Jared L. Cotter
Class of 2004
B.P.S Business Management
American Pop/R & B Singer-Songwriter, TV Host
Jared L. Cotter graduated Five Towns College in 2004 with a Bachelor of Professional Studies (B.P.S.) in Business Management.
After graduation, Jared released an album, The Album Before the Album, independently as JL Cotter in 2005. An accomplished performer, musician and singer, he has performed in many venues, including BB King’s in Times Square, Village Underground, Soul Caféé, SOB’s and on BET’s 106 & Park, and opened for platinum-selling Artist, Avant. He achieved wide-acclaim and stardom when he appeared and reached the semi-final stage of American Idol, the sixth season.
This is not surprising since Jared Cotter has a long history of accomplished musicians in his family. The first African American jazz player to perform at Carnegie Hall was his great grandfather, James Reese Europe. In the late 1970s, Jared’s father, Robert Cotter, played with Nile Rodgers and the late Bernard Edwards in the Big Apple Band, later known as Chic.
Jared has sold more than 20 million songs, worked with the biggest artists in the world, stood as a long-time host on the popular music network FUSE, and did Artists and Repertoire (A&R) for both Epic and Atlantic Records. He is a Grammy nominated songwriter and an Emmy nominated TV host, too.
In 2009, Jared hosted The Challenge, a quiz show involving teams of high school students on Cablevision’s MSG Varsity channel. In 2015, Jared partnered with longtime creative collaborator, Jeremy Skaller to create The Heavy Group, a creative Management, Media and Production company focused on holistic and artistic partnerships with makers and visionaries in Music, Film, Tech and Philanthropy. He is a proven professional in the entertainment field. Recently, in December 2020, he married Melanie Fiona, also an accomplished singer and performer.