Artist Spotlight: Seeing Through Sia

I am sure we have all at some point heard one of Sia’s trendy new songs. It could have been on the radio, at a party, even walking through the store. Trying to think of who she is? "Chandelier" and "Cheap Thrills" are two of her popular songs. Still guessing? Sia is the new artist that is famous for wearing wigs so big they cover her face.

So why does Sia cover her face? Let’s back up and look inside to see who Sia is, was, and where she has been. Some artists have their unique style, as Sia has her wigs, but she was not always hiding behind her hair. 

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, 41, grew up in South Australia.  As a young child, she loved to sing to Aretha Franklin, Sting and Stevie Wonder. Around the mid-1990’s, she started her career as a singer in a local Adelaid acid jazz band, Crisp. Around 1997, Crisp disbanded and Sia released her first album, Only See. This Trip Hop album didn’t succeed as well as she hoped it would. Sia continued to release music and change her genres slightly, in attempt to entice the mainstream audience. 

• Only See – 1997 – Trip Hop
• Healing is Difficult – 2001 - Trip Hop/Alternative Rock
• Colour the Small One – 2004 – Indie Pop/ downtempo

 
After her release in 2004 of Colour the Small One, she decided to move to New York City and tour the country, releasing her fourth and fifth studio releases. 

• Some People Have Real Problems – 2008 – Indie Pop
• We Are Born – 2010 – Indie pop/new wave/ Synthpop/ R&B

 
All of a sudden, we no longer saw any new music released from Sia. She took a hiatus from the music industry.

Once Sia finally resurfaced as the rebranded Pop singer, making her current level of fame after her hit song in 2011 with David Guetta, "Titanium". Sia was asked why she was hiding her face. In 2013, Sia wrote in Billboard about her decision. “If anyone besides famous people knew what it is was like to be a famous person, they would never want to be famous.”

Sia also explained to Chris Connelly on Nightline in 2014, “I don’t want to be critiqued about the way that I look on the internet. I’ve been writing pop songs for pop stars now for a couple of years and I’ve become friends with them and see what their life is like and that’s not something I want.”

She would always reply with a simple answer until 2016, when she had her Carpool Karaoke with James Corden and divulged deeper into her concealment. "I was a singer for 10 or 11 years to mediocre success. I was an alcoholic and a drug addict, and I sobered up and I decided I didn’t want to be an artist anymore because I was starting to get a little bit famous and it was destabilizing in some way," Sia revealed. "I thought, ‘What doesn’t exist in pop music at the moment?’ And it was mystery! I was like, 'There’s pictures on Instagram of everyone at the dentist.'" 

So as a result of her desire to not be recognized everywhere she went as a famous singer, Sia made the decision to conceal her face to do what she loves and remain mysterious. Sia’s latest CD, This is Acting, are all songs that she had written for other female pop artists, but were not included on their albums. Sia described songwriting for others as “play-acting”, hence the album title. Her playing dress up in bows and wigs plays in nicely with her “play-acting” theme too.

If you are curious about the faceless singer we have come to know, she doesn’t hide too far. You can always see her out attending different events, leaving her wigs at home. Although, you would never know it is her without the stylish bow. Now that we have seen through the wigs, take a beat, maybe pull up some of Sia’s old Indie Pop songs and take the journey through her transformation to the Woman behind the Wig.    

Written by Shelley