Sia

With her singular vocal presence and a style that has produced countless chart successes both as a lead performer and through work with numerous partners, the Australian singer and composer Sia occupies a singular space in contemporary pop. She progressed rapidly from providing guest vocals to establishing herself as an independent recording artist and a prolific supplier of hits to figures including Beyoncé, Celine Dion, Kanye West, and Eminem. Early albums such as Healing Is Difficult in 2001 and Colour the Small One in 2004, the latter containing the defining track “Breathe Me,” placed her on the indie landscape through a markedly exposed vocal delivery that soon reached broader pop audiences. Over subsequent years she incorporated brighter material on We Are Born in 2010 and 1000 Forms of Fear in 2014, the latter anchored by the signature Grammy-nominated single “Chandelier.” Parallel to these projects she emerged as a sought-after songwriter, authoring Rihanna’s 2013 hit “Diamonds” and numerous other tracks for fellow artists; the unused compositions were later assembled into the 2016 release This Is Acting, which yielded “Cheap Thrills,” her first single to reach the top of the Billboard 100. In 2021 she extended her reach into cinema by directing and co-writing Music, supported by a soundtrack bearing the same title, and in 2024 she issued her tenth solo album, Reasonable Woman.

Born in Adelaide as Sia Furler, she grew up in a creative environment with a musician father and an art-lecturer mother. Early influences from Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Sting led her to perform locally on the jazz circuit during the 1990s as the singer for the group Crisp. A solo attempt in 1997 proved unsuccessful, prompting a move to London, where she served as a backing vocalist for Jamiroquai and secured a contract with DancePool, a Sony subsidiary. Her debut single “Taken for Granted” appeared in early 2000, reaching only number 100 in Australia yet climbing to number ten in the United Kingdom and generating European interest in the 2001 album Healing Is Difficult. British scene notables soon sought her contributions, resulting in collaborations with Zero 7 and William Orbit; the Zero 7 partnership endured across three albums, while she simultaneously advanced her solo catalog with Colour the Small One and Some People Have Real Problems.

American audiences grew after “Breathe Me” featured prominently in the series finale of Six Feet Under, enabling a successful U.S. tour captured on the 2007 live album Lady Croissant. The following year Some People Have Real Problems entered the Billboard chart at number 26. Although Zero 7 reconvened in 2009, Sia increasingly concentrated on her own work, leading the group to recruit a replacement vocalist. Teaming with bassist Sam Dixon, she supplied several songs for Christina Aguilera’s 2010 album Bionic and released her own upbeat set We Are Born that same year, which reached number two in Australia. High-profile collaborations with Flo Rida on “Wild Ones” and David Guetta on “Titanium” further elevated her mainstream profile.

As visibility intensified, Sia’s reserved disposition clashed with the demands of stardom, prompting a period of reduced public exposure during which she continued writing for Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, and Rihanna, for whom she crafted the global number-one single “Diamonds.” In 2013 she began recording a new project with producer Greg Kurstin. Negotiations with RCA yielded an unusual agreement exempting her from touring and traditional promotion; her initial television appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show featured a performance of “Chandelier” with her back to the audience, while an oversized wig gradually became her trademark visual signature. Co-written with Jesse Shatkin and Kurstin, “Chandelier” anchored the July 2014 album 1000 Forms of Fear, which debuted at number one in both the United States and Australia and produced additional singles “Big Girls Cry” and “Elastic Heart.” Furler and Kurstin also contributed to the 2014 film version of Annie, with the new song “Opportunity” earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song; “Chandelier” itself received Grammy nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Music Video.

Early 2015 marked the start of work on a follow-up. Late that year the singles “Alive,” co-written with Adele, and “Bird Set Free” preceded the January 2016 release of This Is Acting, a collection of songs originally intended for Katy Perry, Rihanna, and Adele. “Cheap Thrills,” initially slated for Rihanna, became her first Billboard 100 chart-topper in July and achieved platinum status worldwide; a deluxe edition added “The Greatest” featuring Kendrick Lamar. Non-album releases in 2017 included the Zayn duet “Dusk ’Til Dawn,” the Stargate and P!nk track “Waterfall,” and contributions to the Wonder Woman and My Little Pony soundtracks. That November she and Kurstin delivered Everyday Is Christmas on her Monkey Puzzle label, highlighted by the single “Santa’s Coming for Us.”

In 2018 Sia formed the supergroup LSD with Labrinth and Diplo, releasing “Thunderclouds,” and contributed “Helium,” her sixth collaboration with David Guetta, to the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack. Additional LSD singles “Genius,” “Audio,” and “No New Friends” preceded the April 2019 album Labrinth, Sia & Diplo Present LSD, which incorporated a Lil Wayne remix. January 2020 brought the song “Original” for the Doolittle soundtrack, followed later that year by “Together,” the lead single from the 2021 soundtrack Music: Songs from and Inspired by the Motion Picture, which she directed and co-wrote. Further promotion arrived via “Courage to Change,” the Burna Boy collaboration “Hey Boy,” and another Guetta pairing, “Floating Through Space.” Meanwhile the 2016 track “Unstoppable” experienced a resurgence through social-media virality, surpassing a billion streams and topping the U.S. Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 charts in 2022.

With “Unstoppable” still prominent on radio, Sia launched her next chapter with the 2024 tenth solo album Reasonable Woman. Supported by the Top Ten single “Gimme Love” and the Kylie Minogue duet “Dance Alone,” the record reunited her with Kurstin and Shatkin while also featuring Rosalía, Labrinth, Chaka Khan, Missy Elliott, Tierra Whack, Kaliii, Jimmy Jolliff, and Paris Hilton.