AJ Mitchell

Aaron Fredrick "AJ" Mitchell Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician born on May 17, 2001. He gained widespread attention after posting original songs and music covers on social media platforms. He has achieved four Top 40 songs on United States radio charts, including "Girls," "All My Friends," "Slow Dance," and "Stop."

Mitchell was born in Belleville, Illinois. His mother, Allison Mitchell, is a small business owner, and his father, Aaron Fredrick Mitchell Sr., is a traveling nurse. The youngest child and only son, he grew up with two sisters, Andrea and Addison. Mitchell started piano lessons at age four, inspired by his father, who was also learning the instrument and writing songs. He attended Belleville West High School, where he played football and sang in the school choir.

By age 13, Mitchell was performing at local open-mic nights and posting covers on YouTube and Instagram, building a social media fan base. This helped him connect with manager Mike Spitz in 2015. That same year, his online videos led to an opportunity to move to Los Angeles to collaborate with the internet marketing agency Team 10, though he departed the group shortly after to focus entirely on his music career.

In 2017, Mitchell released his debut independent single, "Used to Be," a song he wrote at age 13 and produced by Mike Dean, which accumulated over 150 million streams. After drawing interest from several record labels, he signed with Epic Records in February 2018 and released his debut EP, Hopeful, in July 2018. Its lead single "Girls," co-written with Romans, reached No. 39 on the US Mediabase pop radio chart. In November 2018, Billboard and Vevo named him one of 19 artists to watch for 2019, and Epic Records CEO Sylvia Rhone commended his talent.

Mitchell continued releasing music and collaborating with other artists. In 2018, he recorded "No Plans" with Marteen, who later joined him on his 2019 Hopeful Tour. He released "After Hours" with Teamwork and Nina Nesbitt in May 2019, and signed a joint deal with Insanity Records in June 2019. His August 2019 EP, Slow Dance, featured the singles "Talk So Much," "Move On," and a title track featuring Ava Max that reached No. 28. His March 2019 single "All My Friends" reached No. 24.

Mitchell released his debut studio album, Skyview, in October 2021, featuring "Used to Be," "Slow Dance," "Cameras On," and "Stop," which reached No. 33. In late 2023 and early 2024, he released the singles "Passionate," "Foolish," and "Flowers on the Moon." After parting ways with his record label in May 2024, he postponed a scheduled North American tour and his second album, As Far as the Eye Can See, which was rescheduled for release on March 7, 2025. Mitchell regularly cites Bruno Mars and Lil Wayne as songwriting influences.