Jon Batiste Strikes Gold Again with Big Money, a Celebration of Soul, Spirit, and American Roots

Multi-GRAMMY® and Academy Award® winner Jon Batiste has returned with a bold, exhilarating new chapter: his ninth studio album, Big Money. In a career already defined by virtuosity, charisma, and an uncanny ability to blend tradition with innovation, Batiste once again proves himself a master of musical storytelling.

Earlier this week, Batiste brought the title track to life on Jimmy Kimmel Live! before staging a sold-out Central Park pop-up the following evening—a real-life festival of joy and artistry celebrating the album’s release.

At the heart of the album is its third single, “Lean on My Love,” featuring powerhouse vocalist Andra Day. Known for her soaring delivery, Day’s performance here is tempered into a soft, soulful embrace, perfectly complementing the track’s gentle yet uplifting message. The accompanying music video, filmed at Victory Bible Church in Altadena, California, portrays community resilience in the face of devastation—an ode to hope and the enduring human spirit. Proceeds and awareness are tied to The Legacy Land Project, supporting those impacted by wildfire.

Recorded in just two weeks, Big Money is a masterclass in capturing essence over polish.

Much of the record was tracked live, sometimes with a single microphone, prioritizing feel over perfection. Batiste’s gospel roots, New Orleans heritage, and protest-song grit merge seamlessly with pop melodies, creating a musical landscape that ranges from soul and reggae to blues and minimalist ballads. Collaborators on the album include Randy Newman, co-producer No ID, and of course, Andra Day.

“We were in the middle of a five-years-long conversation about life,” Batiste recalls of his partnership with No ID. “The moment we decided to collaborate there was a synergy we couldn’t have planned for—him wanting to explore something different, me in an American-roots guitar space, the shifts in culture.”

The album’s title track, buoyed by Nick Waterhouse’s vintage acoustic strum and the harmonies of The Womack Sisters (granddaughters of Sam Cooke), is an immediate standout. A hooky anthem about ambition, it carries a double edge: a celebration of striving tempered with a cautionary reflection on greed. “Don’t be a dummy, everybody chasing that big money,” Batiste warns, blending irony with insight.

Other tracks deepen the album’s intergenerational dialogue. “Lonely Avenue,” the Doc Pomus classic immortalized by Ray Charles, was captured in one unfiltered take at Randy Newman’s piano with a handheld recorder — a snapshot of conversation, music, and shared life. “Ray is my patron saint,” Batiste explains, reflecting on the spiritual lineage that informs his work.

On “Petrichor,” Batiste weds a danceable groove to urgent environmental messaging, invoking stewardship of the planet’s oceans, air, and food. “Do It All Again” is a romantic, timeless ballad, while “Pinnacle” summons ancestral voices — John Henry among them—casting Batiste as a modern griot in a lineage of storytelling. “At All” reflects on presence over career calculus, and “Maybe” preserves the raw first-day magic with No ID, a stripped-down piano-and-voice meditation.

The album closes with “Angels,” a cosmic finale featuring Batiste’s alter ego Billy Bob Bo Bob, an interstellar DJ “beaming soul across space and time.” “When I turn into Billy Bob Bo Bob,” Batiste muses, “I feel like a griot who lives in all tenses at once… When I dissolve tense, I dissolve tension.”

Earlier this year, Batiste’s National Anthem at the 2025 Super Bowl captivated audiences worldwide. He also earned two GRAMMY® Awards — Best Music Film for Netflix’s American Symphony and Best Song Written for Visual Media for the Oscar-nominated “It Never Went Away” (with Dan Wilson). Big Money follows the critically acclaimed Beethoven Blues, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical Albums chart and spent nine consecutive weeks atop Classical Crossover, while entering the Billboard 200 at No. 64.

Batiste will support Big Money with a national headlining run: The Big Money Tour: Jon Batiste Plays America. Beginning August 27, the tour spans more than 30 venues, including Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Grand Ole Opry, and a co-headline with Diana Ross at The Muny.

Full dates and tickets are available at jonbatiste.com.

Big Money is a record of contrasts — joy and irony, protest and celebration, tradition and experimentation. Yet it remains quintessentially Jon Batiste: a musician unafraid to follow the groove of the heart, to find poetry in the pulse of life, and to invite listeners along for the ride. In a musical landscape often defined by trends and algorithms, Batiste’s latest work reminds us why artistry and authenticity endure.

Tracklist – Big Money

1. LEAN ON MY LOVE (FEAT. ANDRA DAY)

2. BIG MONEY

3. LONELY AVENUE (FEAT. RANDY NEWMAN)

4. PETRICHOR

5. DO IT ALL AGAIN

6. PINNACLE

7. AT ALL

8. MAYBE

9. ANGELS (FEAT. NO ID & BILLY BOB BO BOB)