Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, popularly known by her stage name Sia was born in 1975 in Adelaide, Australia, and is an accomplished singer, voice artist, songwriter, director, and actor. She moved base to London where her career took off as part of the duo, Zero 7 as a vocalist. She later moved to New York City in 2005 where she continued to expand her career with new releases. She also took a significant hiatus during her career and concentrated on writing music for other artists. She worked as a songwriter for some of the biggest hits and eventually returned to singing receiving accolades and engagement like never before.
Early Life
Born in Australia, she took to music from an early age inspired by her musician father and cousin, artist Kevin Colson. Some of her early influences include Sting, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder. She started her career as a singer as part of the acid jazz band called Crisp. After this collaboration, she came out with her debut record, Only See in 1997 in Australia.
Career
Sia moved to London the same year and worked as a vocalist for the band Jamiroquai and duo, Zero 7. She toured with the group and also worked as a vocalist for three of their albums. The song ‘Destiny’ from the 2001 album, Simple Things garnered widespread popularity. She also worked on the album When It falls for the songs ‘Speed Dial No. 2’ and ‘Somersault’. After her collaboration with the group for the third consecutive album, The Garden in 2006, she was named the official vocalist.
She again received widespread popularity with the single, ‘Taken for Granted’ in 2000 peaking at No. 10 in the UK charts. She tried her hands in jazz and soul with her album, Healing Is Difficult in 2001. Her career was gradually picking up with awards and new production partnerships. She came out with Colour the Small One, her third solo album in 2004.Songs from the album such as ‘Breathe Me’ and ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’.
Following the lack of marketing for the album, she moved to New York City in 2005. She became more famous and consequently embarked on a tour.
Her next project was Lady Croissant, a live album comprising eight live songs. Around this time she also left Zero 7 and went on the release her 4th studio album called Some People Have Real Problems in 2008. The album received gold certification in Australia. The songs ‘The Girl You Lost to Cocaine’ and ‘Soon We’ll Be Found’ also received widespread acclaim.
Sia began her journey as a songwriter by working on one of the albums called Bionic by Christina Aguilera. She has also co-written music for movies such as Burlesque with the song, ‘Bound to You’. Her 2010 album, We Are Born was pivotal in her career with songs like ‘You’ve Changed’ and ‘Clap Your Hands’. She was also doing tours for the promotion of her album.
Songwriting Career
Following the release of We Are Born, her growing fame got to her and soon she embarked upon an extremely successful songwriting career. She worked with some of the biggest artists and the greatest hits such as ‘Titanium’ for David Guetta which also became a huge hit. She further crumbled within her own space almost completely absent from the limelight but writing songs for artists such as Rihanna, Flo Rida, Kylie Minogue, and Beyonce.
She released elastic heart in 2013 alongside Diplo and Weeknd for the movie, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Her sixth studio album was called 1000 Forms of Fear in 2014. The album was certified gold in 2015 and continues to be one of the biggest hits of her career. The album sold over 1 million copies by early 2016. The song ‘Chandelier’ from the same album received worldwide acclaim. The songs ‘Big Girls Cry’ and ‘Eye of the Needle’ was also among the most celebrated tracks from the record. She received four nominations at the 57th Grammy Awards for ‘Chandelier’. During the peak of her career, she chose to keep her identity a secret by wearing big wigs and hats covering her face during any public appearances. Many critics have said that Sia’s music has helped to retrieve dance pop like no other. In fact, Billboard announced ‘Chandelier’s music video as the 10th greatest of the 2010s. She also worked on the soundtrack of Annie, a Broadway musical. The song ‘opportunity’ was nominated at the 72nd Golden Globes. She collaborated with Greg Kurstin yet again for her seventh studio album, This Is Acting. The song ‘Alive’ from the same album was co-written by Adele.
‘Cheap Thrills’, again from the same album went to create outstanding success. She continued savoring her success and love from her fans following her incredible performance at the 2016 Coachella festival. She continued performing across various music festivals allowing her to connect with her fans. Sia’s YouTube profile has over 9 billion views with over 17 million subscribers. She was also nominated for three Grammys. Other collaborations included performing and co-writing Zayn’s song, ‘Dusk Till Dawn’.
Present
She signed with Atlantic records in 2017 and released an album, Everyday Is Christmas that same year. She also released a delux4e edition in 2018. She then worked on the Mountains EP for Spotify alongside Diplo and Labrinth under the acronym, LSD. An album was also released in 2019. She came out with her ninth studio album called Music – Songs from and Inspired by the Motion Picture in 2021. She is also set to come out with another album called reasonable Woman this year. Her first directorial venture was with the movie, Music but received some criticism for its approach to autism. The movie was nominated for a Golden Globe but instead, received the Golden Raspberry for direction.
Musical Style and Artistry
Her career and music have seen different undulations from acid jazz to soul, trip-hop to downtempo, folktronica to alternative rock, and power ballads. She later expanded her creative streak with indie-pop following the release of Some People Have Real Problems. She also went across the scopes of R&B, pop, and synthpop. She has always expanded her soundscape with new influences that constantly kept her progressing through the musical winds of change.
Awards
Sia is the recipient of various awards including APRA Music Awards, Aria Music Awards, ASCAP Pop Music Awards, BMI Awards, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Clio Awards, and more.
Other Ventures
She has been a voice artist for South Park along with other contributions in My Little Pony: The Movie and Vax Lux. Her film, Music was also a crucial point of her career starting her journey as a director.
Personal Life
When she moved to London, she was involved with Dan Pontifex who passed away in a car accident. She continued to live in London and soon took to drugs and alcohol to combat the loss. She was also in a relationship with JD Samson. She identifies herself as queer.
She has been suffering from depression and addiction and was also suicidal. She was also diagnosed with Grave’s disease.
She was married to Erik Anders between 2014 and 2016. She is also a feminist. She is also a mother to two adopted boys.
Animal Activism
Sia is a dedicated advocate for animals and contributes largely to various initiatives and animal rights projects.