Born and raised in Philadelphia, Avé toured the world with the Philadelphia Boys Choir, visiting four continents and finding a safe haven while their parents were undergoing a painful divorce. They launched a solo career in 2011 and released two albums—2012’s The Real ME and 2015’s SPelChek—as Matt Edwards. More recently, the singer rebranded and changed their stage name to Avé. After signing to The Giving Groove in 2018, Avé has released R&B/pop songs, such as Your Heart Belongs to Somebody Else and Dive In My Ocean.
The new name signifies the singer’s comfort embracing their true identity. “I’m just freer and more comfortable performing the music because I’m performing it as me,” says Avé. “And saying ‘Be who you are,’ while I’m being who I am. I feel like I can say it with a different fervor because I know the pains and the struggles of what that means and what that could cost. It doesn’t mean the road will be easy. But it’s a road worth taking.”
In addition to a singer and songwriter, Avé is a published playwright and, as of January 2021, a novelist with their first novel. Heir Apparently chronicles strife and turmoil within a royal family whose queen is diagnosed with a terminal illness. The singer views the book and the new songs as one interconnected project—the music serves as a soundtrack to the novel and reflects the emotions of the individual characters.