Biography
Known for gentle close-range singing, an ethereal mood, and introspective themes, the recording artist Clairo serves as the professional alias of vocalist and composer Claire Cottrill. The Massachusetts native, who routinely augments her keyboard and guitar parts with assorted samples and textural details, began posting dozens of her distinctive yet economical, melody-centered tracks on file-sharing platforms during her early teenage years in 2013. Modest online traction arrived with the 2017 release “Pretty Girl,” while larger attention followed via “Flaming Hot Cheetos,” whose video clip drew millions of plays across 2018. Removing the private “bedroom” tag from her pop approach, Clairo issued her first proper album, the Rostam-shaped Immunity, in 2019. The more elaborately scored sophomore set Sling appeared in 2023 and reached the Billboard 200’s upper tier; the following year’s entirely tape-recorded Charm found her exploring vintage soul and mellow rock palettes alongside the Daptone records collective.
After placing dozens of collected home recordings online in 2013, Clairo put out the EP do u wanna fall in love? the next year. Additional EPs followed throughout 2015: have a nice day, late show, AQUARIUS BOY, and moth girl. Also that May, the full-length metal heart gathered minimal acoustic pieces marked by audible tape noise. Around the same time she grew active on social platforms, sharing acoustic covers of material by the Cure, Frankie Cosmos, and Alex G. The year 2016 brought the creased laundry EP and the six-track brains a bus station, which incorporated electric guitar, varied keyboard timbres, and drum samples. That July she also issued a split EP credited to Claire Cottrill alongside English lo-fi artist Keel Her.
December 2016 saw the track “How Was Your Day?,” a collaboration with Mellow Fellow, unveil a denser indie-pop palette built on extended chords and complete guitar-keyboard-drums-harmony arrangements. Further cementing her reputation for dreamy contemplation, Clairo appeared on three atmospheric indie-electronic singles in 2017: Brennan Henderson’s “Girl,” Jakob Ogawa’s “You Might Be Sleeping,” and Hans’s “Froyo.” Her own comparable number “Pretty Girl” landed on the Father/Daughter Records cassette The Le Sigh, Vol. 3, while the keyboard ballad “Flaming Hot Cheetos” supplied her second viral moment; both tracks received official commercial release through the FADER Label midway through 2017. An official clip for “Cheetos” surfaced in March 2018 and drew coverage from Pitchfork, NPR, and Billboard. Still in her late teens, Clairo followed a month later with the funkier, more polished single “4EVER,” recorded with Ashwin Torke, Deaton Chris Anthony, and Burns Twins. Additional 2018 singles included the Cuco collaboration “Drown” and “Heaven,” taken from the Skate Kitchen soundtrack.
Preserving closeness while moving toward a polished pop surface, Clairo co-produced her debut official LP, 2019’s Immunity, with Rostam and welcomed guests such as drummer Danielle Haim plus a children’s chorus. The single “Sophia” marked her first Billboard Hot 100 entry, and Immunity peaked at number 51 on the album chart. An arena tour supporting Khalid accompanied the release and led into her own headlining dates. Expanding her sonic palette with vintage keys, Moogs, and stacked vocals, Clairo’s second album Sling was co-produced by Cottrill and Jack Antonoff; issued in 2021 on Republic Records, it reached number 17 on the Billboard 200.
A string of injury- and health-related setbacks disrupted 2022 touring plans, yet Clairo returned to open for Boygenius at the first Re:SET Concert Series in early 2023. That year she also contributed to remixes by Phoenix and Beabadoobee and released her own Live at Electric Lady EP in May. Two charity singles—“For Now,” benefiting Everytown for Gun Safety and FOR THE GWORLS, and “Lavender,” supporting Doctors Without Borders—appeared before year’s end. For her third album Clairo enlisted Leon Michels (El Michels Affair, the Dap-Kings) as co-producer; they captured the sessions live to tape in Queens and Woodstock, New York, with his regular musicians. Emphasizing acoustic instruments such as horns, woodwinds, and analog synthesizers, and shifting between warm ’70s soul and soft-rock textures, Charm arrived as a self-released title in July 2024.
After placing dozens of collected home recordings online in 2013, Clairo put out the EP do u wanna fall in love? the next year. Additional EPs followed throughout 2015: have a nice day, late show, AQUARIUS BOY, and moth girl. Also that May, the full-length metal heart gathered minimal acoustic pieces marked by audible tape noise. Around the same time she grew active on social platforms, sharing acoustic covers of material by the Cure, Frankie Cosmos, and Alex G. The year 2016 brought the creased laundry EP and the six-track brains a bus station, which incorporated electric guitar, varied keyboard timbres, and drum samples. That July she also issued a split EP credited to Claire Cottrill alongside English lo-fi artist Keel Her.
December 2016 saw the track “How Was Your Day?,” a collaboration with Mellow Fellow, unveil a denser indie-pop palette built on extended chords and complete guitar-keyboard-drums-harmony arrangements. Further cementing her reputation for dreamy contemplation, Clairo appeared on three atmospheric indie-electronic singles in 2017: Brennan Henderson’s “Girl,” Jakob Ogawa’s “You Might Be Sleeping,” and Hans’s “Froyo.” Her own comparable number “Pretty Girl” landed on the Father/Daughter Records cassette The Le Sigh, Vol. 3, while the keyboard ballad “Flaming Hot Cheetos” supplied her second viral moment; both tracks received official commercial release through the FADER Label midway through 2017. An official clip for “Cheetos” surfaced in March 2018 and drew coverage from Pitchfork, NPR, and Billboard. Still in her late teens, Clairo followed a month later with the funkier, more polished single “4EVER,” recorded with Ashwin Torke, Deaton Chris Anthony, and Burns Twins. Additional 2018 singles included the Cuco collaboration “Drown” and “Heaven,” taken from the Skate Kitchen soundtrack.
Preserving closeness while moving toward a polished pop surface, Clairo co-produced her debut official LP, 2019’s Immunity, with Rostam and welcomed guests such as drummer Danielle Haim plus a children’s chorus. The single “Sophia” marked her first Billboard Hot 100 entry, and Immunity peaked at number 51 on the album chart. An arena tour supporting Khalid accompanied the release and led into her own headlining dates. Expanding her sonic palette with vintage keys, Moogs, and stacked vocals, Clairo’s second album Sling was co-produced by Cottrill and Jack Antonoff; issued in 2021 on Republic Records, it reached number 17 on the Billboard 200.
A string of injury- and health-related setbacks disrupted 2022 touring plans, yet Clairo returned to open for Boygenius at the first Re:SET Concert Series in early 2023. That year she also contributed to remixes by Phoenix and Beabadoobee and released her own Live at Electric Lady EP in May. Two charity singles—“For Now,” benefiting Everytown for Gun Safety and FOR THE GWORLS, and “Lavender,” supporting Doctors Without Borders—appeared before year’s end. For her third album Clairo enlisted Leon Michels (El Michels Affair, the Dap-Kings) as co-producer; they captured the sessions live to tape in Queens and Woodstock, New York, with his regular musicians. Emphasizing acoustic instruments such as horns, woodwinds, and analog synthesizers, and shifting between warm ’70s soul and soft-rock textures, Charm arrived as a self-released title in July 2024.
Albums
Singles
