Sarah Jessica Cothran (born ) is an American singer-songwriter. Raised in Mississippi and based in Nashville, Cothran gained popularity on social media platform

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

with a series of song covers in a

minor key In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in Western classical music, jazz music, art music, and pop music. A particular key features a '' tonic (main) note'' and it ...

. She gained recognition for her cover of

Matt Maltese Matthew Jonathan Gordon Maltese (born 6 October 1995) is a British-Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer. His style blends elements from indie pop, indie rock, and chamber pop. Since releasing his debut single "Even If It's a Lie" in 2 ...

's song "As the World Caves In" in 2021, earning 400 million streams and a gold

certification Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

from 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 ...

. She subsequently signed with

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 ...

and released two singles in 2022 before her first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''ihope you're happy'', in September. She toured as a

supporting act An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...

for

Alec Benjamin Alec Shane Benjamin (born May 28, 1994) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, his 2018 breakthrough " Let Me Down Slowly" from his album '' Narrated for You'' reached the top 40 in over 25 countries ...

in 2022, and released several singles in 2023 and 2024 before splitting from Republic and going independent.

Career

Sarah Jessica Cothran was born on June 11, 2002, in

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

, Mississippi. She began writing and playing music in

junior high school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes ...

at the age of thirteen. Cothran began posting music on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in 2017, and launched a

account after graduating high school in 2020, having moved to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee. She gained popularity on TikTok with her series of videos singing covers of songs in a

. She considered social media an effective opportunity to share music and connect with her supporters. In January 2018, Cothran released a cover of

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...

's " So Far Away" featuring her older sister Michaila, which received more than one million views. Cothran gained recognition for her cover of

's song "As the World Caves In", originally released with three short videos on TikTok before receiving a full release on streaming platforms on May 12, 2021. It ranked tenth among the most viral songs worldwide on July 14, according to

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

. The single earned 400 million global streams, and was

certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

gold by the

on September 16, 2022. It was featured in the first episode of ''

The Summer I Turned Pretty The Summer I Turned Pretty may refer to: * ''The Summer I Turned Pretty'' (trilogy), a book series by Jenny Han * "The Summer I Turned Pretty", a 2009 book by Jenny Han Jenny Han (born September 3, 1980) is an American author, screenwriter, e ...

'' in June 2022, and an episode of '' The Morning Show'' in October 2023. Maltese's original song saw a resurgence after Cothran's cover. Cothran considered it important to co-

produce In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...

her own music to maintain her creativity and to "level out the huge gap" regarding the lack of female producers. Following the song's success, Cothran signed with

in August 2021, represented by Sara Bollwinkel of Wasserman Music, and legally by Doug Mark. Cothran's first single with Republic, "Baby Why", was released on July 29, 2022. The song is about constant fighting in a

toxic relationship Psychological abuse, often known as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, ...

. Cothran was inspired by vintage sounds but wanted to add a "modern twist". The single gained over one million global streams in ten days. The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was released on August 11, with visuals inspired by the 1950s. Her next single, "Funeral", was released on August 26; co-written with Maltese over several days in a studio in Nashville, the song is about attending one's own funeral. The music video was released on December 2. Cothran's debut EP, ''ihope you're happy'', was released on September 30. She wrote and produced most of the songs late at night in her bedroom. '' Consequence''s Mary Siroky named one of the EP's songs, "I'm Here", a runner-up for Song of the Week, writing that it "unspools like a diary entry ... the knowledge that life could have been different can be haunting, and Cothran tries to close the chapter on her own terms with this poignant brush of her pen". The music video for "I'm Here" was released on December 17, filmed by the Nashville Drone Company at Harpeth Valley Farm in Kingston Springs, Tennessee. Cothran was one of

s on his tour in September 2022. She released a single, "Stronger Than Me", on September 8, 2023, followed by "Me Myself & I" on October 6. From 2023, Cothran partnered with

Bristol Myers Squibb The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Trade name, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies ...

for an awareness campaign about

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which muscle tissues of the heart become thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ...

, with which her mother was diagnosed in 2018. Cothran released a cover of " Hazy Shade of Winter" on January 26, 2024. She posted a cover of a Cat Janice's "Dance You Outta My Head" in February; Janice shared it on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, her final post before her death on February 28. Cothran was featured on a new version of "Solas" by Jamie Duffy on March 15. She released a single, "Gutter", on April 26, followed by "Lead Me On" on June 28, when she revealed she had recently split from Republic to become an independent artist, wanting to make music without external pressures. Her next song, "Rich Romance", was released alongside a music video on May 28, 2025.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cothran, Sarah 2002 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers Singer-songwriters from Mississippi American women pop singers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) People from Covington County, Mississippi