A Great Big World Talks New Album ‘When The Morning Comes,’ Teases Upcoming Broadway Play

A Great Big World is doing some great big things. The pop duo — made up of members Chad King and Ian Axel — recently released their sophomore album “When The Morning Comes” and also have a Broadway play in the works.

On Thursday, International Business Times got a chance to catch up with the Grammy winning singers before they took the stage at Operation Smile Gala in New York, which honored Kate Hudson with the Universal Smile Award. Earlier in the week, A Great Big World debuted their lyric video for their song “Won’t Stop Running,” and King shared that the lyrics and track are very special to him. In 2007, the singer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and the song is his way of overcoming the illness.

“The doctor told me I would be paralyzed within seven years unless I took this medication,” he told IBT. “I took the medication and it started giving me symptoms that were worse than I was already experiencing. Fast forward, I found a holistic doctor and started treating [multiple sclerosis] with diet and lifestyle changes and I’m pretty much symptom free at this point.”

“That song itself was a response to the doctor saying I would be paralyzed,” he added.

King’s bandmate, Axel, also shared that there’s another song on the album that is near and dear to him: “One Step Ahead.” Axel said that he wrote the song for his now wife, Lina Kent, and proposed to her with it. The pair got married on April 15.

“I was stubborn when I met her,” he explained. “I always thought I knew what love was and that I’d be a step ahead of that person but she kinda knew [we’d get married] before I did. And I needed a little push.”

In addition to performing and traveling, A Great Big World, known for their song “Say Something” with Christina Aguilera, is also working on a Broadway play, titled “Strokes of Genius.” King and Axel said the original story has been in the works for a while and are finally getting close to production. “Hopefully this year that’ll happen,” King said, with Axel adding: “We’re in the process of getting a director onboard and some producers … Probably my favorite music we’ve ever written.”