Entertainment
Listen To 'Queer Eye' Hero Sean's Musical Style Evolve Over The Years
Many of the people featured on Queer Eye are full-fledged adults who are set in their ways, but Season 2 of the Netflix reboot shows that teenagers need some assistance too. In the seventh episode of Season 2, the Fab Five makes over singer, songwriter, and pianist Sean VanMeter. You can watch Sean perform on Queer Eye during his episode, but, as he said in his episode, the 18-year-old is already a seasoned performer who began doing so at age 6. With the support of his godmother Lulu, he has been playing gigs since a very young age. And thanks to YouTube, you can watch this artist entertaining audiences even if you can't catch Sean performing live in Georgia.
Although he is incredibly musically gifted, Sean missed out on a lot of social interactions with people his own age since he went to a virtual high school. That's where the Fab Five comes in to help him prepare for college and embrace a more age-appropriate look. And while the end of the episode has Sean stepping into new territory as a college student, the stage is something he's incredibly familiar with. As his website shows, Sean has been performing for nearly a decade and has released a number of albums, including an album of his original songs. You can listen to some of his albums on iTunes and Spotify. But these videos of Sean performing over the years will show you him in all his glory — from when he was a budding classical musician to the singer-songwriter that he is today.
Church Chopin
Starting at around 1:15, the 9-year-old Sean begins playing Frédéric Chopin's "Fantasie-Impromptu" in church in 2009. In an interview on the cable access show The Bobby Hurd show, a young Sean said it was his favorite song off his first album, 12 At 12: Stroke Of Midnight.
Chopin Again
Sean was featured in a 2011 video for Steinway Piano Galleries playing "Fantasie-Impromptu" again. When you compare this video with the church one, you can see how much his playing evolved over two years.
"I Don't Care"
By 2012, Sean was already performing his original songs on stage by himself.
"Golden Road"
While there are a couple of music videos from Sean's childhood band Death of the Peanut King (DOPK) before this one, The Wizard Of Oz-inspired music video for "Golden Road" from February 2013 is the first that really features Sean. DOPK members even show up for Sean's Queer Eye episode.
Comedy Set
Beyond singing original songs, Sean also dabbled in comedy with a musical-comedy set in Athens, Georgia, in May 2013.
"New York State Of Mind"
Sean didn't name Billy Joel as one of his influences during his Queer Eye episode, but he covered Joel's "New York State Of Mind" for an October 2013 event.
"Mary Beth"
Sean continued writing original songs, and this video of his song "Mary Beth" from October 2015 shows how much he honed his skills over the years.
Thrift Shop Jam
Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" must be a favorite of Sean's since he hopped over to a piano to play it in this November 2015 Instagram video, but you can also watch him play it two years earlier when he was 13.
"We Are"
In 2015, Sean started making music videos for his original songs, like "We Are" from his 2016 album, The Real Sean VanMeter.
"Louise"
"Louise" is another original song from The Real Sean VanMeter that he created a music video for. This video from 2015 was the last video he had uploaded to his YouTube channel before Queer Eye Season 2 premiered.
"The Way You Kiss Me"
Even though Sean hasn't been active on his YouTube account for a couple years, you can still catch him performing in a few more recent videos, like this one of him performing his song "The Way You Kiss Me" in April 2017.
His 'Queer Eye' Performance
This video of Sean performing with the Hooch Holler band in August 2017 is the same performance he does at the end of the Queer Eye episode. You can tell since he's rocking his new style, courtesy of Tan and Jonathan.
From classical to pop, Sean has covered it all in his time as an entertainer. And as long as his social life in college hasn't gotten in the way of his musical aspirations, you can probably expect that Sean will take advantage of his Queer Eye experience and that he'll be sharing some more music soon.
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