Jack Avery

## Jack Avery

* 2023
* 2022
* 2021
* 2020
* 2019
* 2018
* 2017
* 2016

### Parent(s)

Kristin Weaver Stanford (mother)John Avery (father)Darrin Stanford (step-father)

### Relatives

Camila Avery (sister)Sydnie Avery (sister)Ava Stanford (sister)Isla Stanford (sister)

## Musical Career

### Label(s)

Signature Entertainment, Atlantic Records

**Jack Robert Avery** (born July 1, 1999) is an American singer and musician. He is part of the five-piece band, Why Don't We. He started as a social media star, posting covers over YouTube.

## Biography 💞

**Avery** was born in Burbank, California to Kristin Stanford and John Avery. He has four siblings: Sydnie Avery (born October 30, 1995), Ava Marie Stanford (born March 6, 2004), and Isla Rose Stanford (born November 12, 2008). He has a half-sister from his father's side, Camila Avery (born November 28, 2009).

At the age of one, his family moved to Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. His parents split up, and he and Sydnie lived with their mother, who remarried to Darrin Stanford. With a small population of 1600, Avery felt the need to get out of the small town. He got picked on a lot for "being different". In fifth grade, his older sister Sydnie got him into fashion, and he wanted to wear skinny jeans. Because he couldn't find any, he wore ones for girls' and paired them with long shirts. He was called names but mostly ignored it. He had a difficult time during school, never able to sit still.

Avery attended Susquehanna Community High School. He grew up with his father playing piano, and he started to take piano lessons from first to sixth grade, then quit to start singing. Eventually he combined the two. He and Sydnie would visit their father every summer in Seattle.

In sixth grade, Avery taught himself guitar by watching videos online. When he was fourteen, that summer he started to busk in Nashville and sang Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes". Within an hour he earned twenty dollars and even had a person come up and ask for a photo. He started to invest his time into music, quitting the basketball team and started posting music covers over YouTube. He even skipped taking his SATs with his mother's permission.

In 2016, Avery dropped his original song called "Liar", which he wrote based on a breakup, and performed at the Bluebird Café back in 2015. He met future band mates Jonah Marais at a show in Los Angeles, and Daniel Seavey at a "project" they did together in New York. He was booked on social media tours, including Brave Fest and Impact, which was where he met Corbyn Besson. Zach Herron joined the two at the Indianapolis show during the Impact tour. Eventually all five formed Why Don't We officially in September 2016.

## Musical style and influences 🤩

His musical inspiration is Frank Ocean, due to his versatility of his music. He named his music genre to be R&B and soul. He also grew up listening to Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran.

## Personal life 🌱

Avery opened up about his struggle with anxiety, alongside Seavey. He shared in a video, "Before COVID hit, I had my first ever panic attack ever and I thought I was having a heart attack. [...] Daniel had anxiety too, before." This led to Seavey penning the band's song, "Be Myself".

### Relationships

In early 2018, he started publicly dating Gabriela "Gabbie" Clayburn (née Gonzalez; born September 6, 2001). Avery was friends with his mother's best friend's daughter, through which he was introduced to Clayburn, who was one of her friends. Clayburn was fourteen years old at the time. Before meeting in person, he DM'd her. He finally got to see her in Los Angeles when she was sixteen years old, and they began dating. They publicly revealed their relationship in February 2018, and on April 22, 2019, she gave birth to their daughter, Lavender May Avery. They broke up mid-2019, and both share custody of Lavender.

In 2019, Clayburn stated over Twitter, "I have been forced to keep my mouth shut for over a year. I hardly ever defend myself; I keep quiet for everyone else's sake but mine. I am learning that no matter what, there will be people who are going to try and bring you down. AND IT'S OK to stand up for yourself." Over a 2021 live stream, she shared her story of being forced to hide her pregnancy, difficulties in her relationship with Avery, and the trauma she experienced. This stirred mixed reactions online from Why Don't We's fandom, some fans showing their support, while others openly defended Avery, or attempted to gaslight Clayburn on the trauma she experienced.

### Tattoos

He has a whole solar system tattoo on his arm which means "no matter what planet you're from, everyone is equal". He has a rose tattoo for his little sister Isla, whose middle name is Rose. There is a Jack of Hearts presumably because of his name, a lion (possibly for a verse in the bible), his mother's birthday on his neck, numbers for the area code of his hometown in Pennsylvania, and "LET IT BE" which may be for one of his musical inspirations, The Beatles. There is a keyboard on his forearm, lightning, "Lord teach me what I cannot see", and a dice set (September 26, 2019). He got a tattoo in honor of their second studio album, "The Good Times and The Bad Ones," and the moon for his daughter, Lavender.

## Quotes 🥹

"I would encourage everyone to write their goals on a vision board and look at it several times a day. Almost everything I put on my board this year has become a reality. The last goal on my board is to become a successful recording artist and to continue to inspire my fans through music."

"1% chance. That's what people say when I say I'm in the music industry. be encouraging not discouraging. I'm the 1%. Believe in yourself."

"Ladies, a real man isn't ashamed to kiss you in public or hold your hand."

"You know someone cares immensely about you when they give you a simple kiss on the forehead. 😘"

"Listen everyone. Cinnamon and sugar toast. Eat it. And you will be forever happy. I promise. okay bye."

"Je t'aime mon petit chouchou." (English: "I love you my little cabbage head.")

"I don't think I could ever cut or change my hair again because I'm called Noodles, Ramen Noodles... someone compared me to a llama."

"She taught me to be confident in my individuality. She helped me see that you don't always have to follow the crowd; you can do your own thing." — Avery talking about his older sister, Sydnie

"Always be happy and nice to others. That makes other people happy and that makes everyone happy in general.

"'Work until you no longer have to introduce yourself.' People might take that as cocky, but in my opinion, it's really cool to have a goal where all the hard work you've done pays off and everyone knows it.

"This has been the most humbling experience of my entire life. It has forever changed my life in the best way possible. Today is a very special day though. Gabriela, (my angel) is the most selfless person I have ever met in my life. She is the one that keeps me going and makes me work harder for my dreams every single day. I am so blessed to be able to call her the mother of our child and the woman I get to come home to every night. She has dealt with many hard things in her life but I watch her push through every single time. She is a masterpiece. God has taught me one lesson. It's that if you are truly in love you need to do everything in your power to hold onto that because it can take you to many amazing places in life. Love is something that is so strong it can conquer anything. It is a feeling of pure joy and happiness that we can share with people at any moment. I am forever grateful for everything that has happened in my life and I will continue to always work as hard as I can for each and every one of you that supports me and the guys. I want to say Happy Mother's day to my beautiful mother. Thank you for supporting me with everything in my life and always showing the most love you could ever give to your children. I love you. Happy Mother's day to Lisa, (Gabriela's mom) thank you for supporting Gabriela and I through everything. You are a saint and I don't deserve to have someone as special as you in my life. I also want to say Happy Mother's Day to Gabriela. My love, you are the mother of our child and there is no one else in this world that I would want to be with. You are my other half, and i'm so lucky to call you mine. I love you forever. And now, the most amazing possible thing that could ever enter my life is my gorgeous daughter. I want all of you to meet the most precious little girl in the world. Lavender May Avery. I'm gonna show you the whole world and protect you forever. Cheers to a very happy day and an amazing new life that has changed my whole world in the most amazing way! I love you all 💜"

## Trivia 💚

* He had said multiple times that music was something that he has always been passionate about, it's just a plus he gets to do it with his brothers.
* He had the opportunity to walk the carpet at the Teen Choice Awards, 2015 and 2016 before joining the band.
* His band mates Seavey and Marais created a fake Tinder account, and got matched with him.
* He would call Besson to help get him out of jail.
* One time he texted a girl and was flirting, but accidentally sent it to his mother.
* By his band mates, Avery is most likely to be a "Mamma's Boy".
* His most prized possession is his cross necklace he received from his mother that says "St. Christopher guide me in all directions." It makes him feel safe when travelling on tour.
* His uncle is a successful entrepreneur and taught him how to make a vision board which included gaining 50k followers on Instagram, meeting cool people, and buying his first guitar.
* His biggest splurge is buying tickets for his sisters. He sent Ava on a trip to Italy and Sydnie Harry Styles concert tickets. He surprised Isla on Christmas day with a trip to Disney World.
* During the UK leg of the Invitation Tour, Avery's favorite show was at London.
* His funniest moment of the Invitation Tour was when he and Seavey bought dirt bikes at Walmart.
* If the band was not named Why Don't We, he would choose "The Goons".
* He once said that three words to describe is "very, very weird".
* He would want to collaborate with A$AP Rocky.
* For a superpower, he would want to time travel
* His catchphrase would be, "Dang you're good at life."
* His favorite film is *Interstellar*.
* If he attended college, he would study marine biology.
* He once stated in an interview that his favorite song to perform was "Trust Fund Baby”
* He got the rose tattoo in Dallas, Texas.
* His favorite tattoo is the solar system, which is for equality. ("No matter what planet or universe you're from everyone's equal.")
* In seventh grade he had a crush and sat with her on the school bus. They began dating and she was a year older than him. She was also his first kiss. When they went to a movie night organized by the school, on the bus ride back he got the courage to kiss her.
* His first lesson of love is loyalty, because the girl he was with cheated on him.
* His celebrity crush is Selena Gomez.
* The Jonas Brothers is the first concert Jack has ever been to.
* According to an interview, Avery is the naughtiest.
* He graduated with 54 kids in his class.
* His favorite binge is *Breaking Bad*, though he can't remember the last time he watched television.
* His favorite food is plain cheese pizza with some garlic sauce. He considers himself a "bland eater".
* His favorite app is Instagram.
* His favorite emoji is the laughing one.
* His best high school memory is playing Tevye for the production of *Fiddler on the Roof*.
* One of his pet peeves is when people chew with their mouths open.
* He loves chewing gum, his favorite flavor Ice Breakers Ice Cubes Cinnamon.
* His hidden talent is beat boxing.
* His dream collaboration is Jaden Smith.
* His favorite cereal is Cap'n Crunch.
* His biggest fear is spiders.
* If he wasn't a singer, he would be a professional skateboarder. He was skateboarding since eight years old, and is a stress-reliever for him.