Coco Jones: The Life Story Behind R&B's Rising Star

Columbia, Tennessee and a Family Built for Performance

Courtney Michaela Jones, known as Coco Jones, was born on 4 January 1998 in Columbia, South Carolina, and she was raised in Lebanon, Tennessee, a small city east of Nashville, in a family where performance was part of daily life. Her father, Mike Jones, had played professional American football in the NFL, and her mother, Javonda Jones, sang, so Coco grew up with both athletic discipline and music in the house, and she began singing in church and at local events while still a small child. She has spoken about a childhood spent performing for her family, putting on shows in the living room, and about a mother who recognised her daughter’s voice early and made sure she had the chance to develop it, with lessons, auditions and encouragement.

Lebanon, Tennessee, was a long way from the entertainment industry, but it was close to Nashville, and the city’s musical culture, country, gospel and R&B, seeped into Coco’s singing, giving her a voice that was soulful without being showy, and a stage manner that was warm and direct. She attended school in Lebanon, played sports, and sang wherever she could, and by the time she was a pre-teen she was already entering talent competitions and recording demos, with a confidence that came from years of performing for anyone who would listen. Her father’s NFL career had taught the family about discipline, about practice and about handling pressure, and those lessons, which Coco has mentioned in interviews, stayed with her through the long, slow years of her early career.

The family moved around for her father’s football career, but Tennessee became home, and it is the place she still talks about when she describes her roots, a small-city upbringing that kept her grounded while the industry pulled her towards Los Angeles and New York. She was not a child star in the usual sense, pushed into the business by ambitious parents; she was a talented child whose parents supported her, drove her to auditions and let her decide how far she wanted to go, and that support, steady rather than frantic, is part of why she survived the disappointments that followed without losing her love of singing.

Radio Disney, Let It Shine and the Disney Years

Her first national break came through Radio Disney, where she was selected for the Next Big Thing competition in 2010, a showcase for young singers, and she won attention for a voice that was already mature beyond her years, with a control and a soulfulness that stood out among the other contestants. The exposure led to a role in the Disney Channel film Let It Shine, released in 2012, in which she played Roxie, a singer and songwriter, opposite Tyler James Williams, and the film, about a young rapper and a music competition, was a hit for the channel, with its soundtrack selling well and Coco’s songs, including Guardian Angel, becoming fan favourites. She also appeared in an episode of Good Luck Charlie, and she signed to Hollywood Records, Disney’s label, releasing the EP Made Of in 2013, a short collection that showed a young singer with a strong voice and a clear sense of who she wanted to be.

The Disney years were a mixed blessing: they gave her a platform, a fanbase and professional experience, but they also put her in a system that was built for a different kind of star, and when Hollywood Records dropped her, she was left, at seventeen, to rebuild her career on her own. She has spoken about that period with honesty, describing the confusion of being a teenager whose record deal had ended, and the determination that followed, to keep singing, to keep writing, to keep performing, even without a label behind her. The Disney audience, which had loved her in Let It Shine, did not forget her, and that loyalty, which she maintained through social media and live shows, would prove crucial a decade later.

Made Of, the 2013 EP, is worth remembering, because it showed a singer who was already thinking about her sound, mixing R&B and pop with a voice that was bigger than the production, and songs like Holla at the DJ showed a playful side that her later, more serious work would sometimes hide. The EP did not become a hit, and the label’s support faded, but the experience taught her how records were made, how videos were shot, how interviews worked, and those lessons, learned at fifteen and sixteen, made her a professional long before she was an adult, and they meant that when her second chance came, she knew exactly what to do with it.

The Long Independent Stretch After Hollywood Records

After Hollywood Records, Coco Jones spent years as an independent artist, releasing music on her own, performing live, building an audience on social media, and auditioning for acting roles, a period that lasted from her late teens into her early twenties and that tested her commitment to music. She released singles and EPs, including Let Me Check It in 2017 and H.D.W.Y. in 2019, songs that showed a singer growing into her voice, writing about love and independence with a directness that suited her, and she performed at small venues, building a live following one show at a time. The independent years were hard, financially and emotionally, and she has spoken about the doubt that came with them, about watching other Disney stars become famous while she worked in relative obscurity, and about the decision, made more than once, to keep going anyway.

She also pursued acting during this period, auditioning for roles and appearing in small projects, and she kept her voice in shape, singing covers on social media that reminded her audience, and attracted new listeners, of how good she was. The covers, of songs by artists like Beyoncé and Jazmine Sullivan, were a smart move, because they showed her range and they reached people who had never seen Let It Shine, and they built a following that was based on her voice rather than on a Disney role. By the early 2020s she had a loyal, if small, audience, a catalogue of independent releases, and a reputation as a singer’s singer, respected by other musicians even if the wider public had not yet noticed her.

The turning point was an audition for Bel-Air, the dramatic reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for the streaming service Peacock, a show that was looking for a new Hilary Banks, and Coco, who had been acting since she was a teenager, won the role, a casting decision that would change her life. She was twenty-three, she had been in the industry for more than a decade, and she was about to become famous for the second time, in a completely different way, and the patience of those independent years, the years of small venues and social media covers, was about to pay off in a way she could not have predicted.

Bel-Air: Hilary Banks and a Second Beginning

Bel-Air premiered in February 2022, and Coco Jones played Hilary Banks, the fashionable, ambitious daughter of the Banks family, a role originally played by Karyn Parsons in the 1990s sitcom, and she made it her own, giving Hilary a depth and a drive that the original, a comedy character, had never had. The show, which reimagined the sitcom as a drama about race, class and family, was a hit for Peacock, and Coco’s performance, which mixed glamour, humour and vulnerability, made her a standout, with critics praising her presence and her ability to hold her own in a strong ensemble. She played Hilary across four seasons, from 2022 to 2025, and the role gave her a weekly television presence, a new audience, and a platform that she used, immediately, to relaunch her music career.

The Bel-Air years were a period of intense work, with long days on set in Los Angeles and recording sessions fitted around them, and Coco has spoken about the discipline required to do both jobs well, about learning lines at night and recording vocals in the morning, and about the support of the show’s cast, who encouraged her music. She also used the show’s platform to talk about representation, about playing a Black woman who was ambitious, fashionable and complex, and about the importance of seeing characters like Hilary on television, a subject she has discussed in interviews with a thoughtfulness that matches her performances. Bel-Air was not just a job; it was a second beginning, a chance to be seen as an adult actor and singer, not as a former child star.

While filming Bel-Air she signed to Def Jam Recordings, one of the most storied labels in R&B and hip-hop, a deal that gave her the support she had lacked since Hollywood Records, and she began recording the music that would become her breakthrough. The label understood her: they did not try to make her a pop star, they let her make R&B, soulful, grown-up, vocal-led, and the first fruits of that partnership, the EP What I Didn’t Tell You, released in November 2022, showed a singer who had found her sound, with songs that were intimate, honest and beautifully sung, and that set the stage for the single that would change everything.

ICU, a Grammy and the R&B Breakthrough

ICU, released in 2022, was the single that made Coco Jones a star in music, a slow, intimate R&B ballad about needing someone close, with a vocal that was restrained and emotional, and it became a hit on R&B radio, on streaming services and on social media, where fans shared it as a love song and a late-night song. The song’s success was gradual, building over months rather than exploding in a week, and that slow build suited Coco, who had spent a decade building her career the same way, and by 2023 ICU was one of the most-streamed R&B songs of the year, earning her a Grammy nomination and, at the 2024 Grammy Awards, a win for Best R&B Performance, her first Grammy, an award she accepted with a speech that thanked her family, her fans and the years of waiting. The win was a vindication, not just of the song but of the whole long road that had led to it, from Radio Disney to Hollywood Records to independence to Bel-Air to Def Jam.

The EP What I Didn’t Tell You, which included ICU, was expanded with a deluxe edition in 2023, and it showed a singer who could write and sing about love, desire and vulnerability with a maturity that belied her years, and its songs, including Double Back, a confident, uptempo track, and No Chaser, showed a range that went beyond ballads. She toured behind the EP, playing venues that were larger than any she had played before, and the live shows, which featured her voice front and centre, with a band and backing singers, proved that she was not just a studio singer but a performer who could hold a room. The Grammy win, which came in February 2024, was followed by more nominations and by collaborations with other artists, and by the end of that year she was one of the most talked-about young R&B singers in America.

ICU’s success also changed how the industry saw her: she was no longer a former Disney star or a Bel-Air actor who sang, but a Grammy-winning R&B artist in her own right, with a voice that critics compared to the great soul singers and a songwriting style that was direct and personal. She has spoken about the song’s meaning, about the feeling of needing someone, of being vulnerable, and about the fact that she wrote it from a real place, and that honesty is part of why the song connected with so many listeners, because it sounded like a real person singing about a real feeling, not a manufactured hit. The Grammy, which she keeps as a reminder of the journey, is the most visible symbol of a career that took twelve years to arrive.

Why Not More? and the Debut Album Moment

Her debut studio album, Why Not More?, was released in April 2025, and it was the record her fans had been waiting for since ICU, a full-length album that showed a singer who was now confident enough to make a big statement, with songs that mixed R&B, soul and pop, and collaborations that reflected her standing in the industry. The album’s title was a question she had asked herself, why not more, why not aim higher, why not make the album she had always wanted to make, and the record answered it with a collection of songs that were polished, emotional and varied, from ballads to uptempo tracks, all held together by her voice. It was praised by critics for its coherence and its vocal performances, and it gave her a catalogue to tour with, a setlist that could fill a headline show, and a platform for the next stage of her career.

The album’s release was accompanied by a tour, her first as a headliner on a large scale, and the shows, which sold well, showed an artist who had learned to command a stage, with a band, with choreography, with a presence that had been honed over a decade of performing. She also continued to act, with Bel-Air running to its fourth season in 2025, and she balanced the two careers, music and acting, in a way that few artists manage, using each to support the other, and the album’s success, both critical and commercial, confirmed that she was not a one-song artist but a singer with a future. Why Not More? was also a statement of intent, a title that suggested she was not finished, that there was more to come, and that the debut album was a beginning rather than an arrival.

Beyond the album she has become a fashion figure, with a style that mixes elegance and streetwear, and she has appeared on magazine covers, at award shows and at fashion events, and she has used her platform to talk about representation, about being a dark-skinned Black woman in an industry that has not always valued that, and about the importance of seeing herself in the roles she plays and the songs she sings. Her influence, which is still growing, is that of a young artist who has done it the long way, through talent, patience and hard work, and who has arrived at a place where she can choose her projects, her collaborators and her direction, a freedom that she earned over twelve years.

Touring, Acting and the Road Ahead

Coco Jones’s story is unusual because it is a story of two beginnings: the first, as a Disney child star, which ended in disappointment, and the second, as an adult actor and singer, which began with Bel-Air and ICU and is still unfolding. The gap between those beginnings, a decade of independent releases, small venues and social media covers, is the part of her story that matters most, because it is the part that taught her to sing, to write, to perform and to survive without a label, and the artist who emerged from it is stronger, more patient and more honest than the teenager who recorded Made Of. She is still young, still in her twenties, and she has already had a career that most singers would be proud of, with a Grammy, a hit television show and a debut album, and the fact that she did it the long way, without a shortcut, is the clearest sign that she will last.

Her voice is the foundation of everything: a warm, soulful instrument with a wide range, a control that lets her sing softly and then soar, and a tone that is recognisably hers, and it is the reason that ICU connected, that Bel-Air’s producers cast her, and that Def Jam signed her. She has also shown a gift for choosing material, for finding songs that suit her voice and her story, and for writing about love and vulnerability in a way that feels personal rather than generic, and those choices, which she makes herself, are the reason her catalogue, from What I Didn’t Tell You to Why Not More?, holds together as a body of work rather than a collection of singles. The future, which includes more music, more acting and more touring, is hers to shape, and given how patiently she has built her career so far, it is likely to be a long one.

Her 2024 singles showed a singer who was still growing: Here We Go (Uh Oh), released in August 2024, sampled Lenny Williams’s Cause I Love You, a classic soul song, and turned it into a modern R&B track, with a vocal that was confident, a production that was smooth, and a video that was playful, and the song, which became a hit on R&B radio, proved that she could take a sample, a piece of history, and make it her own, a skill that is the mark of a great R&B singer, one who understands the genre’s past, and who can use it to make something new, and Most Beautiful Design, released later in 2024, featuring London on da Track, was a slower, more intimate song, about love, about beauty, about being seen, and the two singles, taken together, showed a range that went from upbeat to tender, and that set the stage for Why Not More?, her debut album, which would follow in 2025, a record that would complete the journey from ICU to a full-length statement, and that is a story that is, by any measure, remarkable, and that is the key to understanding Coco Jones, a singer who builds, slowly, one song at a time, and who, when her moment comes, is ready.

Bel-Air, the show that made her a television star, was developed from a viral fan trailer by Morgan Cooper, a young filmmaker who reimagined The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a drama, and the trailer, which was posted online in 2019, caught the attention of Will Smith, who executive-produced the series for Peacock, and the show, which premiered in February 2022, was ordered for two seasons initially, a sign of the streamer’s confidence, and Coco, who played Hilary Banks, a fashion influencer and aspiring chef in the reboot, a character who is ambitious, glamorous, and, above all, complex, made the role her own, giving Hilary a depth that the original sitcom character, played by Karyn Parsons, had never had, and the show’s success, which was both critical and commercial, with four seasons, is a testament to her talent, and to the fact that she could take a beloved character, and make it new, without losing what made it loved, a skill that is rare, and that is the reason Bel-Air is still, more than three years later, a standard, a reboot that worked, because it respected the original, and because it trusted its cast, and Coco, who was at its centre, proved that trust was well placed.

She starred in Let It Shine in 2012, a Disney Channel Original Movie in which she played Roxie, a singer who performs in a church choir, a role that was her first leading role, and that introduced her to a young audience, one that watched Disney Channel, and that discovered her as an actor, one who could sing, act, and, above all, be herself, on screen, and the film, which was watched by millions, and which featured her song Guardian Angel, established her as a Disney star, a path that other singers, from Demi Lovato to Miley Cyrus, had followed, and that is a legacy that goes beyond music, and that is as important as any album she has made, because it is about a young woman who was, at fourteen, on television, singing, acting, and, above all, working, and that is a story that is, by any measure, remarkable, and that is the key to understanding Coco Jones, a singer who started as a child star, and who, a decade later, became an R&B star, on her own terms, with a voice that is, in every sense, hers, and that is a story that is, by any measure, a triumph, and one that deserves respect, even from critics who did not follow her early work.

My Take:

When I first heard ICU, I was struck by how quiet it is, and how brave that quietness is, because most R&B singles in 2022 were loud, busy, full of production tricks, and Coco Jones made a hit out of a whisper, a slow ballad with space around the vocal, and that space is the whole point. The song works because she trusts her voice, trusts the melody, trusts the listener to come to her, and that trust is rare in a young singer, and it comes from a decade of singing in small rooms, where you learn that a loud note is not the same as a true one. I think ICU is one of the best R&B singles of the decade, not because it is showy but because it is honest, and the Grammy it won was not a surprise to anyone who had heard it properly, with headphones on, late at night, which is how the song is meant to be heard.

The Bel-Air casting is the decision I admire most in her story, not because it was lucky, although it was lucky, but because she was ready for it in a way that a less patient artist would not have been. She had spent a decade acting, singing, auditioning, learning lines, learning how to be on a set, and when the Hilary Banks role came, she did not just play it, she reimagined it, turning a sitcom character into a dramatic role with depth and ambition, and that reimagining is the work of an actor, not a celebrity. I think the show’s producers understood what they were getting, a professional with twelve years of experience, and the audience understood it too, because Coco’s Hilary feels like a real person, not a reboot, and that is why the role changed her life.

The independent years are the part of her career that I think young singers should study, because they are a masterclass in patience. She was dropped by Hollywood Records at seventeen, she released music on her own, she sang covers on social media, she played small venues, she auditioned, she waited, and she did all of it without a public breakdown, without a scandal, without giving up, and the result, twelve years later, is a Grammy and a debut album and a television career. I think that patience is the most underrated quality in music, because the industry rewards speed, and Coco’s story is proof that speed is not the only way, and that an artist who builds slowly, on talent and hard work, can arrive at the same place, and stay there longer.

What I Didn’t Tell You is the EP I would recommend to a new listener, because it is a complete statement, short enough to listen to in one sitting, and it shows everything Coco Jones does well: the ballads, the uptempo songs, the songwriting, the voice, all in one place, and ICU is the centrepiece, but the other songs, Double Back, No Chaser, are strong too, and they show a singer who is not a one-song artist. The EP’s title is also telling, because it suggests a person who has been holding something back, who has more to say, and the deluxe edition, which followed, proved that she did, and the album that followed, Why Not More?, proved it again, and I think that sense of a person with more to say is what keeps her audience listening.

Why Not More? is a good debut album, and I think its title is the most interesting thing about it, because it is a question that Coco Jones has been asking herself since she was fifteen: why not more, why not aim higher, why not make the record she wants, and the album answers that question with a collection of songs that are polished, emotional and confident. It is not a perfect record, some of the songs are stronger than others, and the sequencing is not always sure, but it is a real album, with a beginning, a middle and an end, and it shows a singer who is now in control of her career, choosing her collaborators, her sound and her direction, and that control is the real achievement, more than any chart position.

Her voice deserves a careful description, because it is easy to say that a singer has a good voice and leave it at that, and Coco Jones’s voice is more specific than that: it is warm, with a slight rasp at the edges, it is controlled, with a vibrato that she uses sparingly, it is powerful without being loud, and it is soulful in the way that suggests gospel and church, even when she is singing a pop song. She can sing softly, as on ICU, and she can sing with force, as on Double Back, and she can do both in the same song, which is the mark of a singer who understands dynamics, and I think her voice will only get better with age, because it is a voice built on technique and on feeling, not on tricks.

The Disney years are the part of her story that I think she has handled best, because she has never been bitter about them, even though they ended in disappointment, and she has never tried to erase them, even though they were a long time ago. She talks about Let It Shine with affection, she still sings the songs, she still thanks the fans who found her through Disney, and that grace is rare, because most former child stars either cling to their early fame or reject it entirely, and Coco has done neither, she has simply moved on, taking the good parts with her. I think that attitude, which is also visible in the way she talks about the independent years, is the reason she has survived, because she does not waste energy on resentment, she spends it on work.

If a new listener asked me where to start, I would begin with ICU, because it is the song that made her a star and the best demonstration of her voice, and then I would go to What I Didn’t Tell You, the EP, to hear the range, and then to Why Not More?, the album, to hear where she is now, and then I would watch Bel-Air, to see her as Hilary Banks, because the acting and the singing together give the full picture, of a performer who can do both, and who does both well. That is a short journey, three records and a television show, but it covers twelve years of work, and the growth across those twelve years, from a Disney teenager to a Grammy winner, is audible, and it is the real story.

What Coco Jones has given R&B, beyond the songs, is a reminder that the genre’s future is in good hands, because she sings with a soulfulness that cannot be manufactured, and she writes with a directness that cannot be faked, and she performs with a warmth that cannot be taught. The R&B of the 2020s is often described as being in trouble, as being overshadowed by hip-hop and pop, and Coco’s success, with a slow ballad, on a storied label, with a Grammy, is proof that the audience for real R&B singing is still there, and that a singer who respects the genre, who understands its history, can find that audience. I think she will be an important figure in R&B for a long time, not because she is fashionable, but because she is good.

The Tennessee thread runs through her story in a way that I find grounding, because she is a singer from a small city, raised by a football player and a singer, who went to Los Angeles and New York and came back, in her music, to the values she learned at home: discipline, humility, hard work, and a faith in her own voice. She has not become a Los Angeles star in the usual sense; she has remained a Tennessee singer who works in Los Angeles, and that distinction matters, because it keeps her music honest, and it keeps her connected to the audience that first heard her sing in church and at local events. I think that rootedness is her strength, and I think it will keep her steady as her career grows.

Looking at the whole arc, from Radio Disney to a Grammy, I see a career that was built the long way, and I think the long way is the best way, because it produces artists who know what they are doing and why. Coco Jones spent twelve years learning, waiting, singing, acting, and when her moment came, she was ready, with a voice, a catalogue, a television role and a professionalism that younger stars often lack, and the result is a debut album, a Grammy and a future that is entirely hers to shape. I expect her to be making records and playing Hilary Banks, and other roles, for many years, and I expect the work to keep getting better, because the foundation, a voice, a discipline and a patience, is solid, and solid foundations last.

Here We Go (Uh Oh) is the single I think best shows Coco Jones’s understanding of R&B history, because it samples Lenny Williams’s Cause I Love You, a classic soul song from 1978, and turns it into a modern track, with a vocal that is confident, a production that is smooth, and a lyric that is direct, and the song works because it respects the original, because it does not just take a hook, it takes a feeling, a feeling of love, of devotion, of being seen, and that feeling, which is the heart of soul music, is the heart of Coco’s music, and the single’s success, which was driven by radio, by streaming, and by word of mouth, proved that she could take a piece of history, and make it her own, a skill that is the mark of a great R&B singer, one who understands the genre’s past, and who can use it to make something new, and that is a legacy that will last, long after the streams have faded.

The Bel-Air origin story, a fan trailer by Morgan Cooper that became a series, is the part of her career I find most hopeful, because it shows that a good idea, well made, can find an audience, even without a studio, even without a star, and that Will Smith, who saw the trailer, and who executive-produced the show, understood that, and that Coco, who was cast as Hilary, understood it too, because she took a beloved character, a sitcom character, and made her a dramatic role, with depth, with ambition, with complexity, and the show’s success, with four seasons, is a testament to that understanding, and to the fact that a reboot, when it is done with respect, with talent, and with a cast that believes in it, can work, and Bel-Air worked, because of Coco, because of the cast, and because of a trailer, made by a fan, that became a series, and that is a story that is, by any measure, inspiring, and that is the key to understanding modern television, where a fan can become a creator, and a creator can become a star.

Most Beautiful Design is the song I return to most from her 2024 singles, because it is slow, intimate, and, above all, honest, a song about love, about beauty, about being seen, with a vocal that is restrained, a production that is smooth, and a lyric that is direct, and the song’s success, which was driven by radio, by streaming, and by word of mouth, proved that Coco could make a ballad, not just an uptempo track, and that she could do it well, with a voice that is warm, a phrasing that is conversational, and a feeling that is real, and that is a skill that is rare in R&B, where ballads are often overproduced, and Coco’s, which is simple, is a reminder that a great ballad needs only a voice, a melody, and a truth, and Most Beautiful Design has all three, and that is why it works, and why it will last, as a song that is played at night, in cars, in rooms, where people are in love, and that is a legacy that few songs achieve.

The ICU remix, featuring Justin Timberlake, released in 2023, is the collaboration I think best shows Coco Jones’s standing, because Timberlake, a pop star of the first rank, chose to sing on her song, a ballad about love, about longing, about being needed, and the remix, which was praised for its warmth, its harmonies, and its star power, introduced her to an audience that had not heard the original, and it established her as a singer who is respected by her peers, one whose voice is sought after by other musicians, and that is a sign of her standing, not just as a hitmaker, but as a musician, one who is respected by her peers, and that respect, which is earned, not given, is the reason her career has lasted, and the reason her influence is felt in the work of younger R&B singers, who cite her as an inspiration, and who copy her style, her directness, her honesty, and that is a legacy that will last, long after the last note has faded, because a great song, like a great collaboration, does not go out of fashion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was Coco Jones born and raised?

Coco Jones was born on 4 January 1998 in Columbia, South Carolina, and was raised in Lebanon, Tennessee, where her father, former NFL player Mike Jones, and her mother, Javonda, encouraged her singing.

What was Coco Jones’s first Disney role?

She played Roxie in the Disney Channel film Let It Shine in 2012, and she also appeared on Radio Disney’s Next Big Thing in 2010 and released the EP Made Of on Hollywood Records in 2013.

Who does Coco Jones play in Bel-Air?

She plays Hilary Banks in Bel-Air, the dramatic Peacock reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a role she has played across four seasons from 2022 to 2025.

Which song won Coco Jones a Grammy Award?

ICU, released in 2022, won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards, and it appeared on her EP What I Didn’t Tell You.

What is Coco Jones’s debut album called?

Her debut studio album is Why Not More?, released in April 2025, after her signing to Def Jam Recordings and the success of ICU.

Did Coco Jones release music independently?

Yes, after Hollywood Records dropped her she released music independently for years, including the singles Let Me Check It in 2017 and H.D.W.Y. in 2019, before signing to Def Jam.