2008–14: Career beginnings, The X Factor Growing up in
Sevierville, Tennessee, Whitesides first became interested in music while attending a bluegrass festival in 2008. By his teens, Whitesides was playing shows around Knoxville and had already garnered a huge online following for his YouTube cover songs. In 2012, at 14 age he auditioned for
season 2 of the US
The X Factor and made the first cut but was eliminated prior to the Top 16 round. Whitesides released his debut
extended play 3 AM – The EP on July 8, 2014, featuring cover songs of
John Legend,
Plain White T's,
Sam Smith,
Ed Sheeran and
John Mayer. The EP reached number 26 on the
Billboard 200 and number 2 on the
Independent Albums chart. A local newspaper in Jacob's hometown,
The Knoxville Focus was the first media organization to cover Jacob Whitesides career. Music beat reporter Daniel Andrews, travelled out to Nashville, Tennessee to cover Jacob Whitesides at an event called "Teen Hoot" on July 15, 2012.
2015–present: Record deal and debut album Why? On February 14, 2015 Whitesides released his second EP
A Piece of Me, including previously released single "Words". In May 2015,
BMG announced their partnership with Whitesides and the formation of his label, Double U Records, where he is CEO. On October 21, 2015, he performed his single "Secrets" on
Good Morning America, his network morning TV debut. He released his third EP (second of original material)
Faces on Film on October 23, 2015. On December 3, 2015,
Spotify announced him as one of the next big artists to look out for in 2016. Earlier in 2016, Whitesides announced
Lovesick Tour scheduled to take place Northern America and Europe from May to October 2016. On April 15, 2016 Whitesides released the song "Lovesick", the lead single from his debut album. On July 6, 2016, Whitesides announced his debut studio album,
Why?, to be released on September 9, 2016. On July 8, 2016 was premiered album's second single "Focus" along with a music video. On September 1, 2016, a third single, "Open Book" was released, along with a music video the following day Jacob Whitesides released his album "Why?" on September 9, 2016. It debuted and peaked at number 25 on the
Billboard Independent Charts. Spring 2017, Jacob Whitesides announced his summer tour,
The Basically Happy Tour touring throughout USA and Canada with Alec Joseph, Castro, and Taylor Grey. In March 2019,
Viktor & Rolf named Whitesides as their new face of their Spicebomb fragrance. ==Personal life==