Who is Zion Kuwonu?
Caleb Zion Kuwonu was born on 29 June 1999, in Ottawa, Quebec Canada, and is a singer as well as a dancer, best known for being a member of the five-piece Canadian boy band PRETTYMUCH. He rose to fame posting dance and song covers on Instagram, which led to him being noticed by producer Simon Cowell who invited him to audition for the group.
The Wealth of Zion Kuwonu
As of early-2020, Zion Kuwonu’s net worth is estimated to be over $1 million, earned through a successful career in the music industry, thanks to the success of PRETTYMUCH, which in turn has opened more opportunities for him.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Zion grew up in Ottawa, and was relatively out of the spotlight for many years. He grew up alongside an older sister and a younger brother, raised by their parents. At a young age, he discovered a strong passion for performing, showcasing natural vocal ability, and the desire to improve his skills, which he developed over the years, and in 2014 decided to bring his talents to the public by creating a self-named Instagram account.
The photo and video-sharing website is one of the most popular social media services in the world. It is responsible for the rise of many celebrities, including Instagram models, comedians, aspiring actors, dancers and singers.
He started his online journey by posting some of his dances, which gained a lot of attention thanks to his skill. He then posted videos doing song covers, and gained further popularity as his fans enjoyed his voice. As his account grew, he was invited for a tryout in New York City by Sony Music.
Joining PRETTYMUCH
It isn’t known if Kuwonu’s meeting with Sony was successful, as he soon returned to making Instagram videos without talking about what transpired. A year later, he was noticed by producer Simon Cowell, who rose to fame with television programs such as “American Idol” and the “Got Talent” franchise.
He is also responsible for big music acts in recent years, including the boy band One Direction. Cowell was on a journey to build more boy bands, that catered to specific audiences and had the potential for becoming international hits. Zion was invited to Syco Music headquarters in Los Angeles, to meet with the executives of the company.
All of the future members of PRETTYMUCH initially thought that they were there to start their solo careers but the president of the label, Sonny Takhar encouraged them to merge and form a group. This led to the creation of PRETTYMUCH, and Kuwonu left his home to stay in Los Angeles as his professional music career had started.
They trained on their harmonies and their dance skills, while also working on recording their debut release. The group gained traction online following promotions through posting cover songs and dance videos, the first of which was to the song “Attention” by Charlie Puth.
Success of PRETTYMUCH
Over the next few months, PRETTYMUCH began posting videos of the group dancing, posting tribute videos to icons such as Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson. In mid-2017, they released their debut single “Would You Mind” which reached the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 charts, and followed it up with a performance at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards. They also performed at that year’s MTV Video Music Awards, and released their first music video which was a tribute to the boy bands of the 1990s.
PRETTYMUCH // AVANT MAGAZINE // MARCH 2020 https://t.co/bSHuna8BKt pic.twitter.com/Bt77Fp301J
— PRETTYMUCH (@PRETTYMUCH) March 22, 2020
Later in the year they appeared on “Total Request Live” for a performance, before releasing their second single called “Teacher”. They also performed during the final episode of the 14th Series of “The X Factor” in the UK, and when they returned to the US, they embarked on a tour across the country, even performing live on “Good Morning America”. In 2018 they released their anticipated debut extended play (EP) called “PrettyMuch an EP”, which contained the lead single “10,000 Hours”. They also collaborated with Ed Sheeran for the single “Summer On You”, and performed it on “The Late Late Show with James Corden”.
Recent Work with PRETTYMUCH
In late-2018, the boy band released the song “Real Friends” which was intended to promote a tour called the Funktion Tour, and at the conclusion, they released the single “Jello”. In 2019, they worked on the songs “BLiND” and “Phases”., and on their second EP called “Phases – EP”, which also featured the song “Gone 2 Long” produced by band member Brandon Arreaga. The EP contained six songs, with two of them released earlier as a promotion. By the middle of the year, the group went on the FOMO Tour with their opening act being Kenzie Ziegler. They also worked with Lil Tjay for the song “Lying” and “Rock Witchu” which featured another production effort by Arreaga.
One of their latest projects is a collaboration with the Latin-American boy band CNCO, another project of Cowell. They released the single “Me Necesita” which was also featured in their next EP called “INTL: EP”, and included guest performances by Luisa Sonza, Inigo Pascual and the South Korean group NCT Dream.
While Kuwonu has been busy with his work with PRETTYMUCH, he has not forgotten his online following. He continues to post regularly on Instagram, and recently started posting regularly on TikTok.
Personal Life
Zion was in a relationship with a woman named Jazmine Nunez, but they are likely no longer together and he no longer posts about her.
He enjoys a healthy lifestyle, going to the gym regularly, and engages in other sporting activities, often dancing, playing hockey, and skateboarding, though he doesn’t do the latter two so often due to the dangers of injury that could affect his work with PRETTYMUCH. He owns a pet dog with which he exercises too.
He also loves the video game “Fortnite” and during his free time, live streams on Twitch under the name zionthelion6. He has admitted to having an allergy to apple juice. While he lives in Los Angeles, he tries his best to go back to Ottawa to visit family.