At twenty, Lieb left his hometown of Fairfield, Iowa, to pursue music professionally in New York City. In addition to attending classes at
The New School and at
Pepperdine University, Lieb began singing at local
open mic sessions, where he was introduced to Jonathan Daniel of
Crush Management. The two began meeting with record labels, and Lieb began collaborating with other songwriters. His videos accrued a large number of views while the positive response he received online encouraged him to release his first album, the self-titled
Eli Lieb, independently on October 25, 2011. Lieb wrote, recorded, and produced the album on his own in Fairfield.
2013–present: Post-debut singles and second studio album Lieb's single "Young Love" was released in July 2013, with music blog
Idolator calling it "an instantly catchy, uplifting pop/rock anthem that sounds like a cross between Katy Perry and Bruce Springsteen". In October 2013, Lieb's YouTube cover of Miley Cyrus's "
Wrecking Ball" went viral and was supported through social media by singers
Adam Lambert and
Lucy Hale. In 2014, Lieb released a free digital download titled "Safe In My Hands" in conjunction with
Allstate's #OutHoldingHands campaign. The song was performed and co-written by Lieb and was featured in a short animated film for the same campaign. "Safe In My Hands" was also featured in the Season 2 summer finale of ABC Family's
The Fosters and won "Best In Show" and "Best Original Song" at the 2015 American Music Producers Awards for Music and Sound. On July 8, 2014, Lieb released a single "Zeppelin" produced by
John Feldmann. On September 13, 2014, Lieb performed "Young Love" at the
GLAAD Gala San Francisco: Game Changers event for
LGBT equality through the media. Lieb went on to release the single "Lightning in a Bottle", also produced by Fieldman, and its accompanying music video on November 19, 2014. He went on to work on a second album with Feldmann as producer. == Songwriting ==