Danielle Haim
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Danielle Sari Haim (born February 16, 1989) is an American musician. She is the lead guitarist and vocalist of the
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
band
Haim Haim can be a first name or surname originating in Hebrew or derived from the Old German name Haimo. Etymology Hebrew Chayyim ( ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Haim, Hayim, Chayim'', or ''Chaim'' (English pronunciat ...
, which also consists of her two sisters,
Este Haim Este Arielle Haim (born March 14, 1986) is an American musician. She is best known as the bassist and a vocalist of the pop-rock trio Haim, which she formed with her younger sisters Alana and Danielle in 2006. She co-writes all of Haim's songs ...
and
Alana Haim Alana Mychal Haim (born December 15, 1991) is an American musician and actress. She is a member of the pop rock band Haim (band), Haim, along with her two older sisters Este Haim, Este and Danielle Haim, Danielle, where she performs piano, guita ...
. Danielle also serves as the group's drummer in the studio; the drummer for live performances varies between Danielle and a separate drummer.


Early life

Danielle Sari Haim was born and raised in the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
, California to a Jewish family. Her father is Israeli-born former professional soccer player
Mordechai Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is the cousin and guardian of Esther, who became queen of Persia under the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). Mordecai's loyalty and ...
("Moti") and her mother, Donna Rose, is a former elementary school art teacher from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Both of her parents have musical backgrounds; Moti played drums, while Donna won a contest on ''
The Gong Show ''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to ...
'' in the 1970s singing a
Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...
song. Danielle's paternal grandmother was originally from
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
. While Danielle showed an aptitude for the guitar at a young age, Moti made the decision that Este would be more suited to the bass, buying her a second hand Fender for $50.


Career


Early career

Danielle started playing music at an early age, and was encouraged by her parents to pursue the guitar. As a child, she played lead guitar in a band called Rockinhaim which consisted of her parents and her two sisters. The band played mostly classic rock covers. After playing a gig with their parents, Danielle and her older sister Este were asked to join a pop group called the Valli Girls, and signed to
Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the la ...
in 2004. Danielle also received a product endorsement deal from Gibson guitars. While later stating that this group was not a suitable outlet for the kind of music she wanted to be playing, the band did allow Danielle some commercial success. The group made promotional videos, an unreleased album, and their song "Always There in You" was featured on the soundtrack of ''
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'' is a series of five bestselling Young adult literature, young adult novels by Ann Brashares: ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (novel), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2001),'' ''The Second S ...
'' in 2005. Before forming a band with her sisters, Danielle toured with
Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child ...
(2009 on guitar), and
Julian Casablancas Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the Rock music, rock band the Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since their founding in 1998. Casabl ...
(2009–10 on percussion and guitar), and played guitar briefly for
CeeLo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway-Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green or simply Cee-Lo), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Green came to initial pr ...
in June 2010. She was introduced to Jenny Lewis by a friend of Jenny's who invited Danielle and Este to a
jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...
/party at Lewis' house on July 4, 2008. Lewis saw Danielle's performance on drums, and later asked her to tour with her as a guitarist. Julian Casablancas also saw Danielle perform on that tour, and asked her to be a part of his touring band, which went into rehearsals two days after wrapping Jenny Lewis's tour. Danielle appears in the official music video of Casablancas' song " 11th Dimension". It was while on tour with other acts that Danielle realized she would much rather play on stage with her sisters. After two years of being on the road with other bands, Danielle came back to form a three-piece band with Este and Alana called Haim.


Haim

In 2007, Danielle and her sisters formed a band of their own known as
Haim Haim can be a first name or surname originating in Hebrew or derived from the Old German name Haimo. Etymology Hebrew Chayyim ( ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Haim, Hayim, Chayim'', or ''Chaim'' (English pronunciat ...
. They released an EP called ''Forever'' in 2012, and appeared at many music festivals, which brought them to the attention of
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
. They were later signed to
Roc Nation Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a re ...
, and were one of the featured artists at Jay-Z's Made in America festival. Haim released their first studio album titled '' Days Are Gone'' in September 2013. In July 2017, Haim's second studio album ''
Something to Tell You ''Something to Tell You'' is the second studio album by American pop rock band Haim. It was released on July 7, 2017, by Columbia Records. The album's lead single, " Want You Back", was released on May 3, 2017, followed by the release of the prom ...
'' was released to positive reviews. Haim's third studio album '' Women in Music Pt.III'' was released in June 2020 to widespread critical acclaim. The album received nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance at the
63rd Annual Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...
in 2021.


Other collaborations

In August 2014, Danielle joined
the Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...
as the drummer for one song during a concert in San Francisco. The Killers' lead singer
Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician. He serves as the co-founder, lead vocalist, primary songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers, which he formed with Dave Ke ...
told the crowd that "We have a cool, special surprise guest. ... One of the bands that came out and dropped a record on us in 2013 and gave us hope for people playing music was Haim. Danielle, the singer from Haim, is actually a hell of a drummer." In 2019, Danielle was featured in
Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chr ...
's album '' Father of the Bride'', providing vocals on the tracks "Hold You Now", "Married in a Gold Rush" and "We Belong Together". Also in 2019, Danielle played drums on the tracks "Sofia", "Impossible" and "Bags" from
Clairo Claire Elizabeth Cottrill (born August 18, 1998), known professionally as Clairo, is an American singer-songwriter. She began posting music on the internet at age 13. Clairo rose to prominence following the viral success of the music video for ...
's album ''
Immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...
''. Danielle shares lyrics on one of Bon Iver’s 2025 album (Sable fable) tracks titled ‘If only I could wait’.


Personal life

From 2013 to early 2022, Danielle dated producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who also produced all three of Haim's albums. The first single from Haim's third record, " Summer Girl", was written for Rechtshaid after he was diagnosed with cancer.


Artistry

Danielle serves as Haim's lead vocalist and guitarist, although all three band members sing and play multiple instruments. Danielle also plays piano and drums, the latter of which she typically plays for the band's
studio recordings A studio recording, or a recording session is any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the case o ...
. Vocally, Danielle is an
alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...
, with Abby Johnston of ''
The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...
'' describing her vocal delivery as "understated". Reviewing ''Days Are Gone'' (2013), Heather Phares of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
found Danielle's voice distinctive "Compared to the thin voices of so many 2010s pop stars", describing her as a "remarkably versatile" vocalist. The Pop Break contributor Jason Kundrath described Danielle as being "in full command of her low alto, stacking her syllables close together, and using each one percussively to create rhythmic hooks on top of her grade A melodies". Similarly, Spencer Kornhaber of ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'' observed that the artist "breaks words into a cluster of
onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetics, phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as Oin ...
s delivered rapid-fire, making sentences sound like tongue twisters even without
alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a literary device. A common example is " Pe ...
". When Danielle opted not to sing during a 2018 live performance upon contracting the flu, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' music critic
Kitty Empire Kitty Empire (born 1970) is a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britain in ...
found the absence of Danielle's vocals to be disorienting as a listener, opining that she "packs a gravitas her two sisters lack".
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
music critic Mark Savage declared Danielle "the honorary
Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...
of Haim", drawing similarities between their musicianship, performance styles and physical appearance, which Savage attributes to her having toured with
The Strokes The Strokes are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1998. The band is composed of lead singer and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Jr., Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikola ...
band members
Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child ...
and
Julian Casablancas Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the Rock music, rock band the Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since their founding in 1998. Casabl ...
. Younger sister Alana likened her to rapper
will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...
because "She's always on some future shit". Aspects of Danielle's personal life and struggles were written into Haim's third album '' Women in Music Pt. III'' (2020), such as the depression she experienced post-tour and the cancer diagnosis of her boyfriend at the time, producer Ariel Rechtshaid. Several interviewers and publications have cited Danielle as the quietest and most reserved among her siblings, with Melena Ryzik of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' describing her as the band's "most precise and serious-minded" member. Danielle herself admitted to being a shy person who "come out of my shell on stage", an observation corroborated by '' DIY'''s Emma Snook. Danielle has publicly condemned the
sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...
she and her sisters receive as female rock musicians, believing their musical efforts are often dismissed and ignored by the rock community because they "don't take ourselves too seriously, and we do choreography in our music videos".


Discography


Haim

* '' Days Are Gone'' (2013) * ''
Something to Tell You ''Something to Tell You'' is the second studio album by American pop rock band Haim. It was released on July 7, 2017, by Columbia Records. The album's lead single, " Want You Back", was released on May 3, 2017, followed by the release of the prom ...
'' (2017) * '' Women in Music Pt. III'' (2020)


As featured artist


Filmography


Film


Music videos


References


External links


Haim
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haim, Danielle 1989 births Living people American women singer-songwriters Drummers from Los Angeles Songwriters from California American people of Israeli descent American people of Bulgarian-Jewish descent Jewish American musicians American women guitarists Scarlet Fever (band) members American contraltos American women drummers Haim (band) members