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Joel Corry (born June 10, 1989, London, United Kingdom) is a British DJ, music producer and remixer. He gained international recognition with Sorry, Lonely, Head & Heart, BED, OUT OUT, I Wish, History, Lionheart (Fearless) and 0800 HEAVEN. His debut album Another Friday Night was released in 2023 and reached number five on the UK Albums Chart.
Corry’s music sits primarily at the intersection of house and dance-pop, although British UK garage remains one of the most important foundations of his style. Unlike many producers who first became known through studio recordings, Joel spent years working as a club DJ before achieving major success with his own releases.
London, UK garage and his first DJ experiences
Joel Corry grew up in North London. He began DJing at around 13 years old, when UK garage was going through one of its major periods of popularity in Britain. Corry has named DJ EZ and Todd Edwards among his early influences; garage culture itself — record shops, clubs and DJ sets — also had a major impact on him.
From his teenage years onward, music was closely connected with the dancefloor for him. Corry played parties, gradually secured club residencies and went on to perform across much of the United Kingdom. He later explained that this experience helped him understand where a track needs a vocal moment, transition or climax to connect with an audience.
Geordie Shore and the road to professional music
Before achieving chart success, Corry became known to part of the British public through the reality show Geordie Shore, where he appeared alongside his then-girlfriend Sophie Kasaei. He was a cast member rather than a television presenter. By 2013, this chapter of his television career had ended, while his DJ work continued.
At the same time, Joel was professionally involved in fitness, qualified as a personal trainer and developed his own projects in the field. Music, however, gradually became his main profession.
Early releases
In 2015, the early official singles Back Again and Light It Up appeared. Corry later released Just Wanna, All the Things, All Night, Sunlight, Feel This Way, Hurt, All I Need, Only You, Good as Gold and Fallen. These recordings did not yet deliver major chart results, but they allowed him to gradually shape his own club sound.
An important partner was the independent London label Perfect Havoc. It was there that Corry released the track that completely changed his career in 2019.
Sorry and the first major breakthrough
Sorry was a new version of the garage track Sorry (I Didn't Know) by Monsta Boy. Corry grew up with UK garage and has described the original as one of his favourite tracks from the genre, so revisiting it was directly connected with his own musical background. The 2019 version featured vocals by Hayley May.
After the song was used on Love Island, its popularity rose sharply. On July 24, 2019, Sorry received around 41,000 Shazam identifications in a single day, setting a UK record for the service at the time. The single reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.
For Corry, the success was particularly significant: after years of club work, he finally achieved a national hit with a song directly connected to the musical culture of his teenage years.
Lonely and Head & Heart
At the beginning of 2020, Corry released Lonely. The song reached number four on the UK Singles Chart and became his second consecutive Top 10 hit.
The real international breakthrough followed that summer. Head & Heart, recorded with British singer-songwriter MNEK, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and remained there for six weeks. Official Charts named it the biggest British dance track of 2020.
The song became a major international success and earned numerous certifications. It was certified six-times platinum in Australia and triple platinum in the United Kingdom, while its streaming total surpassed one billion.
BED and OUT OUT
In 2021, Corry joined forces with RAYE and David Guetta on BED. The single continued the more accessible pop side of his music and reached number three in the UK.
The same year brought OUT OUT, recorded with Jax Jones featuring Charli XCX and Saweetie. The track is built around the recognisable motif from Stromae’s Alors on danse. The song reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.
By this point, it was clear that the success of Sorry and Head & Heart had not been short-lived. Corry had established a lasting position in British dance-pop, regularly combining a club foundation with guest vocalists and concise song structures.
I Wish, History and Lionheart
I Wish with Mabel, released at the end of 2021, reached number 17 in the UK. The following year brought History with Becky Hill and Lionheart (Fearless) with Tom Grennan; both tracks peaked at number 18.
These songs revealed the more expansive pop side of Corry’s music: fewer direct references to UK garage, larger vocal choruses and arrangements designed to work both on radio and in major live venues.
0800 HEAVEN and his sixth UK Top 10 hit
In 2023, Joel Corry, Nathan Dawe and Ella Henderson released 0800 HEAVEN. The single reached number nine and became Corry’s sixth track to enter the Top 10 of the main UK singles chart.
His six UK Top 10 singles are Sorry, Lonely, Head & Heart, BED, OUT OUT and 0800 HEAVEN. Head & Heart remains his only number-one single.
Another Friday Night
On October 6, 2023, Corry released his debut studio album Another Friday Night through Asylum / Atlantic Records. The 18-track record included both new material and the major singles from previous years: Sorry, Lonely, Head & Heart, BED, OUT OUT, I Wish, History, Lionheart (Fearless), 0800 HEAVEN, Desire, Drinkin' and others.
As a result, Another Friday Night works both as a debut album and as a summary of the first major phase of Corry’s career. The musician explained that he wanted to bring together on one record the songs that had accompanied his journey from his first chart breakthrough to the international dance scene.
The album reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and spent 59 weeks in the UK Top 100.
Releases after the debut album
After Another Friday Night, Corry returned mainly to releasing standalone singles and collaborations. His later catalogue included I LOVE UR GF, PHASES and other club-focused tracks, while in November 2025 he released Stay A Little Longer with Galantis and Izzy Bizu.
In 2026, he released Devotion (Sweetest Emotion) featuring vocalist RAHH. These tracks continue Corry’s approach as a producer who, after a major album cycle, prefers to release standalone dance singles on a regular basis.
Desire Radio
Another part of Joel Corry’s work is his own show Desire Radio, launched in 2023. During the hour-long episodes, he presents his own music alongside new club releases — from house and bass house to tech house and techno. The programme has continued for several years since its launch.
Corry was previously also a resident DJ on KISS FM.
Live performances and DJ work
Despite his many radio hits, Corry has never moved away from his core profession as a DJ. Long before the success of Sorry, he spent years performing in British clubs, and later moved onto international festivals and venues in Ibiza, the United States and across Europe.
His live sets are usually noticeably more club-oriented than the radio versions of his songs. Alongside his own hits, they feature house, bass house, tech house and harder forms of dance music. The same direction can also be heard in episodes of Desire Radio.
Joel Corry’s musical style
The foundation of Joel Corry’s music is modern house with a strong pop element. At the same time, his approach grew out of British club culture and especially UK garage, which Corry has repeatedly described as one of the most important musical influences of his youth.
Sorry directly revisits late-1990s garage classics. In Head & Heart, BED and I Wish, dance-pop is more prominent, while his DJ performances allow Corry to move toward harder, more functional club house.
The common element is a preference for simple, instantly memorable vocal or melodic ideas. Corry structures his songs so they can work both as concise radio singles and as dancefloor material — an approach directly connected to his many years of experience as a club DJ.
BRIT Awards and other achievements
In 2021, Joel Corry received three BRIT Awards nominations: British Male Solo Artist, Breakthrough Artist and British Single for Head & Heart. In 2022, he received two more nominations: Best Dance Act and Song of the Year for BED. Corry therefore has five BRIT Awards nominations, although he did not win in any of these categories.
Head & Heart also won two categories at the 2022 APRA Music Awards — Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work. Corry is credited as one of the songwriters alongside MNEK, John Courtidis and other co-writers.
According to Official Charts, Joel Corry has one UK number-one single and six Top 10 hits, while his debut album Another Friday Night reached number five on the national albums chart.
Joel Corry discography
Studio album
- 2023 — Another Friday Night
Selected singles and collaborations
- 2015 — Back Again
- 2015 — Light It Up
- 2019 — Sorry
- 2020 — Lonely
- 2020 — Head & Heart — feat. MNEK
- 2021 — BED — with RAYE and David Guetta
- 2021 — OUT OUT — with Jax Jones feat. Charli XCX & Saweetie
- 2021 — I Wish — feat. Mabel
- 2022 — What Would You Do? — with David Guetta and Bryson Tiller
- 2022 — History — with Becky Hill
- 2022 — Lionheart (Fearless) — with Tom Grennan
- 2023 — Dance Around It — with Caity Baser
- 2023 — 0800 HEAVEN — with Nathan Dawe and Ella Henderson
- 2023 — Desire — with Icona Pop and Rain Radio
- 2023 — Drinkin' — with MK feat. Rita Ora
- 2023 — Hey DJ
- 2024 — Be Alright
- 2025 — I LOVE UR GF
- 2025 — PHASES
- 2025 — Stay A Little Longer — with Galantis and Izzy Bizu
- 2026 — Devotion (Sweetest Emotion) — with RAHH
Joel Corry’s place in British dance music
Joel Corry’s career was not built around instant success. By the time Sorry was released, he had already spent many years working as a professional DJ and releasing his own music, while remaining largely within the club scene. His first major hit arrived only after a long period of performing and studio work.
The subsequent success of Lonely, Head & Heart, BED and OUT OUT established him as one of the notable British dance producers of his generation, while Another Friday Night brought that phase of his career together in a single album.
At the same time, the foundation of Corry’s profession has changed very little. Behind the radio singles and international collaborations remains a DJ who grew up with UK garage and is accustomed to judging music primarily by how it works in front of an audience. It is precisely this combination of British club roots, house production and accessible pop melody that defines his own place in contemporary dance music.
