Sia
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. When Crisp disbanded in 1997, she released her debut studio album, OnlySee, in Australia. Sia moved to London and provided vocals for the English duo Zero 7. She released her second studio album, Healing Is Difficult, in 2001 and her third, Colour the Small One, in 2004.
Sia moved to New York City in 2005 and toured the US. Her fourth and fifth studio albums, Some People Have Real Problems and We Are Born, were released in 2008 and 2010 respectively, and both were certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association and attracted wider notice than her earlier albums. Uncomfortable with her growing fame, she took a hiatus from performing and focused on songwriting for other artists, producing successful collaborations "Titanium", "Diamonds", "Wild Ones" and "Pretty Hurts".
Sia's sixth studio album, 1000 Forms of Fear, debuted atop the US Billboard 200, generating the top-ten single "Chandelier" and a trilogy of music videos she co-directed, starring child dancer Maddie Ziegler. Her seventh album, This Is Acting, spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "Cheap Thrills". In 2016, she also began her Nostalgic for the Present Tour, which incorporated dancing by Ziegler and others, and other performance art elements. After releasing the Christmas album Everyday Is Christmas, Sia, Diplo and Labrinth released a collaborative studio album, LSD. Her tenth album, Reasonable Woman, was released in 2024.
Sia is an advocate for animal rights. She has written many songs for films. Alongside her feature film directorial debut, Music, which received a negative reception, she wrote and produced an album Music – Songs from and Inspired by the Motion Picture. Since the release of 1000 Forms of Fear, in public she has usually worn a wig that obscures her face to protect her privacy. Among her accolades are ten ARIA Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, and nine Grammy Award nominations.
Early life and education
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler was born on 18 December 1975 in Adelaide, South Australia. Her father, Phil Colson, is a guitarist, and her mother, Loene Furler, is an art lecturer. She is the niece of actor Kevin Colson. At age 12, Sia stayed with family friend Colin Hay in New York City for a month, during which Hay attended the Grammy Awards. She cites watching the ceremony from his limousine as inspiration to pursue a music career. As a child, Sia imitated the performing style of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Sting, and has cited them, in addition to Hay, as early influences. She attended Adelaide High School.Career
In the mid-1990s, Sia started a career as a singer in the local acid jazz band Crisp. Sia collaborated with the band and contributed vocals to their album Word and the Deal and EP Delirium.In 1997 Crisp disbanded, and Sia released her debut studio album, OnlySee, on Flavoured Records, in Australia, on 23 December. The album sold about 1,200 copies. Unlike her later albums, OnlySee was marketed under her full name, "Sia Furler". It was produced, and the songs were mostly written, by Jesse Flavell, with Sia co-writing or writing six tracks.
1997–2006: Zero 7, ''Healing Is Difficult'' and ''Colour the Small One''
After Crisp disbanded in 1997, Sia moved to London, where she performed as a background vocalist for British band Jamiroquai. She also provided vocals for English downtempo group Zero 7 on their first three studio albums and toured with the group. On Zero 7's 2001 album Simple Things, Sia contributed vocals to two tracks including the single "Destiny", which peaked at No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, she provided vocals for Zero 7 on "Somersault" and "Speed Dial No. 2". In 2006, Sia collaborated with Zero 7 for their third album, The Garden.In 2000, Sia signed a recording contract with Sony Music's sub-label DancePool and released a single, "Taken for Granted", which peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2001, she released her second solo album, Healing Is Difficult, which blends retro jazz and soul music and lyrically discusses Sia's dealing with the death of her first love affair. Displeased with the promotion of the album, Sia fired her manager, left Sony Music and signed with Go! Beat, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. At the APRA Awards of 2002, Sia won the Breakthrough Songwriter category alongside Brisbane pop duo Aneiki's Jennifer Waite and Grant Wallis.
In 2004, Sia released her third studio album, Colour the Small One. The album employs a mixture of acoustic instruments and electronic backing to her material. The album spawned four singles, including "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Breathe Me", the latter of which charted in the United Kingdom, Denmark and France.
Dissatisfied with Colour the Small Ones poor marketing and the album's struggle to connect with a mainstream audience, Sia relocated to New York City in 2005. During that time, "Breathe Me" appeared in the final scene of the US HBO television series Six Feet Under, which helped increase Sia's fame in the United States. Consequently, Sia's manager, David Enthoven, set up a tour across the country to maintain her career.
2007–2010: ''Some People Have Real Problems'' and ''We Are Born''
In 2007, Sia released a live album, Lady Croissant, which included eight live songs from her April 2006 performance at the Bowery Ballroom in New York and one new studio recording—"Pictures". A year later, she left Zero 7 on friendly terms, replaced by Eska Mtungwazi as the band's frontwoman. Sia released her fourth studio album, Some People Have Real Problems on 8 January 2008. The album peaked at No. 41 in Australia and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association.It charted at No. 26 on the US Billboard 200, becoming Sia's first to chart in the United States. Some People Have Real Problems yielded four singles, including "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine". It peaked at No. 11 in the Netherlands and No. 12 in Spain; it additionally reached No. 8 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs. Another single from the album was "Soon We'll Be Found".
In May 2009, Sia released TV Is My Parent on DVD, which includes a live concert at New York's Hiro Ballroom, four music videos and behind-the-scene footage. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2009, Sia won the Best Music DVD category for TV Is My Parent. She also received a nomination for Best Breakthrough Artist Album for Some People Have Real Problems.
In 2009, American singer Christina Aguilera approached Sia about writing ballads for Aguilera's sixth studio album. The final product, Bionic, includes four songs co-written by Sia. Later in 2010, Sia also co-wrote "Bound to You" for the soundtrack of the film Burlesque, which starred Aguilera and Cher. The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 68th Golden Globe Awards. In May 2011, Sia appeared on the inaugural season of the US version of The Voice as an adviser for Aguilera, who served as a vocal coach and judge.
In June 2010, Sia released her fifth studio album, We Are Born. The release peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The release of the album was preceded by three singles: the lead single, "You've Changed", was released in December 2009 and charted at No. 31 in Australia. The follow-up single, "Clap Your Hands", peaked at No. 17 in Australia, No. 10 in the Netherlands and No. 27 in Switzerland. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010, We Are Born earned Sia two categories won: Best Independent Release and Best Pop Release. Meanwhile, at the 2011 APRA Music Awards, Sia received a nomination for Song of the Year for "Clap Your Hands". To promote We Are Born, Sia gave the We Meaning You Tour, which visited North America and Europe in April–May 2010. The We Are Born Tour followed with stops in Australia in February 2011 and North America in July–August 2011.
2010–2013: Songwriting career and mainstream recognition
Following the success of We Are Born, Sia became uncomfortable with her growing fame. She later told The New York Times: "I just wanted to have a private life. Once, as my friend was telling me they had cancer, someone came up and asked, in the middle of the conversation, if they could take a photograph with me. You get me? That's enough, right?" She refused to do promos for her tours, began to wear a mask on stage and became increasingly dependent on drugs and alcohol on the road; she considered suicide. Sia fired Enthoven and hired Jonathan Daniel, who suggested that she write songs for other artists.Sia retired as a recording artist and began a career as a songwriter. She wrote the song "Titanium" for American singer Alicia Keys, but it was later sent to David Guetta, who included Sia's original demo vocals on the song and released it as a single in 2011. "Titanium" peaked within the top ten of record charts in the United States, Australia and numerous European regions. However, Sia recalled: "I never even knew it was gonna happen, and I was really upset. Because I had just retired, I was trying to be a pop songwriter, not an artist."
From 2011 to 2013, Sia also co-wrote songs for many recording artists, including Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Flo Rida and Rihanna. Her collaboration with Flo Rida, "Wild Ones", peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the tenth best-selling song of 2012 globally. In March 2012, Sia released a greatest hits album, Best Of..., in Australia.
2013–2014: Breakthrough with ''1000 Forms of Fear''
In October 2013, Sia released "Elastic Heart" featuring the Weeknd and Diplo for the soundtrack of the American film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. She executive-produced Brooke Candy's debut EP, Opulence, released in May 2014, and co-wrote 3 songs on the EP. In July 2014, Sia released her own sixth studio album, 1000 Forms of Fear. She again collaborated with Greg Kurstin. The album debuted at No. 1 in the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 52,000 copies. By October 2015, it was certified gold by the RIAA denoting 500,000 equivalent-album units sold in the United States. The record peaked at No. 1 in Australia and reached the top ten of charts in numerous European regions. It was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry and gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association.By early 2016, the album had sold 1 million copies worldwide.
1000 Forms of Fears lead single, "Chandelier" was released in March 2014. The song peaked at No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Sia's first entry on that chart as a lead artist. Elsewhere, the song experienced similar commercial success, ranking in the top ten of the record charts in Australia and numerous European regions. As of January 2015, the single had sold 2 million copies in the United States. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Sia received four nominations for "Chandelier": Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Music Video.
For performances of songs from 1000 Forms of Fear, Sia chose not to show her face, either facing away from audiences or hiding it behind oversized platinum blonde wigs. In videos for the singles "Chandelier", "Elastic Heart" and "Big Girls Cry", choreographed by Ryan Heffington and co-directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, and in many of the promotional live performances, child dancer Maddie Ziegler performed as a proxy for Sia in bobbed blonde wigs similar to Sia's familiar hairstyle. The three videos have received a total of more than 4 billion views on Vevo. In an interview with Kristen Wiig in Interview magazine, she said she decided to conceal her face to avoid a celebrity lifestyle and maintain some privacy: "I'm trying to have some control over my image. And I'm allowed to maintain some modicum of privacy. But also I would like not to be picked apart or for people to observe when I put on ten pounds or take off ten pounds or I have a hair extension out of place or my fake tan is botched. Most people don't have to be under that pressure, and I'd like to be one of them." The video for Elastic Heart "courted controversy and plaudits in equal measure", with some commentators perceiving it to have paedophilic undertones due to the relative ages of the dancers. Sia explained that the two dancers represented "warring 'Sia' self states", but she nevertheless apologised on Twitter to anyone who was "triggered". Gia Kourlas wrote in The New York Times in 2016 that Sia's collaborations with Heffington have "done more to raise the standards of dance in pop music than nearly any current artist integrating the forms". The "Chandelier" video was ranked as the 10th "greatest music video" of the 2010s by Billboard.
In 2014, Sia contributed to the soundtrack to the 2014 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Annie. She and producer Greg Kurstin wrote three new songs for the film as well as re-working songs from the musical. Sia, Kurstin and the film's director Will Gluck were nominated for Best Original Song at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards for "Opportunity".