Bryan Adams’ ballad Heaven has been a staple of Valentine’s Day and weddings since 1983. It’s been covered countless times, and we all know it so well that the emotion doesn’t always still strike us. But, a gorgeous cover by YouTube guitarist Jonah Baker and his wife Celine is guaranteed to hit you in the heart like one of Cupid’s arrows.
Jonah has become a YouTube sensation since he started his channel in 2012. To date, he has 567,000 subscribers, and his videos have been viewed a combined total of 124.7 million times. So, what is it about Jonah’s music that’s so popular? It’s not just one thing.
The first thing that strikes you when you visit his channel is that he’s a good-looking young man, the clean-cut boy next door. We may pretend otherwise, but looks do still play a part in how we respond to people. However, once you get past his looks and start to listen, his talent comes blazing through. His voice is pure with a husky undertone, and he hits every note perfectly.
He also interprets each song in his own way rather than making it a carbon copy of the original. This quality separates good covers from great ones as it helps us to experience the song in a new way. As a compliment to his wonderful singing, Jonah is also an accomplished guitarist. It’s a great skill in its own right, but it also means he can match the music to his interpretation, combining them beautifully.
If you browse through Jonah’s channel, you’ll notice he doesn’t stick to a genre. He has covered everything from the country ballad You’re Still The One by Shania Twain to pop hit Bye Bye Bye by N’Sync, to the Stevie Wonder classic, Isn’t She Lovely. Each is exceptional in its own way, and you can’t always predict which ones will go viral. For example, his cover of Maroon 5’s Girls Like You has been viewed 47 million times. However, his cover of Yellow. By Coldplay, a break-out smash hit for the band has only been viewed 1.1 million times.
Let’s meet this talented musician. Jonah was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on December 13th, 1994. Both his parents were musical, so it seemed natural when he began to develop an interest. Even as a child, music was his passion, and he spent most of his time learning to play instruments and exploring his singing ability. Unusually, Jonah was home-schooled throughout high school. His parents supported his love of music and allowed it to shape his education.
When Jonah got his first laptop, he realised he could pair it with his guitar and explore a new aspect of music, mixing and producing. He started making music videos and uploading them to YouTube. In his own words, his initial efforts were “pretty bad!” but he kept going. Now his videos top a million views. His Cover of Heaven has only been up a few days, but it’s sure to be a hit.
If you would like to see more from Jonah Baker, you can subscribe to his YouTube channel or follow them on Facebook.