ALMA

Alma in August 2022

**Alma-Sofia Miettinen** (born 17 January 1996), known mononymously as **Alma** (stylized in uppercase), is a Finnish singer and songwriter. Beginning her career in 2013, she placed fifth in the seventh season of the Finnish version of Idol. Her breakthrough came in 2015 when she was featured on the single "Muuta ku mä" by Sini Sabotage, and was subsequently signed to Universal Music Group. By 2016 she'd released two Top 10 singles with Karma and Dye My Hair, but it was third cut Chasing Highs that saw her bag Top 20 placings in the UK and Germany in 2017.

## Early life

Alma-Sofia Miettinen was raised in a small suburb just outside of Helsinki, Finland. She has a twin sister named Anna-Livia, who has provided backing vocals during Alma's live shows. She is a capricorn.

## Pre-Idol

Before auditioning for Idol, she'd never considered that a career in pop was feasible, "In Finland you can't dream about those things because it never happens to anyone," she says. "We don't have any big stars in Finland so it seems unreachable.

## Career

### 2013: *Idols*

In 2013, at age 17, Alma auditioned for the seventh season of Finnish *Idols*. She progressed to the live shows, where she finished fifth.

 Audition
 1. Final
 3. Final
 5. Final
 7. Final

### 2015-2016: *Breakthrough and* Dye My Hair

In 2015, she was featured on Sini Sabotage's single "Muuta ku mä". In March 2016, Alma was signed to Universal Music, and on June 3, she released her debut single "Karma". The song peaked at number 5 on the Finnish Singles Chart.. She is also the featured vocalist on the Felix Jaehn song "Bonfire". The song was released as a single on 15 July 2016. On October 28 2016, she released her debut extended play *Dye My Hair*.

### 2017: *Chasing Highs, Phases and collaborations*

On 23 March 2017, she released *Chasing Highs* which peaked at number 10 on the Finnish Singles Chart. In June it was released in the UK, and became Alma's first UK top 20 hit.. On September 21 2017, Alma released a collaboration with Moroccan-American rapper French Montana, *Phases* which peaked at number 14 in her country and also at number 88 in UK, the video for this single was nominated in the category of Music Video of the Year at the 2017 Emma Awards. She was featured on the Sub Focus' song "Don't You Feel It", released as a single in May 2017. She was also the featured vocalist on Martin Solveig's song "All Stars" which was released as a single in June 2017. Charli XCX's Out of My Head was released on 8 December 2017 as the lead single from her fourth mixtape Pop 2, Alma and Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo are featured artists on the track.

### 2018: *Heavy Rules Mixtape* and *Cowboy*

In February 2018, it was announced that Alma would release her second extended play the following month, ulitmately, her second EP *Heavy Rules Mixtape* was released on March 2 2018. Prior to album release date, none singles were released. After festival shows and tour, she released *Cowboy* on October 10, 2018, the music video for this song was nominated in the category of Video of the Year at the Emma Awards in 2019.

### 2019: *Standalone singles*, *Have U Seen Her? (Part I)* and *Bad News Baby*

First standalone single, *When I Die* was released on February 1, 2019 and was then intended to be a lead single from her debut album. *Summer* was released on February 15, 2019. On June 21 2019, *Lonely Night* was released as a single. After few singles, Alma released her third extended play *Have U Seen Her? (Part I)* on November 1, 2019 Three weeks later, *Bad News Baby* was released as Alma's lead single from her then untitled upcoming debut album.

### 2020: *Have U Seen Her? (Part II)* and *Have U Seen Her?*

On December 15, 2019 via her Instagram account, Alma announced that *Have U Seen Her? (Part II)* will be released in the following year. It was announced on March 11, 2020 that the EP will be released on March 13, 2020. Alma announced on March 26, 2020, that her debut album *Have U Seen Her?* will be released on May 15, 2020.

### 2022-present *Upcoming second album*

On June 3 2022, Alma showed on her Instagram that she dyed her hair orange and also announced that a new single is will be released on July 1. On June 27 2022, she revelated the single title which is *Everything Beautiful* and its cover.The song was released just as it was supposed to, on July 1. A week later on July 8 2022, it was announced that *I Forgive Me* will be released on August 12, 2022. On September 3, 2022 she posted a video on her Instagram with her yet to be released song, *Summer Really Hurt Us*

## Personal life

In a March 2019 article in *Gay Times*, Alma confirmed she is lesbian and in a relationship. Her partner is the Finnish poet and civil rights activist Natalia Kallio.

## Discography

*Main article: ALMA discography*
* *Have U Seen Her?* (2020)
* *A2* (2023)

## Reflist

1. ↑ Famous Birthdays: Alma - Pop Singer.
2. ↑ Mark, Savage (2 March 2018). Finnish pop star Alma: 'People keep throwing bras at me'. BBC.
3. ↑ Artistilupaus Alma erottuu tyylillään ja rohkeudellaan: "Aina kun olen ulkomailla, jengi on innoissaan". Gloria (16 August 2016).
4. ↑ Suomen Idolsista kansainväliselle uralle – poplupaus Alman hype on poikkeuksellinen. Ylex.
5. ↑ Karma-tähti Alma Miettinen löysi kadotetun itsevarmuuden: "Ei saa jäädä himaan paskojen asioiden kanssa". Me naiset.
6. ↑ Idols-Alma solmi kansainvälisen levytyssopimuksen. MTV (30 May 2016).
7. ↑ Chasing Highs by Alma. acharts.
8. ↑ Tässä ovat Emma-ehdokkaat 2017 – Antti Tuisku, JVG ja Haloo Helsinki! kahmivat ehdokkuuksia (Finnish). Sanoma (2017-12-11).
9. ↑ Don't You Feel It (feat. Alma) – Single by Sub Focus on Apple Music
10. ↑ All Stars (feat. Alma) – Single by Martin Solveig on Apple Music
11. ↑ Charli XCX shares new single "Out Of My Head" with Tove Lo and Alma (11 December 2017).
12. ↑ Porilaisväriä gaalaan! Tuure Boeliuskin ehdolla Emma-palkinnon saajaksi – Lätkäjätkä-Ville kisaa parhaan musiikkivideon ja Boelius vuoden artistin tittelistä (Finnish) (2018-12-11).
13. ↑ Have U Seen Her (Part I) (November 2019).
14. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B6F\_7J4AmRm/
15. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B9mQP\_cAJ9C/
16. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B-M4U\_lDCxp/
17. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CeVcwwljMd4/
18. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CfTf1UrDDZu/
19. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg\_3kVIqz49/
20. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CiCpPyDD0Xh/
21. ↑ ALMA is ready to be the queer female popstar she always wanted to see (March 2019).
22. ↑ Määttänen, Juuso (5 February 2020). Natalia Kallio kirjoitti feministisen runokirjan mutta häneltä kyseltiin vain parisuhteesta laulaja Alman kanssa (fi). Helsingin Sanomat.
23. ↑ GAFFA-PRISEN 2021 | GAFFA.dk.
24. ↑ The European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA) | overview.
25. ↑ Emma Gaala – Arkisto.
26. ↑ Here's the full list of MTV EMA 2017 winners (12 November 2017).
27. ↑ These Are the Big Winners at the 2019 MTV Ema.
28. ↑ The Rober Awards 2018 Music Poll | Rober Awards (25 April 2019).
29. ↑ 2019 Winners | International Press Academy.
30. ↑ BBC Music Sound of 2018: Will these artists define the year?. *BBC News* (27 November 2017).
31. ↑ GAFFA-PRISET '21 | GAFFA.se.
32. ↑ WDM Radio Awards 2018.