Tony Cummings muses on Nottingham's JERUB and an old Sunday school anthem

Jerub

You can imagine the scenario. Tens of thousands of people listening or half listening to Radio 4 who are interviewing Dennis O'Neal of AStepFWD about the launch of Britain's Official Christian Music & Gospel Singles Chart. Suddenly they are startled. Did O'Neal just say that the first chart-topper was "Kumbaya"?! For those aged listeners memories come flooding back to Sunday school days where they were encouraged or forced to sing that simplistic ditty. Surely this old church song could not be making a comeback for the young streaming generation. Surely not!

As it turns out, it is not. This history-making chart-topper by a clever young singer from Nottingham called Jerub isn't that dreadful anthem forced-fed to generations of kids. It's a new song for a new generation. Its lyrics are arresting:

Rain fallin' on a lonely night
Just waitin' on the sun to rise (mmm)
Come mornin' and my tears are dry
Still prayin' it will be alright (mmm)

I'm supposed to stay strong
Heaven knows, I try

They got me singin' Kumbaya, but I don't know what it means
'Cause I've been to the moon and back, but I still can't find release
Now every time I close my eyes, it's so clear to see
Where you are is where I wanna be
Where you are is where I wanna be

Born in Nigeria before moving to Nottingham aged 10, Jerub released his first single "Paint Me In Gold" in April 2019 and by 2021 was a finalist in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge Introducing talent search, standing out from over 10,000 entries. Before his appearance at The King's Coronation Concert, Jerub supported RHODES on his UK tour and was included on the official soundtrack for Amazon Prime's festive movie Your Christmas or Mine? which also featured Maisie Peters, Sam Ryder and Priya Ragu. Jerub's 'Finding My Feet' EP was released in May 2023 with the focus track "There Till The End" being chosen as the BBC R1 Track of The Week that June. At the 2024 StepFWD Awards his "Gonna Be Okay" was named Single Of The Year.

Now with his wonderfully catchy "Kumbaya" and an eagerly awaited appearance at the 2026 Big Church Festival, more and more people are echoing Jerub's sentiment of where God is is where they wanna be.