Music career 2009–2011: Career beginnings, 4 U, and Coast to Coast Simpson's rise to recognition was featured on
The 7.30 Report in December 2009. He released his debut single, "
iYiYi" (which features American rapper
Flo Rida), on 15 May 2010. The music video for Simpson's second single, "Summertime", was released on 20 September 2010. Simpson relocated to Los Angeles in June 2010 with his family to record music with
Atlantic Records' Shawn Campbell. That same month, Simpson appeared on the Australian morning show
Sunrise. On 22 June 2010, it was announced that Simpson would participate in the
Camplified 2010 Tour, along with other artists, touring across the United States. The tour began on 5 July 2010 and ended on 14 August 2010. Other tours that year included a middle school tour that took place from October - November 2010 and covered nine
USA states. An
EP,
4 U was released on 21 December 2010. The EP included five tracks in total, four of them being previously unreleased. Simpson recorded a remake of the song "
I Want Candy" by
The Strangeloves as the main theme song for the Easter-themed live-action/animated film
Hop. In May 2011, Simpson was "
egged" during a live performance at
Westfield Miranda in Sydney. Simpson told Australian radio show
The Kyle & Jackie O Show that he was not in fact hit by the eggs, and that he was upset on behalf of his fans as the remainder of his show was cancelled due to security concerns. He then started the
Waiting 4U tour with American singer
Greyson Chance on 9 April in Ivins, Utah. The tour ended on 18 May 2011, in Portland, Oregon.
Coast to Coast was released on 20 September 2011 by Atlantic Records. It reached number 12 on the
Billboard 200 and sold 24,000 copies. On 23 April 2011, Simpson released the single "
On My Mind". On 5 August 2011, he performed on
The Today Show. The following day, Simpson started his Coast to Coast Mall Tour in
Lake Grove, New York to promote his second EP. He played nine dates around the United States and finished it in
Orange, California on 18 September 2011. On 22 September 2011, it was announced that
Scooter Braun,
Justin Bieber's manager, had become Simpson's manager.
2012–2014: Paradise, Surfers Paradise, and Dancing with the Stars in 2013 On 12 June 2012, Simpson released an EP titled
Preview to Paradise containing four songs from his upcoming debut studio album,
Paradise, which was released on 2 October 2012. In February 2013, Simpson toured Europe, doing his own tour dates as well as supporting Justin Bieber on many of the European
Believe Tour dates.
Surfers Paradise, which was released on 16 July 2013, was Simpson's first album to debut in the top 10 of the
Billboard 200. During the summer of 2013, Simpson headlined the
Paradise Tour, featuring opening acts
Ryan Beatty and
Before You Exit. On 19 November 2013, Simpson released an acoustic album called
The Acoustic Sessions, featuring the songs "
Pretty Brown Eyes", "
All Day", "La Da Dee", "
Wish U Were Here", and a cover of "
Please Come Home for Christmas". On 4 March 2014, Simpson was announced as one of the celebrities to participate on the
18th season of
Dancing with the Stars during
ABC's Good Morning America. He was partnered with professional dancer
Witney Carson. He was eliminated on Week 5 of the competition and finished in ninth place. From 30 June 2014 to 14 July 2014, Simpson did an acoustic tour through Europe with singer
Jackson Harris. In August 2014, Simpson announced he had departed Warner/Atlantic, citing creative differences.
2015–2018: Free, Cody Simpson and the Tide, and Wave One Simpson's album
Free was scheduled to be released on 23 June 2015 then was pushed back to 10 July. Simpson performed the first single, "Flower" on
Good Morning America on 6 February 2015. It was his first album as an independent artist since leaving
Atlantic Records to create his own label, Coast House. The album was produced by
Cisco Adler and includes songwriting collaborations with
G. Love and
Donavon Frankenreiter.
John Mayer served as a sounding board. Simpson performed his single "New Problems" on NBC's
Today show on 13 July 2015. On 1 November 2015, it was reported that Simpson was taking a break from his solo career to start a band with his friends. In 2017, Simpson formed a new band called Cody Simpson and the Tide. The band was composed of Simpson on vocals and guitar, Adrian Cota on drums, and Shareef "Reef" Addo on bass. Cody Simpson and the Tide released their debut EP, entitled
Wave One, in the fall of 2017. The music was a blend of pop, rock, blues, and surf-rock genres. In their four-track EP, Simpson sings of love, unity, environmentalism and ocean conservation. The EP's debut single, "Waiting for the Tide", was inspired by a poem Simpson wrote that tackled topics such as rising water levels and ocean conservation. In October 2018, Cody Simpson and the Tide went on a short tour of southern California to perform their EP. The band split up in early 2019.
2019–present: Return to solo work In October 2019, Simpson released the song "Golden Thing", which was inspired by his then-girlfriend,
Miley Cyrus. In the same year, he participated on
The Masked Singer Australia as the "Robot" and went on to win the show. In April 2022, Simpson released a self-titled album, his first in six years, which he had recorded during a swimming training break in 2020. Simpson also released music videos for singles "Nice To Meet You", and "Let Go" on
YouTube and
Spotify. In November 2022, Simpson performed the Australian National Anthem at the
Lexus Melbourne Cup and the
AFL Women's Grand Final. He performed a rendition of the
Nat King Cole song "
The Christmas Song" at the 85th annual
Carols by Candlelight held in Melbourne in December 2022. In February 2026, Simpson announced his return to music, teasing a new song in promotional content on his social media pages. In March 2026, Simpson announced his new album "spring" though no release date has been revealed yet. However, in an interview with Paul C. Brunson of the We Need To Talk podcast, Simpson revealed he'd only recently settled the final payment to Atlantic Records for the cash advances given to him during his early career. In an interview with Chris Eggertsen of Billboard, Simpson announced he’d signed a new record deal with BMG, and revealed the first set of singles from his forthcoming album, titled "Baby Blue" and "When It Comes To Loving You"
Acting career In 2014, Simpson made his television debut guest starring as himself in the sitcom
Instant Mom. In 2015, he guest starred on the American television sitcom
Cougar Town, portraying Pete, a high school student. In the same year, he starred as himself in the Nickelodeon film
One Crazy Cruise. In late 2017, Simpson was cast in a supporting role in
Bret Easton Ellis' thriller film,
Smiley Face Killers, opposite actor
Crispin Glover. In October 2018, Simpson made his
Broadway musical debut when he was cast as male lead Dmitry in
Anastasia, alongside
John Bolton and
Christy Altomare.
Swimming career (2019–2024) Junior swimming Simpson was a talented swimmer from an early age. He trained at the
Miami Swimming Club under coach Ken Nixon and won two gold medals at the 2009 Queensland Swimming Championships.
Return to swimming In 2019, Simpson turned his focus back to competitive swimming, joining the
University of Southern California's Trojan Swim Elite team under coach
Dave Salo. In October 2019, Simpson, who was competing at his first meet in nearly a decade, finished the 100 yard butterfly in 24th position out of 29 entrants with a time of 51.51. To improve his swimming technique, he trained under different coaches including two-time Olympian
Brett Hawke. In December 2020, Simpson shared on social media that he had qualified for the Australian Olympic trials in the 100 metre butterfly, after having raced a time of 54.90. Simpson starred in swimming documentary
Head Above Water, which highlighted his return to swimming and was released 4 June 2021 on
Amazon Prime Video. In February 2023, Simpson alongside Griffith University Swimming Club teammates
Mack Horton, Bowen Gough, and Josh Edwards-Smith, competed in the
Rottnest Channel Swim finishing first in a time of 3:33:49 and setting a new team record.
2021 Australian Swimming Trials Simpson continued to show improvement in the lead up to the
2021 Australian Swimming Trials which took place in
Adelaide,
South Australia in June 2021. At the meet, Simpson swam a personal best time of 50.22 in the 100 metre freestyle, however failed to advance through to the finals. In the 100 metre butterfly, Simpson swam a time of 52.84 in the preliminary heats to qualify sixth and advance through to the final. In the final, Simpson failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after finishing in eighth place with a time of 52.94. Shortly after the trials, Simpson announced he had been training under coach
Michael Bohl at
Griffith University, having moved back to Australia in the lead up to the trials.
2022 Australian Swimming Championships Simpson participated in the
Australian Swimming Championships which took place in
Adelaide,
South Australia in May 2022. In the 100 metre butterfly, Simpson advanced through to the finals after qualifying second in the preliminary heats with a time of 51.79. In the final, he swam a 51.96 to place third. Initially, it was thought Simpson had qualified for the
2022 World Aquatics Championships in
Budapest,
Hungary, as
Kyle Chalmers was not going to swim, but Chalmers changed his mind, ultimately pushing Simpson out of the team. In the 50 metre butterfly, Simpson swam a time of 23.79 in the preliminary heats to qualify fifth and advance through to the final, where he finished in fourth place with a time of 23.68. Simpson also swam in the 100 metre freestyle, swimming a time of 49.43, but was disqualified after a false start. The disqualification was overturned on protest, and Simpson advanced into the final, finishing eighth with a time of 49.34.
2022 Commonwealth Games Simpson was selected for the
2022 Commonwealth Games in
Birmingham,
England on 22 May 2022. In the wake of
Isaac Cooper being sent home from the Games, Simpson was selected to swim in the
50 metre butterfly on the first day of competition. He swam a 23.84 in the preliminary heats to qualify in tenth fastest for the semifinal, but failed to advance into the final after finishing in 14th place with a time of 23.87. Simpson was part of the
4 × 100 metre freestyle relay, swimming the second leg in the heats. His 48.86 split time helped Australia into the final, where they earned a gold medal. In the
100 metre butterfly, Simpson advanced through to the semifinals after qualifying fifth in the preliminary heats with a time of 52.47. In the semifinal, he swam a time of 52.16, placing fifth and making it through to the final, where he again placed fifth, swimming a time of 52.06. Simpson was also part of the
4 × 100 metre medley relay, swimming a 51.49 split for the butterfly leg. His efforts helped Australia advance to the finals, where they picked up a silver medal.
2022 Australian Short Course Championships At the
Australian Short Course Swimming Championships held in
Sydney,
New South Wales in August 2022, Simpson entered five events. In the 50 metre butterfly, he swam a 23.13 in the preliminary heats to qualify third and make it through to the final where he placed fourth with a time of 23.06. In the 100 metre freestyle, Simpson swam a time of 47.89 in the preliminary heats, but failed to advance into the final after placing 12th. Simpson qualified third in the 100 metre butterfly preliminary heats with a time of 51.15, making it through to the final where he finished fourth in a time of 50.46. In the 50 metre freestyle, Simpson qualified eighth in the preliminary heats with a time of 21.88 to advance through to the finals, where he swam a 21.67 to finish in seventh place. Simpson also competed in the 100 metre individual medley, qualifying third in the preliminary heats with a time of 53.56. In the finals, he swam a 52.67 to finish second behind American Grant House. As he was the first Australian to finish, Simpson earned a gold medal. ==Other works==