# 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 her lo-fi single "Pretty Girl" in 2017. She signed a record deal, releasing her debut EP Diary 001 (2018) with Fader Label, which was created by her father's friend. 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, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.

## Early life

Claire Elizabeth Cottrill was born on August 18, 1998 in Atlanta. She is the daughter of marketing executive Geoff Cottrill and Allie Cottrill, a photographer and designer. She and her family lived in Atlanta until age seven, when they moved to Washington for three years before settling in Carlisle, Massachusetts.

## Career
### 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 performed cover songs at local businesses including Blue Dry Goods. MTV contacted her at the time to record a song to be used as background music for a television show on MTV, but the song was never aired. She began posting music to Bandcamp under the names Clairo and DJ Baby Benz while attending Concord-Carlisle High School in Concord, Massachusetts. She began posting covers, songs, and DJ mixes of rap music on SoundCloud. She also put three short films on an old YouTube channel and maintained a second channel for covers and 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 s_. 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 attributes audience interest in the video to YouTube's algorithm system. The video was quickly put into the growing genre of bedroom pop and became popular on vaporwave-centric Facebook groups. "Pretty Girl" had amassed more than 110 million views on YouTube by 2024.
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, the 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 the Los Angeles Times. Since 2019, Clairo has been 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)". Also in October 2020, 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 on the same day. The record is for Clairo, 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 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.
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. On May 23, Clairo announced her third album, titled Charm, which she co-produced with Leon Michels. Its lead single, "Sexy to Someone" was released concurrently. On May 29, she announced two residencies to support the album in New York and Los Angeles in September 2024. On June 28, "Nomad" was released as the record's second and last single.
Charm was released on July 12, 2024, to critical acclaim with music critics highlighting the record's jazz-like production, songwriting and Clairo's overall musical expansion. On July 18, 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 of her 2024 North American tour spanning between September and November. The tour was 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, and it is wrestling-themed. The next day, she released a cover of Lana Del Rey's "Brooklyn Baby" exclusively on Spotify as part of the Spotify Singles series. On October 9, Clairo released a cover of singer-songwriter Margo Guryan's "Love Songs". The cover song is a part of the Guryan tribute compilation album Like Someone I Know, released on November 8, 2024. Simultaneously, Charm was nominated in the Best Alternative Music Album category of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. This marked Clairo's first Grammy nomination.
On December 3, Clairo shared the music video for "Sexy to Someone". On February 6, 2025, a music video for "Terrapin" was released. It was directed by actress Ayo Edebiri, and features "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Clairo".

## Influences

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 said that her musical influences were a mixture of her mother and father's musical tastes, citing artists including Al Green, Brenton Wood, Billy Paul, Cocteau Twins, Trashcan Sinatras, the The, and Public Image Ltd.

## Activism

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. Clairo, 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 the Glastonbury Festival in June 2022, Clairo 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 President Joe Biden. In January and July 2024, she performed at the Artists for Aid Benefit Concert in London which raised funds for the Gaza Strip and Sudan.

## Personal life

In 2017, Clairo began attending Syracuse University. She enrolled in the Bandier Program for Recording and Entertainment Industries, but dropped out after one year to pursue music full time. Bandier Program director Bill Werde encouraged her to take time off, calling it a "rare opportunity."
Clairo 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 her friends were openly gay and she was inspired by "their confidence and their willingness to be exposed."
Clairo was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at the age of 17.

### Nepotism allegations

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 their 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."

## Discography

Studio albums
* Immunity (2019)
* Sling (2021)
* Charm (2024)

## Live performances
### Headlining tours

* Lazy Days Tour (2018)
* Immunity Tour (2019)
* Sling Tour (2022–2023)
* Charm Tour (2024–2025)

## Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, nominee(s) of the award, award category, and the result of the nomination :
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee(s)/work(s) | Result |
| BBC Radio 1 | 2019 | Hottest Record of the Year | "Bags" | 5th |
| Boston Music Awards | 2018 | Artist of the Year | Clairo | Nominated |
| Boston Music Awards | 2018 | Pop Artist of the Year | Clairo | Won |
| Boston Music Awards | 2018 | Album/EP of the Year | Diary 001 | Nominated |
| Boston Music Awards | 2019 | Artist of the Year | Clairo | Nominated |
| Boston Music Awards | 2019 | Pop Artist of the Year | Clairo | Won |
| Boston Music Awards | 2019 | Album of the Year | Immunity | Won |
| Boston Music Awards | 2019 | Song of the Year | "Bags" | Nominated |
| Grammy Awards | 2025 | Best Alternative Music Album | Charm | Nominated |
| iHeartRadio Music Awards | 2022 | Best New Alternative Artist | Clairo | Nominated |
| NME Awards | 2020 | Best Song in the World | "Bags" | Nominated |
| NME Awards | 2020 | Best New Act in the World | Clairo | Won |