Ronald Michael "Ron" Pope is an American pop and rock singer-songwriter. He was raised in Marietta, Georgia, United States, and is currently based in New York City. In 2005 he wrote the internet hit "A Drop in the Ocean" with Zach Berkman. Its success led to Pope pursuing a career as a solo artist; his music is now recognized internationally. Pope was raised in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta. There he attended East Cobb Middle School and Joseph Wheeler High School. He began playing the guitar at an early age due to an obsession with Bruce Springsteen and became more serious with the talent in high school where he formed various bands. After high school, he attended Rutgers University for two years to play baseball. After a career-ending injury, he transferred to New York University in 2003 to pursue his other passion, music. After joining a songwriting circle with fellow students, he met friends and future band mates, Zach Berkman and Paul Hammer. From there, they created The District with Chris Kienel, Will Frish and Mike Clifford. Following success as a college band, the band toured America for two years and recorded three albums: The District, The District Does Christmas, and Last Call. In December 2010, The District reunited to record "Wellfleet". In March 2008, Pope performed on MTV's TRL as a featured up-and-coming artist. Independently, he wrote, produced, and released four full-length albums: Daylight (2008), The Bedroom Demos (2009), Goodbye, Goodnight (2009) and Hello, Love (2010). In May 2009, Pope signed a year-long recording contract with record label Universal Republic, with whom he released two singles, "A Drop in the Ocean" and "I Believe". After leaving the label he has produced & released his music independently.