Kiara Saulters (born May 24, 1995), known professionally as Kiiara, is an American singer and songwriter from Wilmington, Illinois. She is currently signed to Atlantic Records. Her 2015 single "

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

" peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. She is also known for contributing vocals to Linkin Park's 2017 single "

Heavy Heavy may refer to: Measures * Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight * Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight * Heavy, ...

Early life

Kiiara grew up in Wilmington, Illinois. She attended Wilmington High School where she played for the school's volleyball team. While recording her breakout EP, she also worked as a hardware store clerk. She started a studio internship to help familiarize herself with the music process and get practice recording.

Career

In 2013, Kiiara independently released an acoustic pop single called "Bring Me Back" under her real name. In June 2015, after signing a deal to Atlantic Records and changing to her stage name from Kiara Saulters to Kiiara, she released her debut single "

". Later that year, "Gold" was chosen as background music of a 15-second

Apple Watch Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...

commercial titled "Style". The song was her first entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 13. Her debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), '' Low Kii Savage'' was released on March 22, 2016. The video for "Gold" quickly gained popularity, reaching five million views during mid-May 2016. On September 15, 2016, Kiiara made her television debut, performing "Gold" on ''

The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. Kiiara was featured on Linkin Park's single, "

", which was released digitally on February 16, 2017 and on radio on February 21. She later performed "Heavy" with

Julia Michaels Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

at the Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington concert at the Hollywood Bowl which was held after the death of Linkin Park's vocalist

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter who was best known as the lead vocalist of rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of the bands Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, ...

. In March 2018, she was featured in

Cheat Codes Cheating in video games involves a video game player using various methods to create an advantage beyond normal gameplay, usually in order to make the game easier. Cheats may be activated from within the game itself (a cheat code implemented by ...

' single "Put Me Back Together". On June 7, 2019, she released the single "Open My Mouth". Kiiara stated that it would serve as the lead single from her debut studio album, along with another single "Bipolar", released on September 6, 2019. However, both were cut from the final track listing, although the first one featured on a deluxe edition of the record. On October 9, 2020, she released her debut studio album '' Lil Kiiwi'', which includes her previously released singles "

", "Feels", and " Whippin" featuring Felix Snow, as well as new singles "I Still Do", "Never Let You", and "Numb" featuring DeathByRomy and

Pvris Pvris (pronounced "Paris" and stylized PVRIS) is an American pop rock act formed by multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer Lyndsey Gunnulfsen. Over her decade-long career, Gunnulfsen has released three studio LPs: ''White Noise ...

. A deluxe edition of her album was later released, which included two songs "Intention" and "Tennessee" taken from her debut extended play, ''Low Kii Savage'', as well as two previous non-album singles, "Messy" and "Open My Mouth".

Influences

Kiiara has cited Eminem, Rihanna,

Joyner Lucas Gary Maurice "Joyner" Lucas Jr. (born August 17, 1988) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Lucas first received widespread exposure and critical acclaim after the release of his single "Ross Capicchioni" in 2015. In June 2017, he relea ...

Yelawolf Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known by his stage name Yelawolf, is an American rapper. Born in Alabama and raised in Tennessee, he embarked on his career independently in 2005, releasing one extended play (EP) and four mixta ...

, and Linkin Park as her influences.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Notes

References

{{Authority control 1995 births Living people American women pop singers American women songwriters American people of English descent Atlantic Records artists Musicians from Oak Park, Illinois People from Wilmington, Will County, Illinois Singers from Illinois Songwriters from Illinois 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers