Hailey Knox
Hailey Knox is an American singer-songwriter and producer. She rose to prominence through her viral singing videos on YouTube and YouNow. In 2016, she opened for Charlie Puth's We Don't Talk Anymore Tour, which earned her a spot on People magazine's Ones To Watch list.
Life and career
Early life and career beginnings
Knox was born and raised in Carmel, New York. She learned guitar from her dad, a police officer, at age seven. The first song she learned was "Blackbird" by The Beatles. In third and fourth grade, she performed in talent shows. When she was 12 years old, renowned producers Mike Mangini and Peter Zizzo noticed her on YouTube, later working with her on original music. In 2012, under the management of her mother, Knox performed in clubs and coffee shops around New York with her sister Samantha as part of the duo The Knox Sisters.Knox began posting acoustic covers on Facebook in 2014, then transitioned to YouTube due to a large volume of song requests. The first time Knox can recount going viral was when she and her friend Juno covered “It’s Strange” by Louis the Child featuring K. Flay. Her viral success attracted the attention of producers and American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, who retweeted Knox's cover of "Ain’t No Sunshine" by Bill Withers.
2015–2017: ''A Little Awkward''
Knox continued to expand her fanbase through the livestreaming service YouNow, where she performed covers and originals, leading to a record deal with S-Curve Records in 2015. After getting signed, Knox released "Geeks" in May 2015, which received another Tweet from Trainor. The following year she released her first EP, A Little Awkward, and promoted it as an opener for Charlie Puth's We Don't Talk Anymore Tour. This resulted in Knox being featured in People magazine's 2016 Ones To Watch list. To focus on her music career, Knox dropped out of public school and finished her final year of high school online. At the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards, she was nominated for a social star award because of her YouNow channel.2018–2020: ''Hardwired Mixtape''
In January 2018, Knox released "Don't Got One", which is about the lack of real connection in the age of social media. She promoted the song and her previous releases as an opener for Ruth B's 2018 tour. Her first full-length album, Hardwired Mixtape, came out on November 16, 2018, through S-Curve Records. The album's name reflects how "it's slightly all over the place", featuring a conglomeration of highly produced pop tracks, raw acoustic tracks, and unfinished snippets. In 2019, the title track, "Hardwired", was featured in an episode of Grey's Anatomy.2021–present: Independent music and ''For the Best''
In 2021, Knox went independent and started posting on TikTok, where she went viral. In January 2022, she was added to American rapper Russ's song "Remember" after completing an open verse challenge on TikTok. She uploaded a loop and guitar riff to TikTok on January 11, 2023, which she released as "Available For Me" a week later due to its viral success.In July 2024, Knox released her album For the Best through 10K Projects. The album was written with her boyfriend of seven years and explored the ups and downs of their relationship.