Julia Carin Michaels (''
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
'' Cavazos; born November 13, 1993)
is an American singer and songwriter. She has received six
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
nominations, including twice for
Song of the Year and
Best New Artist, as well as nominations from the
MTV Video Music Awards,
''Billboard'' Music Awards, and
American Music Awards
The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
.
Born in
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
and raised in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, Michaels began her career writing for other artists at the age of 16. Following her success from doing so, she signed to
Republic Records
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...
as a recording artist to release her 2017 debut single, "
Issues". The song peaked at number 11 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, received
quintuple platinum certification by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA), and preceded the release her third extended play (EP), ''
Nervous System
In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...
'' (2017). The EP and its follow-up, ''
Inner Monologue Part 1'' (2019), both moderately entered the
''Billboard'' 200. Her debut studio album, ''
Not in Chronological Order'' (2021), was met with critical praise despite commercial failure.
In her songwriting career, Michaels has been credited on songs for
Selena Gomez
Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...
,
Olivia Rodrigo,
Demi Lovato,
Sabrina Carpenter,
Fifth Harmony
Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, is an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and formerly Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signed a ...
,
Shawn Mendes,
Britney Spears,
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
,
Hailee Steinfeld, and
Gwen Stefani, among others. She has earned two ''
''Billboard''''
Hot 100-number one songs with Bieber's "
Sorry" and Gomez's "
Lose You to Love Me". As a guest performer, she guest appeared on the singles "
If the World Was Ending" by
JP Saxe, "
I Miss You" by
Clean Bandit, and "
Coming Home" by
Keith Urban. In 2023, she wrote songs for Disney's centennial animated film, ''
Wish''.
Early life
Julia Michaels was born in
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...
, but moved to
Santa Clarita, California, about 35 miles northwest of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, with her family including her older sister Jaden, who is also a songwriter. Her father is of
Mexican and
Puerto Rican descent. He changed his name from Juan Manuel Cavazos to John Michaels to pursue an acting career.
Michaels began singing at age 12. When she was 14, she met songwriter Joleen Belle, with whom she wrote the theme song to ''
Austin & Ally
''Austin & Ally'' is an American comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel from December 2, 2011 to January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez, and Cal ...
'' and many other songs for TV and film. At 19, she met
Lindy Robbins, with whom she wrote "Fire Starter" for
Demi Lovato and "
Miss Movin' On" for
Fifth Harmony
Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, is an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and formerly Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signed a ...
.
Michaels has said her inspirations include
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released five albums from 1996 to 2020, all of which reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2021, she has sold over ...
,
Lisa Mitchell,
Laura Marling
Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English Folk music, folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist, Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for th ...
,
Missy Higgins,
Paramore,
Juliet Simms
Juliet Nicole Simms (born February 26, 1986), also known as Lilith Czar, is an American singer and songwriter.
She established a fan base as the front woman of the band Automatic Loveletter. In 2007 – in the band's earliest years – she bec ...
,
Sarah Blasko, and
The Fray.
Michaels had been writing in the Hollywood Pop Circuits since she was 16. By the age of 20, she met her songwriting partner
Justin Tranter—with whom she frequently collaborates— and co-wrote songs for mainstream artists including
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
,
Selena Gomez
Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...
, and
R5. Together with the Norwegian musician
Kygo she performed "
Carry Me" at the closing ceremony of the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, Brazil.
Career
At the age of 17, Michaels' first professional job was to write the theme song for the Disney Channel show ''
Austin & Ally
''Austin & Ally'' is an American comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel from December 2, 2011 to January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez, and Cal ...
'' in 2010.
While doing demos in 2012, she took on another job by Disney as background vocals for the song "
Let It Go" from the movie ''
Frozen''.
In January 2017, Michaels released her first solo single, "
Issues". According to Michaels, many big-name artists fought for the song, but she kept it for herself. She said, "It was the first time I'd written a song that sounded so much like myself that I couldn't picture anyone else singing it." In April 2017, her new song "How Do We Get Back to Love" was premiered on the HBO series ''
Girls''.
Michaels's EP ''
Nervous System
In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...
'' was released on July 28, 2017. Her second single "
Uh Huh" was released on June 2, 2017.
From November 25 to December 6, 2017, Michaels was the opening act for
Shawn Mendes's
Illuminate World Tour on the Oceania Leg.
At the
2018 Grammy Awards, she was nominated for two awards,
Best New Artist and
Song of the Year for "Issues". On February 8, 2018, "Heaven" was released which was included in the soundtrack for the film ''
Fifty Shades Freed''. On May 4, 2018, "
Jump" was released featuring
Trippie Redd. From March 12 to May 12, 2018, Julia was the opening act for the European dates of
Niall Horan's
Flicker World Tour.
From May 30 to October 15, 2018, Michaels was the opening act for
Maroon 5's
Red Pill Blues Tour on the North American leg. She collaborated with
Lauv on the single "There's No Way", released September 27, 2018. In November 2018, she appeared on the soundtrack to the Disney film ''
Ralph Breaks the Internet'', where she performed "In This Place", a pop rendition of the film's musical number "A Place Called Slaughter Race."
On December 21, 2018, Michaels was featured on
5 Seconds of Summer's song, "
Lie to Me". "Lie to Me" charted in multiple countries and was later certified platinum in Australia and Gold in Canada.
From January 23 to February 5, 2019, Michaels opened for
Keith Urban on the Australian leg of his
Graffiti U World Tour. On January 24, 2019, Michaels released her EP, ''
Inner Monologue Part 1''. In June 2019, she began teasing songs from ''
Inner Monologue Part 2'', including "17" and "Falling for Boys".
On May 11, 2020, Michaels appeared in the second-season episode of ''
Songland'' and released the song "Give It to You".
On October 1, 2020, Michaels released the song "Lie Like This" as the lead single from her forthcoming debut studio album. On March 26, 2021, "All Your Exes" was released. On April 14, Michaels announced the title of her album, ''
Not in Chronological Order'', and its release date of April 30, 2021.
In 2023, she co-wrote songs for the Disney animated film, ''
Wish''. Michaels was featured on
NF's song "Gone" on his 2023 studio album ''
Hope''. In 2024, she featured on the song "Want This Beer" by
Josh Ross.
In an Instagram story in August 2024, Michaels confirmed she was an independent artist.
Personal life
Michaels was in a three-year relationship with record producer
Sir Nolan, about whom she wrote
Clean Bandit's song "
I Miss You".
After collaborating on "
There's No Way", Michaels and fellow artist
Lauv were in a relationship for several months at the end of 2018.
In July 2019, Michaels started dating Canadian musician
JP Saxe. This relationship arose from their collaboration on the duet "
If the World Was Ending". In September 2022, it was reported that they had broken up.
Since July 2022, Michaels has been in a relationship with tattoo artist Mat Rule. They announced their engagement in April 2025.
Filmography
Discography
* ''
Not in Chronological Order'' (2021)
Tours
;Headlining
* Inner Monologue Tour (2019)
;Opening act
*
Shawn Mendes –
Illuminate World Tour (2017)
*
Niall Horan –
Flicker World Tour (2018)
*
Maroon 5 –
Red Pill Blues Tour (2018)
*
Keith Urban –
Graffiti U World Tour (2019)
*
Pink
Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...
–
Beautiful Trauma World Tour (2018)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaels, Julia
American women songwriters
Living people
1993 births
People from Davenport, Iowa
People from Santa Clarita, California
American women pop singers
American dance musicians
Republic Records artists
American musicians of Puerto Rican descent
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
Hispanic and Latino American women singers
Singer-songwriters from California
Walt Disney Animation Studios people