kenzie

Mackenzie Ziegler, known simply by the mononym kenzie, creates emotionally frank pop shaped by dance rhythms. Although she had already recorded and performed live since childhood, the 2020 single “Exhale” featuring Sia brought her wider notice. In addition to music, she works as a dancer, actress, and model, having first reached millions through six seasons on the reality series Dance Moms and through earlier teen-pop releases issued under her full name or as Mack Z. Further singles arrived with the 2020 track “Donuts” and 2022’s “100 Degrees,” both reflecting a more polished singer/songwriter and electronic dance-pop style that she fully adopted on the 2024 album biting my tongue.

Born in Pittsburgh in 2004, Mackenzie Frances Ziegler began dance lessons at age two. Her older sister Maddie also trained as a dancer. Together with their mother Melissa Ziegler-Gisoni, the sisters joined the Lifetime series Dance Moms, which debuted in July 2011. While appearing on that popular cable program, she released teen pop as Mack Z, issuing the album Mack Z in April 2014 at age nine. Led by the single “Girl Party,” the project gained strong streaming numbers, opening the door to additional singles and an acting debut on Nickelodeon’s Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn. Meanwhile Maddie starred in Sia’s video for the blockbuster “Chandelier.” The family exited Dance Moms during its sixth season in 2016.

Credited under her full name, she partnered with singer/songwriter/actor Johnny Orlando on the late-2016 single “Day & Night.” The track amassed tens of millions of streams, prompting further collaboration on the web series Total Eclipse. The teen drama premiered in April 2018 and continued for several seasons. In November 2018 she delivered her second studio album, Phases, which included the Sia-penned “Wonderful,” first unveiled on an episode of Dancing with the Stars. She signed with Arista Records the following year.

Issued as kenzie, the single “Exhale” arrived in June 2020 and featured Sia. That same year she also released the disco-infused “Donuts” featuring Yung Bae. Another track, “100 Degrees,” followed in October 2022. July 2024 brought her third full-length and first album under the mononym kenzie, titled biting my tongue. It was produced by Lenii, Andrea Rocha, D’Mile, Joseph Tilley, and others, and contained the duet “close to you” with ASTN.