Kiesza | |
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![]() Kiesza performing in 2015 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Kiesa Rae Ellestad |
Born | [1]
[2] Calgary, Alberta, Canada | January 16, 1989
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) |
|
Labels |
|
Website |
kiesza |
Military career | |
Service/ | ![]() |
Kiesa Rae Ellestad [4] [5] (born January 16, 1989), [1] [2] known professionally as Kiesza [6] ( /ˈkaɪzə/ KY-zə), is a Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist from Calgary. [7] In 2017, she was involved in a car accident in Toronto, suffering severe injuries that required her to take several years off to recover. [8] To date, she has released the albums Sound of a Woman (2014) and Crave (2020).
Kiesza was born and raised in Calgary. Her last name, Ellestad, is Norwegian from her paternal side and her grandfather is from Fagernes in Norway. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] In an interview with Metro, Kiesza claimed that she can trace her lineage to someone who fought alongside Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn, elaborating, "There's a lot of Scottish people in Canada. Tons. My grandpa was of Scottish heritage—he was of the black Douglases". [14]
At thirteen, Kiesza took a sailing class at summer camp, [15] and continued her interest past age 16, when she took part in the Sail and Life Training Society (SALTS) [7] program. She later became a sailing instructor at the Glenmore Sailing School in 2007. A year after, she joined the reserves [3] of the Royal Canadian Navy along with her brother, [16] becoming a NavCom (Naval Communicator). [7] [16] [17] It was while she was at crew singalongs at the Navy that she taught herself to play guitar. [18]
Meanwhile, [7] she also entered the Miss Universe Canada pageant. [19] [16] She stated that her time in the Navy motivated her to give away 4,500 CDs to Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan in 2008. [6] [7] Kiesza took part in the Young Canadians, where she trained in jazz and tap dancing, as well as theatre. [6] She also trained as a ballerina, [19] but a knee injury at age 15 ended her ballet career. [5] [20] When Kiesza was 18, she said that her parents' divorce inspired her to write her first song as a way of expressing her feelings. [7] The same year, she heard a song of hers played on the radio. [16]
In 2005, CKUA Folk Routes host Tom Coxworth selected Kiesza to perform for a live audience and to be broadcast live on his radio show. [7] Shortly after, she was accepted to Selkirk College in Nelson, British Columbia, where she studied keyboard, voice, and guitar; [6] [21] she graduated in 2009. [22] Next, Kiesza won a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. [16] Afterward, she went to New York City in 2010 [2] to advance her music career. [16] Although she started as mainly a folk singer, [16] after attending Berklee and then living in New York, she moved to a more "uptempo sound", [16] for which she worked with producer Rami Samir Afuni. [9] In 2010, she was selected to play at the Canada Day celebrations at Trafalgar Square in London to 30,000 people. [16] [23]
In 2012, Kiesza released her first single after starting work with Afuni in New York, a "disco-infused pop" song titled "Oops", about a couple that had unprotected sex. [4] [9] [24] She labelled her style of music at the time as "SteamPop", described by AjanWrites as "a flaming brew of bold, boisterous pop filled with tongue-in-cheek lyrics". [9] In a later 2014 interview, Kiesza said "Oops" was made as a joke. [4] [9]
In 2013, the singer was featured in the single " Triggerfinger" by Norwegian band Donkeyboy. [25] She has also written for other artists, such as Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, and Icona Pop. [4] [26]
In February 2014, Kiesza released the video for her new single " Hideaway" through the label Lokal Legend. [27] [9] [19] Idolator considered it unique for having a long take throughout the entire video, as Kiesza walked and danced through N 12th Street in Brooklyn, New York City. [27] John Gentile of Rolling Stone called the style "impressive". [28] Kiesza reported to Rolling Stone that she had trouble making the video, partly because she broke a rib just before filming, and "couldn't move for an entire month afterward." [28] It was premiered by Annie Mac on her Mac's Special Delivery segment on BBC Radio 1. [29] "Hideaway" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. [30]
Shortly after "Hideaway" charted, Kiesza released a new video for her cover of Haddaway's song " What Is Love". [31] Mike Bell of the Calgary Herald referred to her version of the song as a "jaw-droppingly gorgeous cover of Haddaway's 1993 dance smash What Is Love?" [13] She performed a slowed-down version, with a video showing her and others slowly revealed to be without clothes, to express "raw emotions". [13]
Kiesza's second single, " Giant in My Heart", premiered on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show on June 13, 2014. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number four.
Kiesza collaborated with Skrillex and Diplo (working together under the name Jack Ü) on the song " Take Ü There", which was released as the first single from the producers' collaborative 2015 mixtape, Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü. She co-wrote Gorgon City's " Go All Night", featuring Jennifer Hudson singing her lyrics, which was on the British duo's debut album, Sirens.
Kiesza appeared as a guest on Duran Duran's album Paper Gods on the song "Last Night in the City", released September 11, 2015. [32]
She wrote several songs for Rihanna, which were considered for the Barbadian artist's eighth studio album, Anti. [33] She also worked with Loreen on the 2015 single " I'm in It with You".
Kiesza released the single "Dearly Beloved" on January 6, 2017. An accompanying music video, which showcases her with a white guitar, was posted on YouTube the same day through the KieszaVevo channel. According to the artist, the song and her future material were inspired by her "best friend Alice [who] passed away nearly a year and a half ago [as of 1/6/17]". The friend in question was Alicia Lemke, who had died in November 2015 from leukemia. [34] On March 17, 2017, Pitbull released Climate Change, featuring a collaboration with Kiesza titled "We Are Strong". [35] At the same time, Cerrone released the album RedLips, featuring a collaboration with Kiesza titled "Ain't No Party". [36]
Nick Krewen, writing in the Toronto Star, reported that Kiesza was involved in a car accident in 2017 in Toronto, when an Uber vehicle she was in was struck by a taxi in a side collision. [8] He reported that part of her recovery, from what she described as a traumatic brain injury, required her staying in a darkened room for six months. [8]
After a two-year hiatus following the car crash, [37] [38] [39] Kiesza released a new single, "Sweet Love", and returned to touring in June 2019. Paper magazine referred to the new song as being a "blend of genres". [40] In 2020, she released her second studio album, Crave. [41]
According to Paper magazine, Kiesza is working on a musical. [40]
In 2014, Kiesza was selected to be the face of a new line of fashion eyewear called "Color Block" by retailer Fendi, appearing in a promotional video shot by Ruth Hogben. [5] [42] [43] [44] The video "features Kiesza strolling on a treadmill against a painted skyline, while singing and donning the double-framed, colourful sunglasses." [45] She announced plans to release her own line of fashion under the name "SteamPop" sometime in 2014. [43]
Headlining
Opening act
Year | Awards | Category | Work | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | UK Music Video Awards | Best Pop Video – International | " Hideaway" | Nominated |
MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Video | Nominated | ||
Best New Act | Herself | Nominated | ||
Best Push Act | Nominated | |||
Best Canadian Act | Nominated | |||
BBC Music Awards | Song of the Year | "Hideaway" | Nominated | |
MTV Video Music Awards | Best Choreography | Nominated | ||
2015 | ECHO Awards [46] | Female Artist Rock / Pop internationally | Sound of a Woman | Nominated |
Newcomer international | Nominated | |||
Juno Awards | Single of the Year | "Hideaway" | Nominated | |
Video of the Year | Won | |||
Breakthrough Artist of the Year | Herself | Won | ||
Dance Recording of the Year | Sound of a Woman | Won | ||
YouTube Music Awards | 50 Greatest Artists and YouTube Performances | Herself | Won | |
MTVU Woodie Awards | Cover Woodie | Nominated | ||
Co-Sign Woodie | " Take Ü There": Jack Ü feat. Kiesza | Nominated | ||
Canadian Radio Music Awards | Best New Group or Solo Artist: CHR | "Hideaway" | Won | |
Best New Group or Solo Artist: AC | Nominated | |||
Western Canadian Music Awards | Electronic/Dance Recording of the Year [47] | Won | ||
International Dance Music Awards | Best House/Garage/Deep House Track | Won | ||
Best Music Video | Nominated | |||
Best Rap/Hip-Hop/Trap Dance Track | "Take Ü There": Jack Ü feat. Kiesza | Nominated | ||
Best Breakthrough Artist (Solo) | Herself | Nominated | ||
Much Music Video Awards | Video of the Year | " Giant in My Heart" | Nominated | |
Best EDM/Dance | Nominated | |||
Most Buzzworthy Canadian | Sound of a Woman | Nominated |
Not only did the accident put Kiesza — who plays her first, sellout Toronto gig on Saturday night at the Drake Underground since the accident — and her career in limbo, but that wasn't the worst of it: it took her another six months to realize the full extent of the injury.
...since a knee injury at 15 cut her ballet career short...
{{
cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
Her new single, "Sweet Love," is a blurring of genres unlike her other dance-pop anthems.
Kiesza | |
---|---|
![]() Kiesza performing in 2015 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Kiesa Rae Ellestad |
Born | [1]
[2] Calgary, Alberta, Canada | January 16, 1989
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) |
|
Labels |
|
Website |
kiesza |
Military career | |
Service/ | ![]() |
Kiesa Rae Ellestad [4] [5] (born January 16, 1989), [1] [2] known professionally as Kiesza [6] ( /ˈkaɪzə/ KY-zə), is a Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist from Calgary. [7] In 2017, she was involved in a car accident in Toronto, suffering severe injuries that required her to take several years off to recover. [8] To date, she has released the albums Sound of a Woman (2014) and Crave (2020).
Kiesza was born and raised in Calgary. Her last name, Ellestad, is Norwegian from her paternal side and her grandfather is from Fagernes in Norway. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] In an interview with Metro, Kiesza claimed that she can trace her lineage to someone who fought alongside Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn, elaborating, "There's a lot of Scottish people in Canada. Tons. My grandpa was of Scottish heritage—he was of the black Douglases". [14]
At thirteen, Kiesza took a sailing class at summer camp, [15] and continued her interest past age 16, when she took part in the Sail and Life Training Society (SALTS) [7] program. She later became a sailing instructor at the Glenmore Sailing School in 2007. A year after, she joined the reserves [3] of the Royal Canadian Navy along with her brother, [16] becoming a NavCom (Naval Communicator). [7] [16] [17] It was while she was at crew singalongs at the Navy that she taught herself to play guitar. [18]
Meanwhile, [7] she also entered the Miss Universe Canada pageant. [19] [16] She stated that her time in the Navy motivated her to give away 4,500 CDs to Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan in 2008. [6] [7] Kiesza took part in the Young Canadians, where she trained in jazz and tap dancing, as well as theatre. [6] She also trained as a ballerina, [19] but a knee injury at age 15 ended her ballet career. [5] [20] When Kiesza was 18, she said that her parents' divorce inspired her to write her first song as a way of expressing her feelings. [7] The same year, she heard a song of hers played on the radio. [16]
In 2005, CKUA Folk Routes host Tom Coxworth selected Kiesza to perform for a live audience and to be broadcast live on his radio show. [7] Shortly after, she was accepted to Selkirk College in Nelson, British Columbia, where she studied keyboard, voice, and guitar; [6] [21] she graduated in 2009. [22] Next, Kiesza won a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. [16] Afterward, she went to New York City in 2010 [2] to advance her music career. [16] Although she started as mainly a folk singer, [16] after attending Berklee and then living in New York, she moved to a more "uptempo sound", [16] for which she worked with producer Rami Samir Afuni. [9] In 2010, she was selected to play at the Canada Day celebrations at Trafalgar Square in London to 30,000 people. [16] [23]
In 2012, Kiesza released her first single after starting work with Afuni in New York, a "disco-infused pop" song titled "Oops", about a couple that had unprotected sex. [4] [9] [24] She labelled her style of music at the time as "SteamPop", described by AjanWrites as "a flaming brew of bold, boisterous pop filled with tongue-in-cheek lyrics". [9] In a later 2014 interview, Kiesza said "Oops" was made as a joke. [4] [9]
In 2013, the singer was featured in the single " Triggerfinger" by Norwegian band Donkeyboy. [25] She has also written for other artists, such as Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, and Icona Pop. [4] [26]
In February 2014, Kiesza released the video for her new single " Hideaway" through the label Lokal Legend. [27] [9] [19] Idolator considered it unique for having a long take throughout the entire video, as Kiesza walked and danced through N 12th Street in Brooklyn, New York City. [27] John Gentile of Rolling Stone called the style "impressive". [28] Kiesza reported to Rolling Stone that she had trouble making the video, partly because she broke a rib just before filming, and "couldn't move for an entire month afterward." [28] It was premiered by Annie Mac on her Mac's Special Delivery segment on BBC Radio 1. [29] "Hideaway" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. [30]
Shortly after "Hideaway" charted, Kiesza released a new video for her cover of Haddaway's song " What Is Love". [31] Mike Bell of the Calgary Herald referred to her version of the song as a "jaw-droppingly gorgeous cover of Haddaway's 1993 dance smash What Is Love?" [13] She performed a slowed-down version, with a video showing her and others slowly revealed to be without clothes, to express "raw emotions". [13]
Kiesza's second single, " Giant in My Heart", premiered on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show on June 13, 2014. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number four.
Kiesza collaborated with Skrillex and Diplo (working together under the name Jack Ü) on the song " Take Ü There", which was released as the first single from the producers' collaborative 2015 mixtape, Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü. She co-wrote Gorgon City's " Go All Night", featuring Jennifer Hudson singing her lyrics, which was on the British duo's debut album, Sirens.
Kiesza appeared as a guest on Duran Duran's album Paper Gods on the song "Last Night in the City", released September 11, 2015. [32]
She wrote several songs for Rihanna, which were considered for the Barbadian artist's eighth studio album, Anti. [33] She also worked with Loreen on the 2015 single " I'm in It with You".
Kiesza released the single "Dearly Beloved" on January 6, 2017. An accompanying music video, which showcases her with a white guitar, was posted on YouTube the same day through the KieszaVevo channel. According to the artist, the song and her future material were inspired by her "best friend Alice [who] passed away nearly a year and a half ago [as of 1/6/17]". The friend in question was Alicia Lemke, who had died in November 2015 from leukemia. [34] On March 17, 2017, Pitbull released Climate Change, featuring a collaboration with Kiesza titled "We Are Strong". [35] At the same time, Cerrone released the album RedLips, featuring a collaboration with Kiesza titled "Ain't No Party". [36]
Nick Krewen, writing in the Toronto Star, reported that Kiesza was involved in a car accident in 2017 in Toronto, when an Uber vehicle she was in was struck by a taxi in a side collision. [8] He reported that part of her recovery, from what she described as a traumatic brain injury, required her staying in a darkened room for six months. [8]
After a two-year hiatus following the car crash, [37] [38] [39] Kiesza released a new single, "Sweet Love", and returned to touring in June 2019. Paper magazine referred to the new song as being a "blend of genres". [40] In 2020, she released her second studio album, Crave. [41]
According to Paper magazine, Kiesza is working on a musical. [40]
In 2014, Kiesza was selected to be the face of a new line of fashion eyewear called "Color Block" by retailer Fendi, appearing in a promotional video shot by Ruth Hogben. [5] [42] [43] [44] The video "features Kiesza strolling on a treadmill against a painted skyline, while singing and donning the double-framed, colourful sunglasses." [45] She announced plans to release her own line of fashion under the name "SteamPop" sometime in 2014. [43]
Headlining
Opening act
Year | Awards | Category | Work | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | UK Music Video Awards | Best Pop Video – International | " Hideaway" | Nominated |
MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Video | Nominated | ||
Best New Act | Herself | Nominated | ||
Best Push Act | Nominated | |||
Best Canadian Act | Nominated | |||
BBC Music Awards | Song of the Year | "Hideaway" | Nominated | |
MTV Video Music Awards | Best Choreography | Nominated | ||
2015 | ECHO Awards [46] | Female Artist Rock / Pop internationally | Sound of a Woman | Nominated |
Newcomer international | Nominated | |||
Juno Awards | Single of the Year | "Hideaway" | Nominated | |
Video of the Year | Won | |||
Breakthrough Artist of the Year | Herself | Won | ||
Dance Recording of the Year | Sound of a Woman | Won | ||
YouTube Music Awards | 50 Greatest Artists and YouTube Performances | Herself | Won | |
MTVU Woodie Awards | Cover Woodie | Nominated | ||
Co-Sign Woodie | " Take Ü There": Jack Ü feat. Kiesza | Nominated | ||
Canadian Radio Music Awards | Best New Group or Solo Artist: CHR | "Hideaway" | Won | |
Best New Group or Solo Artist: AC | Nominated | |||
Western Canadian Music Awards | Electronic/Dance Recording of the Year [47] | Won | ||
International Dance Music Awards | Best House/Garage/Deep House Track | Won | ||
Best Music Video | Nominated | |||
Best Rap/Hip-Hop/Trap Dance Track | "Take Ü There": Jack Ü feat. Kiesza | Nominated | ||
Best Breakthrough Artist (Solo) | Herself | Nominated | ||
Much Music Video Awards | Video of the Year | " Giant in My Heart" | Nominated | |
Best EDM/Dance | Nominated | |||
Most Buzzworthy Canadian | Sound of a Woman | Nominated |
Not only did the accident put Kiesza — who plays her first, sellout Toronto gig on Saturday night at the Drake Underground since the accident — and her career in limbo, but that wasn't the worst of it: it took her another six months to realize the full extent of the injury.
...since a knee injury at 15 cut her ballet career short...
{{
cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
Her new single, "Sweet Love," is a blurring of genres unlike her other dance-pop anthems.