# Zolita

Zoë Montana Hoetzel (born September 23, 1994), known professionally as Zolita, is an American singer-songwriter. In 2015, she gained recognition when the music video for her song, "Explosion" became a viral video. Following its success, she released the music videos for the singles "Holy" (2016) and "Fight Like a Girl" (2017) directed by herself. She has released three extended plays: Immaculate Conception (2015), Sappho (2018), and Falling Out / Falling In (2023) as well as two studio albums: Evil Angel (2020) and Queen of Hearts (2024).

## Early life

Zolita was born on September 23, 1994, in New York to Heidi Schwarck and Holger Hoetzel, and was raised in Calabasas, California. Her father is of German descent, and her mother is of Danish descent. Her father inspired her to start making music and she grew up playing bluegrass and flat pick guitar. She has a brother, Max Montana, a basketball player, and a sister, Luna, a YouTuber and ballerina. She and her siblings all share the middle name Montana.

## Career

In 2015, Zolita gained recognition when the music video for her song, "Explosion" became a viral video. On October 13, 2015, she released her debut extended play Immaculate Conception. In June 2016, she released a video for the single "Holy", containing themes of female sexuality, spirituality, and feminism.
In 2017, Zolita released the first single from her second extended play Sappho titled "Fight Like a Girl", a protest song with feminist themes inspired by the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign. On October 26, 2017, she released "Come Home with Me" as the second single, and on May 4, 2018, she released "New You" as the third single from her second extended play Sappho which was released on May 18 of that year. Also in May 2018, she released "Like Heaven", which was listed on the list of "30 Lesbian Love Songs" by Billboard. On December 5, 2018, she released "Truth Tea" along with a music video as the lead single from her debut album, Evil Angel. On March 8, 2019, she released "Black Magic" along with a visual video, however, the song wasn't included on the final tracklist of her debut album. On June 28, 2019, she released "Shut Up and Cry" along with a lyric video as the second single from Evil Angel. On February 14, 2020, she released a cover of Usher's song "U Remind Me" with a music video. On August 7, 2020, she released "Oblivion" along with a music video as the third single from Evil Angel. On September 25 of the same year she released "Bedspell" as the fourth single from the album, and on November 20 she premiered the music video on the online magazine's website Them. The promotional single, "Loveline" was released a week before the album's release, and on December 4, 2020, her debut studio album, Evil Angel, was released.
Zolita released music videos for "Somebody I Fucked Once," "Single In September," and "I Fucking Love You" as a trilogy. Within the first week of release, the music video for "Somebody I Fucked Once" had 5 million views on YouTube. Her love interest is played by Tatchi Rigsby. Zolita's close friend Shannon Beveridge was the creative director for the latter two videos. She released the EP Falling Out / Falling In via AWAL in February 2023.
In 2024, Zolita released multiple singles, including "Small Town Scandal", all of which were part of the album Queen of Hearts, released later that year.

## Artistry

Zolita's music has been described as "a blend of dark-pop and R&B". Her musical style incorporates witchcraft and religion. She says that religious and witchcraft magic aesthetics are a huge part of her life saying "I feel like queer people are so drawn to Wicca and witchcraft because it's always been the alternative religion, it puts the power in yourself, and it's not historically been a religion that doesn't like queer people." She also cites Lady Gaga as her biggest influence.

## Personal life

Zolita identifies as lesbian. In a 2017 interview, she stated that she was afraid to come out to her female friends, saying "I was also worried that my female friends would no longer want to have girls' nights or sleepovers for fear that I might be attracted to them. So, I decided to keep my newfound queerness a secret." She also identifies herself as a witch; she explains this in videos on her YouTube channel, but also in her music videos where witchcraft is incorporated.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Details |
| Evil Angel | Released: December 4, 2020 Format: CD, LP, digital download Label: Self-released |
| Queen of Hearts | Released: May 31, 2024 Format: digital download Label: AWAL |

### Extended plays

| Title | Details |
| Immaculate Conception | Released: October 13, 2015 Format: Digital download Label: Self-released |
| Sappho | Released: May 18, 2018 Format: CD, digital download Label: Tuxedo Media Group LLC |
| Falling Out / Falling In | Released: February 10, 2023 Format: CD, digital download Label: AWAL |

### Singles

| Title | Year | Album |
| "Explosion" | 2015 | Immaculate Conception |
| "Holy" | 2016 | Immaculate Conception |
| "Fight Like a Girl" | 2017 | Sappho |
| "Come Home with Me" | 2017 | Sappho |
| "New You" | 2018 | Sappho |
| "Truth Tea" | 2018 | Evil Angel |
| "Black Magic" | 2019 | Evil Angel |
| "Shut Up and Cry" | 2019 | Evil Angel |
| "U Remind Me" | 2020 | Non-album single |
| "Oblivion" | 2020 | Evil Angel |
| "Bedspell" | 2020 | Evil Angel |
| "Somebody I Fucked Once" | 2021 | Evil Angel |
| "Single in September" | 2022 | Non-album singles |
| "I Fucking Love You” |
| "20 Questions" | Falling Out / Falling In |
| "Ruin My Life” |
| "Ashley” | 2023 |
| "All Girls Go to Heaven" | 2024 | Queen of Hearts |
| "Small Town Scandal" | 2024 | Queen of Hearts |
| "Bloodstream" | 2024 | Queen of Hearts |
| "Bye Bye Baby" | 2024 | Non-album single |

### Promotional singles

| Title | Year | Album |
| "Like Heaven" | 2018 | Sappho |
| "Loveline" | 2020 | Evil Angel |