Biography
Singer Sia, who has a unique voice, songwriter and songwriter with a quirky mix of jazz, folk, soul and pop, is often referred to as an “Australian treasure”. And not in vain – once you hear the voice of this singer, you will definitely remember it forever. Sia works closely with the brightest stars of world music and is the author of many soundtracks for popular films and series. In the list of her awards – MTV Video MusicAwards and ARIA Awards, as well as many nominations for the Golden Globe and Grammy.
Singer Sia’s childhood
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler was born into a family of musicians from the small Australian town of Adelaide. Her father, Phil Coulson, lectured on art, and her mother wrote songs. Together, the couple performed as part of the rockabilly band The Soda Jerx, whose leader was Sia’s uncle. So the atmosphere of music and creativity surrounded the baby from the first years of life.
Sia with mom
Little Sia’s favorite singers were Sting, classical rhythm and blues artist Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder. Later, Sia admitted that she carried her love for their work through her whole life.
Often leaving on tour, the parents left the baby at home alone, and the girl had fun dancing in front of the mirror, imitating her favorite performers. Many years later, these childhood memories formed the basis of the video clip for her famous song Chandelier.
Singer Sia in her youth
Sia hated school: learning was not easy for her, and she was not particularly popular with her classmates, causing them only ridicule and insults.
At the age of 17, she first appeared on stage as part of the local jazz-funk group The Crisp, but she did not stay in it for a long time. As part of this project, the girl recorded two albums (“Word and the Deal” and “Delirium”). Both records failed commercially, but this experience helped the young singer understand that it was time for her to pursue a solo career.
Creativity Sia
In 1997, Sia moved to London, where she finally got lucky. First, she was taken as a backing vocalist in the notorious jazz-funk group Jamiroquai (she recorded the album “Only See” with them), and in 2000 she signed a contract with the famous record company Sony Music.
Sia’s songs appealed to music lovers
A year later, the debut solo album of the singer “Healing Is Difficult” was released, which the audience liked and was favorably received by music critics. Sia was known in Britain, but the rest of Europe, like the States, still did not know anything about the talented Australian.
The situation changed with the release of her second studio album Color the Small One, released in 2004. The third song from the disc – “Breathe Me”, took first place in the charts of several American radio stations. But most importantly, she became the soundtrack to the series “The Client is Always Dead.” It was a success! A little later, the composition played at the Victoria’s Secret show, in an advertisement for Australian supermarkets, during the Beijing Olympics and in the trailer for the popular Prince of Persia game.
Four years later, Sia’s album “Some People Have Real Problems” was released, which peaked at number 26 on the 200 Billboard chart. The melancholic “I Go to Sleep” and “Lullaby” became the favorite songs of many on this disc. Sia has managed to create a very personal and intimate album that is best listened to alone. As an accompaniment, the singer used a minimum of instruments – guitar, piano and some percussion.
Sia loves hairstyles that cover her face.
In 2010, the singer released a dynamic album “We Are Born” with hits as diverse as “Clap Your Hands” and “I’m in Here”. The single “You’ve Changed” became Sia’s biggest selling single and was featured on the soundtrack to The Vampire Diaries.
By that time, the singer began to engage in other people’s projects. In 2010, she recorded four songs for Christina Aguilera’s BIONIC album, which the star herself called “the heart of the whole record.”
Sia has written many songs for other artists
In 2012, Sia suddenly announced that she did not want to pursue a solo career anymore. She was diagnosed with a serious thyroid disease, which significantly affected her well-being. However, she continued to create for other artists. So, Sia composed compositions for Kylie Minogue (“Exercise”), Lana Del Rey (“Sweet Design”), Gwen Stefani and Maroon 5 (“My Heart Is Open”), Chris Martin (“Broken Glass”), Celine Dion ( “House of Fire”), Britney Spears (“Perfume”), Beyoncé (“Pretty Hurts”, “Footprints”), Katy Perry (“Unstoppable”).
However, the most famous hit that Sia composed not for herself was the song Diamonds, performed by Rihanna. In 2012, this track topped the charts in more than 20 countries around the world.
Sia also wrote many soundtracks at the time, including for such popular films as “Twilight” (“My Love”), “The Hunger Games” (“Elastic Heart”), “The Great Gatsby” (“Kill and Run”) .
In 2013, the Billboard chart released a traditional themed magazine featuring the year’s top performers. The cover featured a girl with a paper bag on her head. The package read: “She sold 12 million tracks, wrote the Hunger Games soundtrack and still doesn’t want to be popular.” The inscription could be peeled off – behind it was the real face of Sia.
After a short pause in 2014, the girl blew up the world stage again with her new solo album 1000 Forms of Fear. Only the main composition of the disc – Chandelier, was nominated four times for the Grammy Award. Later, Sia’s songs could be heard in films such as “50 Shades of Gray” (“Salted Wound”), “The Huntress with an Eagle” (“Angel by the wings”), and “The Lion” (“Never Give Up”). In January 2016, the singer’s next successful album “This Is Acting” was released, the track from which “Cheap Thrills” became a real dance hit for a long time and received a Grammy nomination. At the same time, the singer was nominated for this award for “Best Pop Album”, but lost the award to Adele. In support of her album, Sia organized a world tour, the first concert of which took place in August 2016 in Moscow.
Sia’s personal life
The personal life of the singer has developed quite dramatically. In the early 2000s, she met in London with a guy named Dan Pontifex, who became her first true love. The couple traveled to Thailand, but due to work issues, Dan had to return to London ahead of Sia. A week before she arrived, he was hit and killed by a car.
After this tragedy, the singer plunged into a deep depression, accompanied by uncontrolled use of alcohol and drugs. The unfortunate girl even tried to commit suicide: she was saved by a friend who called in time.
In 2004, after another nervous breakdown, Sia went through a full course of rehabilitation.
In 2008, she openly declared her bisexuality, actively fought for the legalization of same-sex marriages. In 2014, Sia married American director Eric Anders Lang, but the couple broke up at the end of 2016.
Sia and Eric Anders Lang
Now Sia leads a healthy lifestyle: she attends yoga classes with Demi Moore and follows a strict vegetarian diet.
Singer Sia now
To the delight of the fans, while Sia is not going to go “on vacation”: recently, new singles and mini-albums with her participation have been constantly released. So, by the end of 2017, the singer presented her Christmas collection with author’s songs “Everyday is Christmas”, and in 2018 she recorded hit tracks with David Guetta – “Flames” and “Helium”. Also, together with Diplo and Labrinth, Sia created the group LSD (abbreviation of their names). In May 2018, they pleased the listeners with a spectacular video for the song Genius.