[5][6] Hartono was born in Singapore on 26 July 1991 to Chinese Indonesian parents,[7][8] Nathan's father, Thomas Hartono, is the managing director of PT Anandini Vimala, while his mother, Jocelyn Tjioe, is the senior vice president of Singapore-based Tung Lok group, which was founded by his grandfather.
[12] Coming from an English-speaking family, Hartono struggled with learning the Chinese language in primary and secondary school, describing it as an "unclimbable mountain" in a 2017 interview.
The album has a total of 12 tracks, with most of the songs covered by Nathan such as "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", "Everybody's Changing", "Moody's Mood for Love", "Seven Nation Army" during his concerts.
[21] He released his first EP, Nathan Hartono, which consists of 5 tracks, was a departure from his usual jazz work, exploring acoustic pop and folk style[22] In December 2012, he released a Christmas single titled, I'll Be Home For Christmas and also recorded a track titled, "Layu Sebelum Berkembang" for the official soundtrack of Indonesian feature film Langit Ke 7.
On June 30, 2013, Nathan released an original single on his official YouTube channel titled, Thinkin Bout Love, which is only available digitally.
He had become the first Singaporean to pass the blind auditions (all three of Singapore's previous entries to the show's predecessor, The Voice of China, had failed to do so).
By then, his opponents were Chinese nationals Xu Geyang, Jiang Dunhao, Yang Meina and Wang Chenrui, as well as teenager Jeryl Lee of Malaysia.
[26] He finished second overall in the final round that took place on October 7 at the Beijing National Stadium, after singing a mashup of classic hits "Moonlight Under The City" and "Women's Flower".
While there was supposed to have been 81 judges, 92 votes were cast – 45 of which were for Hartono and the remaining 47 for eventual champion Jiang Dunhao.
Notwithstanding, amid speculation among netizens that the contest was rigged,[29] Hartono had expressed that he was not at all disappointed by the results.
[31] Subsequently, in January 2017, he was appointed as an ambassador for the committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning at an event graced by chairman and Parliamentary Secretary for Education Low Yen Ling, in recognition for his achievements and for his efforts to improve his Mandarin during the course of the programme, and will work with the committee to promote the learning of the Chinese language among Singapore students.
[41] In 2017, Hartono was one of the Ambassadors, along with paralympian Theresa Goh and actor Ebi Shankara, of Pink Dot SG.