Remi Francis Wolf (born February 2, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter from
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. As a senior at
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto Senior High School, commonly referred to locally as "Paly", is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two schools in the district, the other b ...
, she appeared as a contestant on ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...
'' in 2014.
After completing her studies at
USC Thornton School of Music
The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...
in 2018,
she made her solo debut with the self-released
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. ''You're A Dog!'' in October 2019.
Wolf subsequently released her second EP and major-label debut, ''I'm Allergic To Dogs!'', on
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...
and
Virgin EMI Records
Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records.
History
Virgin ...
in June 2020,
followed by her debut studio album, ''
Juno'', in October 2021.
Early life and education
Wolf was born in
Palo Alto
Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was es ...
, California
on February 2, 1996, to a Sicilian mother and a Russian-Persian father. At around the age of eight she became interested in
competitive skiing, and represented the US in
alpine skiing at the Youth Olympic Games
Alpine skiing was inducted at the Youth Olympic Games at the inaugural edition in 2012.
Medal summaries Boys' events Slalom
Giant slalom
Super-G
Alpine combined
Girls' events Slalom
Giant slalom
Super-G
Alpine combined
Mixed e ...
for two consecutive years. When she was 14, she formed her first band with a friend called Remi and Chloe (later, Remi, Chloe, & The Extracts).
As a senior in high school, Wolf appeared as a contestant during the audition rounds on
the thirteenth season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...
'' in 2014,
but without any formal dismissal, did not reappear later on in the show.
At age 17, she moved to Los Angeles, where she attended the USC Thornton School of Music, graduating in 2018.
Career
Wolf met producer Jared Solomon (also known as Solomonophonic) while in college and began collaborating with him thereafter. Her first single, "Guy," was produced by Solomon and was released in 2019. Off the success of that song, Wolf opened for
Still Woozy on his tour in April of that year.
She also toured with
Cautious Clay and performed at both the
''Los Angeles Times'' Festival of Books and Viva Pomona! later in 2019.
She released her first EP, ''You're a Dog!'', in September 2019.
She was later signed to
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...
, a division of the
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
.
Her first single as an Island signee, "Woo!", was released in April 2020.
That was followed by the singles "Photo ID" and "Disco Man". Those tracks would go on to appear on Wolf's second EP, ''I'm Allergic to Dogs'', released in June 2020 via Island.
"Photo ID" accrued numerous streams and shares on
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
throughout 2020.
In November 2020, her single, "Hello Hello Hello" was featured in an ad for the
iPhone 12
The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini (stylized and marketed as iPhone 12 mini) are a range of smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the fourteenth-generation, "affordable flagship" iPhones, succeeding the iPhone 1 ...
. In May 2021, she released, ''We Love Dogs!'', a remix EP with guest appearances from acts like
Sylvan Esso
Sylvan Esso is an American electronic pop duo from Durham, North Carolina, formed in 2013. The band consists of singer Amelia Meath (born July 2, 1988) and producer Nick Sanborn (born March 8, 1983). They made their debut with the single "Hey ...
,
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical colla ...
,
Dominic Fike
Dominic David Fike (born December 30, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Fike first received recognition after releasing several popular songs to the website SoundCloud. Following the release of his debut extended play, ''Don't ...
,
Hot Chip
Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...
, and others.
Later in 2021, Wolf began releasing new singles, including "Liquor Store," "Grumpy Old Man," and "Quiet on Set." These would appear on her major label debut studio album, ''
Juno'', released via Island in October 2021.
In March 2022, she released the single, "Pool," with Still Woozy.
Later that year, Wolf opened for
Lorde
Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and ...
on the North American leg of her "Solar Power" tour. In June 2022, Wolf released a "deluxe" version of ''Juno'' with 4 additional tracks. That month, she toured throughout Europe,
including a stop at the Firenze Rocks festival in
Florence, Italy
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
where she performed with the
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, f ...
and
Nas. Those dates constituted the first leg of Wolf's "GWINGLE GWONGLE" tour, which had stops across North America later in the fall of 2022.
In August 2022 in collaboration with
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, Wolf released the ''Live at Electric Lady'' EP, a collection of six live songs, including a cover of
Frank Ocean
Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...
's "
Pink + White
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. 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, politeness, ...
." In November 2022, Wolf announced her first tour of
Australia and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
during which she is scheduled to play multiple festivals and a handful of headlining shows in December 2022 and January 2023. In January of 2023, Wolf announced that she will be performing at
Coachella Coachella may refer to:
* Coachella, California
* Coachella Canal, in California
* Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California
* "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind
"Coachella – Woodstock In My Mind" is a song by Ame ...
.
Artistry
Musically, Wolf performs in what she describes as a "
funky
soul pop"
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...
.
In a 2021 interview, she stated she wants to "constantly try to innovate the sound of pop music" and "erase the rules of pop".
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that she turns the genre
bedroom pop into "hypercolored explosions".
She cites Still Woozy,
SZA
Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she began making music in the early 2010s, releasing two extended plays before signing with the hip ...
, and
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
as musical influences.
Personal life
Wolf is
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...
.
She has been based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, California, since circa 2014.
In June 2020, she was checked into
rehab
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
for
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
issues.
She claims to have been sober ever since,
and that in past instances she frequently drank to the point of blacking out, and although she could easily function in daily life, she had started fighting with family, friends and collaborators.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Live collections
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Songwriting credits
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Remi
1996 births
Living people
Musicians from Palo Alto, California
21st-century American women singers
American women pop singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women in electronic music
American funk singers
Bedroom pop musicians
Island Records artists
Palo Alto High School alumni
USC Thornton School of Music alumni
American Idol participants
Bisexual musicians
LGBT people from the San Francisco Bay Area
American LGBT singers
21st-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from California
Bisexual women