was my solution. It wasn't until I started digging in, taking a look at myself, saying I gotta work on some stuff (that) I don't want to look at (that I figured it out). My parents didn't know and I was too scared to tell them. Powter was addicted to alcohol and cocaine. He became sober in 2010. Powter is a fan of the NHL. As a child, he was a fan of the Edmonton Oilers and is now a Los Angeles Kings fan.

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications • Title — Album details — Peak chart positions — Sales — Certifications • AUS — AUT — BEL (WA) — FRA — IRL — JPN — NZ — SWI — UK — US • I'm Your Betty — * Released: June 21, 2000 * Label: Outside * Formats: CD — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • Daniel Powter — * Released: August 8, 2005 * Label: Warner Bros. * Formats: CD, digital download — 14 — 43 — 18 — 14 — 8 — 4 — 6 — 14 — 5 — 9 — * US: 500,000 — * ARIA: Gold * BPI: Platinum * IFPI SWI: Gold * IRMA: Platinum * RIAA: Gold * RIAJ: 3× Platinum * RMNZ: Gold * SNEP: Platinum • Under the Radar — * Released: September 15, 2008 * Label: Warner Bros. * Formats: CD, digital download — — — 74 — 21 — 29 — — — 10 — — — 20 — 43 — — • Turn On the Lights — * Released: July 13, 2012 * Label: Avex, EMI * Formats: CD, digital download — — — — — — — — — — — 177 — — — — — 109 — — • Giants — * Released: December 14, 2018 * Label: KDS Farrell, Inc * Formats: CD, digital download — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions • Title — Album details — Peak chart positions • JPN • B-Sides — * Released: January 29, 2007 * Label: Warner Bros. * Formats: Digital download — — • Best of Me — * Released: December 8, 2010 * Label: Warner Bros. * Formats: CD, digital download — 65 • The Essential Collection — * Released: November 19, 2021 * Label: Warner Bros. * Formats: Digital download — — • "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

List of extended plays • Title — EP details • Free Loop — * Released: May 31, 2005 * Label: Warner Bros. * Formats: Digital download • iTunes Live from Tokyo — * Released: August 6, 2008 * Label: Warner Bros. * Formats: Digital download • Songs from Under the Radar — * Released: September 16, 2008 * Label: Warner Bros. * Formats: Digital download • Daniel Powter — * Released: April 13, 2018 * Label: Unleashed * Formats: Digital download

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name • Title — Year — Peak chart positions — Certifications — Album • CAN — AUS — BEL — GER — IRL — JPN — SWI — UK — US — US Adult • "Bad Day" — 2005 — 7 — 3 — 5 — 17 — 1 — 95 — 5 — 2 — 1 — 1 — * MC: Platinum * ARIA: Platinum * BPI: 2× Platinum * BVMI: Gold * RIAA: 3× Platinum * RIAJ: 2× Platinum — Daniel Powter • "Free Loop (One Night Stand)" — 11 — 43 — 60 — 55 — 20 — × — 38 — — — — — — • "Jimmy Gets High" — — — — — 46 — — — — — × — 41 — — — — — — • "Lie to Me" — 2006 — — — — — — — — — — — × — — — 92 — — — — • "Love You Lately" — 45 — — — — — — — — — × — — — — — — — 39 • "Next Plane Home" — 2008 — — — — — 25 — 71 — — — 8 — 37 — 70 — — — — — Under the Radar • "Best of Me" — — — — — — — — — — — 23 — 40 — — — — — — • "Whole World Around" — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Lose to Win" — 2010 — — — — — — — — — — — 17 — — — — — — — — — Best of Me • "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Cupid" — 2012 — — — — — — — — — — — 12 — — — 195 — — — 36 — Turn on the Lights • "Crazy All My Life" — 23 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Delicious" — 2017 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Giants • "Perfect for Me" — 2018 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Do You Wanna Get Lucky" — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Survivor" — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Brave" — 2021 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Non-album single • "Bad Day (Stripped Down)" — 2024 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "City of Angels" — 2025 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Celebrate the Holidays" — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. "×" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived.

List of singles, with selected chart positions • Title — Year — Peak chart positions — Album • JPN Oricon — JPN Hot • "Find My Way" (Haru x Daniel Powter) — 2008 — 59 — 14 — Non-album single • "Save Your Life" (Ayaka Hirahara featuring Daniel Powter) — 2021 — — — — — Save Your Life: Ayaka Hirahara All Time Live Best • "Brave" (Patricia Kelly x Daniel Powter) — — — — — Unbreakable • "—" denotes items that did not chart.

List of singles, with selected chart positions • Title — Year — Peak chart positions — Album • JPN Hot • "Back to Your Heart" (May J. featuring Daniel Powter) — 2012 — — — Brave • "Cheers to Us" (Triplane featuring Daniel Powter & Shintarō Tokita (Sukima Switch)) — 2013 — 78 — Singles 04-12 • "Just Isn't Me" (心之所向的美丽 Xīn zhī suǒ xiàng dì měilì) (T.U.B.S. featuring Daniel Powter) — 2021 — — — Love: One-Act • "—" denotes items that did not chart.

• Year — Music video — Director(s) — Notes • 2005 — "Bad Day" — Marc Webb — Samaire Armstrong and Jason Adelman are featured in the video • "Free Loop (One Night Stand)" — Filmed at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles • "Jimmy Gets High" — Vem • 2006 — "Lie to Me" — Marc Webb • "Love You Lately" — Philip Andelman — Rachael Leigh Cook and Brian Hallisay are featured in the video. • 2008 — "Next Plane Home" — Markku Lahdesmaki — Powter's daughter Sophie is featured in the video. Filmed in Lancaster, California • "Best of Me" — Diane Martel • 2010 — "Lose to Win" — Rohit Karn Batra • 2012 — "Cupid" — Neil Tardio — Filmed in Malibu, California. • 2013 — "Crazy All My Life" • 2017 — "Delicious" • 2018 — "Perfect for Me" • "Do You Wanna Get Lucky" — Joe Murray — Filmed at The Village in Santa Monica • "Survivor" — Chinese singer Kelly Yu sings with him in a duet • 2024 — "Bad Day (Stripped Down)" — Vocals used are from his previous re-recording from the album Giants.

• Year — Title — Original artist • 2007 — "Just Like Heaven" — the Cure • 2010 — "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" — John Lennon • 2012 — "Stay Away" — L'Arc-en-Ciel

Daniel Powter is recorded with the occupation singer-songwriter. Recorded with the occupation recording artist. Classed in the genre piano rock. Classed in the genre pop music. Recorded as having received Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year.