Claire Elizabeth Cottrill, 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 her lo-fi single “Pretty Girl” in 2017.
She subsequently signed a record deal, releasing her debut EP Diary 001 (2018) with Fader Label. Her debut studio album Immunity (2019) spawned the singles “Bags” and “Sofia“, the latter of which became her first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Cottrill’s second studio album, Sling, was released in 2021 to commercial success, debuting in the top 20 of the US Billboard 200. Her third studio album, Charm, was self-released on July 12, 2024.
Other name: DJ Baby Benz
Years active: 2012–present
Born Age: August 18, 1998, 26 years old and 3 months, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sun Sign: Leo
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Red
Height: 5’4″ – 1.65 m
Measurements: 32-24-35 in – 82-62cm-90cm
Bra size: 32C US – 70C EU
Genres: Bedroom pop, lo-fi music, electropop, indie rock, indie pop, soft rock
Instruments: Vocals, guitar, keyboards, clarinet
Claire Cottrill Clairo
singer Claire Cottrill Clairo
Life and career
Claire Cottrill was raised in Carlisle, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of marketing executive Geoff Cottrill and Allie Cottrill, a photographer and designer.
2011–2016: Early career
Cottrill began recording covers on her MacBook at the age of 13, beginning with a cover of a Maroon 5 song. In a 2015 interview with Rookie, she recalled of this first recording, “It took me hours to figure out if I wanted to post it on Facebook or not to even tell my friends that I’d made it. I was so nervous about it! I just closed my eyes and did it, and then I closed my computer and tried not to think about it”. She would also perform covers at local businesses including Blue Dry Goods. During this time, MTV contacted her to record a song to be used as background music for one of their shows, but the song was never used. She began posting music to Bandcamp under the names Clairo and DJ Baby Benz while attending Concord-Carlisle High School. She went on to post covers and songs in addition to DJ mixes of rap music on SoundCloud. She also posted three short films on an old YouTube channel, and maintained a second one where she would post covers in addition to short films.
She launched her EP Do U Wanna Fall in Love? in 2013 after releasing several home recordings. A few additional EPs, including Aquarius Boy, Late Show, Moth Girl, Metal Heart, and Have a Nice Day, came after this in 2015.
2017–2018: diary 001 EP
Clairo first drew wide attention in late 2017 when the video for her song “Pretty Girl” went viral on YouTube. The song was recorded for an indie rock compilation benefiting the Transgender Law Center. According to her, she recorded the track “using the resources around me which were pretty shitty. I used like a little keyboard that I had and I was really into ’80s pop music – my mom is obsessed with it – so it kind of inspired me to do something like that.” She has attributed audience interest in the video to YouTube’s algorithm system. The video was quickly lumped into the growing genre of bedroom pop, and also became popular on vaporwave-centric Facebook groups. “Pretty Girl” had amassed more than 81 million views on YouTube by 2022.
Another video, “Flaming Hot Cheetos”, was released a month before “Pretty Girl” on YouTube. It garnered 3 million views by July 2018. The success of “Pretty Girl” led to interest from major labels such as Capitol, RCA, and Columbia. Jon Cohen, the co-founder of The Fader, signed Clairo to the magazine’s associated record label with a 12-song record contract and introduced her to Pat Corcoran, manager of Chance the Rapper. She became a client of talent agency Haight Brand near the end of 2017.
On May 25, 2018, Fader Label released Clairo’s debut record, titled Diary 001. In her review for Pitchfork, Fader contributor Sasha Geffen wrote that the EP ought to subside the “legions of naysayers who dismissed her as a one-hit fluke or an industry plant.” A piece written by Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times said that the EP “bridges both worlds, building on the coy, understated bedroom pop of ‘Pretty Girl’ and ‘Flaming Hot Cheetos’ toward sturdier numbers like ‘4EVER’ and ‘B.O.M.D.'” Also in May, Clairo announced a headlining tour throughout North America, as well as select dates opening for Dua Lipa. Her July performance at the Bowery Ballroom in New York was a sold-out show. In August 2018, she performed at Lollapalooza. She performed at Coachella in 2019.
2019–2020: Immunity
On May 24, 2019, Clairo released a new single, “Bags“, and announced her debut studio album Immunity, which was released on August 2, 2019. She would further release two more singles from the album, “Closer to You” and “Sofia” Following the album’s commercial success, Apple Music named Clairo an Up Next artist in August 2019.
Clairo made her television debut performing “I Wouldn’t Ask You” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September 2019, before performing “Bags” on The Ellen DeGeneres Show a few days later. In December 2019, she won Pop Artist of the Year at the 2019 Boston Music Awards for the second consecutive year, as well as Album of the Year for Immunity. “Bags” was included in over 15 critics’ lists ranking the year’s top songs including Pitchfork‘s and Paste‘s lists of best songs of the decade. Immunity was included in over 10 critics’ end of year lists, including The Guardian, Pitchfork, Billboard and Los Angeles Times. As of 2019, Clairo was managed by Mike Ahern and Jimmy Bui.
2020–2023: Sling
In April 2020, Clairo revealed that she had begun working on her second studio album via a tweet of a screenshot of a playlist titled “Album 2 (demos so far)”. In October of that same year, she formed a new band called Shelly with indie pop artist Claud and their two friends from Syracuse University, Josh Mehling and Noa Frances Getzug. The group released two songs, “Steeeam” and “Natural”, on October 30, 2020.
On June 11, 2021, Clairo released “Blouse“, the first single from her second studio album, Sling, which was announced that same day. The record is for Cottrill, but it is also a record of her attempts to reevaluate her goals in life, bearing the Laurel Canyon imprint and replaces Immunity’s sparse electronic flourishes with lush, acoustic folk frequently adorned with swooning vocal harmonies, delicate strings, and the warm swell of brass. It was released on July 16, 2021, and was praised for Clairo’s artistic progression and thematic songwriting that ponders future motherhood, domesticity and the responsibility of becoming a caregiver. It also appeared on numerous “best albums of 2021” lists.
In February 2022, Clairo embarked on the US leg of the Sling tour. She canceled the last three dates of her North American tour, after a technical incident at her gig in Toronto left her with temporary hearing damage. After two songs, her opening show of the UK tour in Bristol had to be canceled due to a case of sinusitis that was affecting her voice, leading to her having a panic attack onstage and leaving afterward. The Glasgow show was canceled but the show the day after it in Manchester went ahead, and her final UK show of that tour was in London.n>
In 2023, the singer appeared as an opening act for Boygenius during the inaugural Re:SET Concert Series. In May, after being featured on remixes by Phoenix and Beabadoobee, she released the EP Live at Electric Lady, containing new versions of songs from her first two albums. She also released two charity singles on Bandcamp, “For Now” with all proceeds directed to Everytown for Gun Safety and For The Gworls, and “Lavender” to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders during the Israel–Hamas war.
2024–present: Charm
In January 2024, Clairo teased a new album with a post on Instagram, captioning it “maybe this year”. In March, she shared an Instagram post captioned with emojis depicting the number three, a check mark, and a purple heart. The post was interpreted by the music publication The Forty-Five to mean that her third studio album was complete. On May 23, Clairo announced that the album, titled Charm and produced by Leon Michels, was scheduled for release on July 12, while releasing its lead single, “Sexy to Someone”.
On May 29, Clairo scheduled two residencies to support the album in New York and Los Angeles for September. On June 28, she released “Nomad”, the record second and last single. On July 12, 2024, to promote the record, Clairo performed “Juna”, the seventh track of the album, live at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. On the same day, she also announced the dates for her upcoming North American tour that will be held from September to November 2024. The tour is supported by singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou as the opening act.
On August 4, the music video for “Juna” was released. It marked Clairo’s first music video in six years. The next day, via Spotify Singles, she released a cover of Lana del Rey’s Brooklyn Baby.
Artistry
Clairo recalled that the Shins‘ Wincing the Night Away (2007) was the first album she “really completely geeked out over”, crediting it as her inspiration to make music. Since many around her told her that a career in music was unlikely, she did not consider it a prospect and therefore did “whatever” she wanted musically. She has stated that her musical influences were a mixture of her mother and father’s musical taste, citing musicians such as Al Green, Brenton Wood, Billy Paul, Cocteau Twins, Trashcan Sinatras, The The and Public Image Ltd.
Political views
In July 2020, Clairo signed an open letter to then-UK Equalities minister Liz Truss calling for a ban on all forms of LGBT+ conversion therapy.
In May 2022, a leaked draft opinion showed that the U.S. Supreme Court was planning to overturn abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade. Cottrill, alongside other musical artists like Lorde, Olivia Rodrigo and Phoebe Bridgers, signed a full-page ad in The New York Times condemning the planned Supreme Court decision. While performing at Glastonbury in June 2022, Cottrill wore a T-shirt saying “Bans Off Our Bodies” in protest to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization final decision which overturned access to abortion granted in Roe v. Wade.
In October 2023, Clairo signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter calling for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war to U.S President Joe Biden.
In January and July 2024, Clairo performed at the Artists for Aid Benefit Concert in London, England, raising funds for Gaza and Sudan.
Personal life
In 2017, Cottrill began attending Syracuse University, studying in the Bandier Program for Recording and Entertainment Industries, but dropped out after one year to pursue music full time.
Cottrill was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at the age of 17.
After the success of “Pretty Girl”, a number of social media users (specifically on discussion website Reddit) began claiming that Clairo was an “industry plant” who gained success through her father’s nepotism. She denied the claims, calling them sexist. Writers for The Guardian and The Ringer also stated that her father’s connections facilitated her record contract signing. In 2021, she spoke openly about the accusations, telling Rolling Stone, “I definitely am not blind to the fact that things have been easier for me than other people’s experiences. It would be stupid of me to not acknowledge the privilege I had from the start to be able to sign somewhere where there’s trust, to be able to sign a record deal that doesn’t revolve around keeping myself afloat financially.”
Cottrill came out as bisexual to her fans via Twitter in May 2018. In an interview, she explained that making friends in college is what helped her to come out, as they were openly gay and she was inspired by “their confidence and their willingness to be exposed.”
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