Ava Max

– Max on her haters

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**Amanda Ava Koci** (born **Amanda Koci**; February 16, 1994), known professionally as **Ava Max** (or previously **AVA**), is an American-Albanian singer and songwriter. She has released multiple singles with Atlantic Records since signing with them in 2016, including her breakthrough hit, "Sweet but Psycho", in August 2018. Topping the charts in 22 countries, including the *Billboard* Dance Club Songs chart, it is currently her most popular single. Her debut album, *Heaven & Hell*, was released in September 2020. Max is also known for her signature hair style, which she dubbed the "Max Cut". Her sophomore album, "Diamonds & Dancefloors" was released on January 27, 2023, which featured hit singles such as "Maybe You're The Problem" and "Million Dollar Baby"

## Early life

Ava Max was born on February 16, 1994, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her parents are from Albania, from Sarandë and Tirana respectively. They emigrated from Albania in 1990. Arriving in France, they lived there for one year before getting American passports and moving to Pennsylvania. They later moved to Virginia, where Ava spent most of her childhood.

When she was young, Ava would often hear her mother singing fragments of opera and wanted to do the same, which led her to pursue a career in music. Another major inspiration for Ava was big celebrities from 1990s-2000s, such as Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.

When she was only 10 years old, the singer began to write her first songs, her first musical presentation being in a place called The NorVa in Virginia where she grew up. The singer began her career as a teenager, writing songs, making covers, singing at small events, and sharing work on the internet.

At the age of 14, after winning several local music competitions, Ava realized her potential and how she could become a singer. She managed to seek the help of Pharrell Williams, who gave her tips. Inspired by the courageous decision made by her family when they left their country of war, she eventually chose to move with her family to Los Angeles, California, to make her dream come true. To build a musical career, Ava moved to New York City, then returned to Los Angeles at the age of 17, moving there permanently. For several years, Ava did not perform too much, and things did not happen the way she and her family imagined before.

## Personal life

Max has stated that she is "100% Albanian" and where possible "definitely wants to give back to the Albanian community when I can". English is actually Ava's second language with first being Albanian. This makes Ava Max bilingual. However, she has stated she can't fully read Albanian as she was raised around Americans.

When it comes to sexuality, Max revealed in a 2019 interview with *Attitude* that she has been attracted to women in the past, but has chosen not to label her sexuality, stating "Personally, I like it when it's about who you are as a person. I don't like people putting me or anyone else I know in a box."

## Career

### **2008–2016: Musical beginnings**

In 2008, at the age of 14, Max released her debut EP titled *Amanda Kay* on her MySpace profile. The six-track EP has since been removed from the singer's distribution sources.

She met producer Fritz Jerey in 2013, with whom she recorded two songs, "Take Away the Pain" and "Satellite", under the stage name AVA. "Take Away the Pain" was then released as a single 2013 along with a music video, while "Satellite" was later found through Jerey's website. In July 2015, the Canadian DJ and producer duo Project 46 released a remixed version of "Take Away the Pain". Throughout 2015 and 2016, Max recorded and released several singles produced by her boyfriend, Cirkut, including "Spinning Around", "Come Home", "Jet Set", and "Anyone But You". It was also confirmed that there was a scrapped EP that was recorded during that time.

### **2017–2019: Breakthrough with "Sweet but Psycho"**

In late 2016, Max signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. In 2017, she was featured on Le Youth's single "Clap Your Hands". In April of 2018, "My Way" was released, Cirkut continuing as her producer. It reached a peak of #38 on the Airplay 100 chart of Romania. In May 2018, "Slippin'", a collaboration with Gashi, was released. followed by her second guest appearance on "Into Your Arms" by American rapper Witt Lowry. The songs "Salt" and "Not Your Barbie Girl" were released as promotional singles via SoundCloud in July and August respectively.

Max's single "Sweet but Psycho" was released on August 17, 2018. The song became Max's breakthrough hit, reaching number one in more than 22 countries including Sweden, Finland, and Norway. In January 2019, "Sweet but Psycho" reached the top of the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, and also peaked at number ten on the *Billboard* Hot 100. After the song "Blood, Sweat & Tears" was announced as the follow-up single in December 2018, it ended up being cancelled, being replaced by the March 2019 release, "So Am I", the official follow up to "Sweet but Psycho". In late January, Max was publicly asked to do a collaboration with Bebe Rexha, Dua Lipa, & Rita Ora. The song hasn't come to fruition.

On July 31, 2019, Max simultaneously released two promotional singles, the previously cancelled "Blood, Sweat & Tears" and "Freaking Me Out". A little more than a week later, on August 9, she was featured on AJ Mitchell's "Slow Dance". Max then released her third official single, "Torn", on August 19, 2019. A music video for the promotional single "Freaking Me Out" was released in October as a Halloween special. Max went on to win best Best Push Act at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards. On November 6, 2019, a duet called "Tabú" between Max and Pablo Alborán was released.

The previously released song "Salt" was sent to digital streaming platforms on December 12, 2019, after receiving critical acclaim and being considered a "fan favorite". Max collaborated with British-Norwegian DJ and record producer Alan Walker on the song "Alone, Pt. II", which was released on December 27, 2019. "On Somebody" was released as a promotional single at the end of 2019.

### **2020–2021: *Heaven & Hell***

March 12, 2020, led to the release of "Kings & Queens", which became the singer's second *Billboard* entry, peaking at number 13. On July 30, 2020, Max released "Who's Laughing Now" along with the announcement of her debut album, *Heaven & Hell*. "OMG What's Happening", the seventh single, was released on September 3, 2020.

On September 18, 2020, Max released her debut studio album *Heaven & Hell* alongside a video for the album's eighth single, "Naked". The album debuted and peaked at #27 on the *Billboard* 200, and #2 on the UK Albums Chart. She then released the holiday single "Christmas Without You" on October 15, 2020, which later peaked at #16 and #10 on *Billboard*'s US Adult Contemporary and US Holiday Digital Song Sales charts, respectively. On November 13, 2020, Max was featured on the BBC Radio 2 single "Stop Crying Your Heart Out". Six days later on November 19, 2020, Max released "My Head & My Heart" as the only bonus track from the digital reissue of *Heaven & Hell*. On June 8, 2021, Max released "Everytime I Cry", which she stated was a "continuation" of her aforementioned studio album.

On September 10, 2021, she appeared on the R3hab and Jonas Blue song "Sad Boy" as a featured artist with Kylie Cantrall. She collaborated on Tiësto's song "The Motto", which was released on November 4, 2021. A second music video for the song was released on March 11, 2022.

### **2022–2023: *Diamonds & Dancefloors***

In February 2022, Max hinted at a new project by replacing her "Max Cut" hairstyle with cherry-red hair and emphasizing a red and pink appearance on her social media accounts. While interviewed at the *Billboard* Women in Music event in March 2022, she acknowledged that her second studio album was written the previous year during a personally difficult time. The album's lead single, "Maybe You're the Problem", was released on April 28, 2022. Max announced her second studio album, *Diamonds & Dancefloors* on June 1, 2022, which was originally scheduled to be released on October 14, 2022.

On September 1, 2022, she colored her hair brown to release the album's second single, "Million Dollar Baby", and postponed the release date of *Diamonds & Dancefloors* from October 14, 2022, to a later date of January 27, 2023. On the same day, seven tracks from the album leaked online. Max stated in an interview that she considered "Million Dollar Baby" the lead single from *Diamonds & Dancefloors* because she was with her ex during the release of "Maybe You're The Problem". This is also why she dyed her hair brown. Later that month, the aforementioned album was reported to have shipped out 4 months in advance, causing the remainder of the album to get leaked.

On October 27, 2022, Max released a compilation EP, "A Sweet but Psycho Halloween". Two days later, Ava announced the album's first promotional single, "Weapons", which was released on November 10, 2022. From November 29, 2022 - December 18, 2022, she embarked on the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, where she teased "12 Days of Ava" later in the month. On December 17, 2022, Max released the music video for "Christmas Without You".

On December 19, 2022, Max released the updated cover art for *Diamonds & Dancefloors*. The following day, the album's second promotional single, "Dancing's Done" was released. A visualizer for the song was released on December 21, 2022. This marked the start of 12 Days of Diamonds & Dancefloors, a twelve day event in which visualizers were teased on TikTok each day.

On January 13, 2023, Max released the album's third promotional single, "One Of Us". On January 24, 2023, the album's fourth promotional single, "Cold As Ice" was released. On January 27, 2023, *Diamonds & Dancefloors* was officially released alongside a visualizer for "One Of Us". The track "Ghost" was added to various playlists, making it the album's third single.

On February 22, 2023, Ava Max officially announced the European leg of her her first tour, On Tour (Finally). Throughout the following months, multiple festival dates were announced. On April 3, 2023, Max announced the United States leg of the tour. The tour started on April 14, 2023 in Manchester, UK. On May 1, 2023, Max attended the Met Gala. At her Los Angeles show on June 20 2023, Max was injured by a concert-goer while she was performing "The Motto".

On June 30, 2023, Max released the single "Car Keys (Ayla)" alongside Brazilian DJ Alok. The same day, the North American leg of her tour ended in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On July 21, 2023, she released the song "Choose Your Fighter" as a part of the "Barbie" soundtrack.

The era officially ended in September 2023.

## Discography

*Main article: Ava Max/Discography*

* *Heaven & Hell* (2020)
* *Diamonds & Dancefloors* (2023)

## Trivia

* Max's contract states she is able to do four full-length studio albums, one greatest hits compilation, and five world tours. *A Sweet but Psycho Halloween* is not this compilation.
* Max was supposed to do R&B type music, but she ended up liking pop better.
* Max was pursued by her producer when she was getting started with music.
* Max believes that she will never make another song as big as Sweet but Psycho.
* Max's dream collaborations include Cardi B and Doja Cat.
* Max has 15 minutes to be alone just before she performs.
* Max wanted to keep her writing leaning towards female empowerment before her breakup in 2021.
* Max stated in an interview with Smallzy's Surgery that she wants to release an album "full of ballads."
* Max adopted a dog named Benji in November 2019.
* Max prefers her candles to be unscented.
* Ava Max is short girl with slim figure, she stands at 155 cm (5 feet and 1 inch) tall.

## Gallery

**camera** To view our gallery for **Ava Max**, click here.

## References

1. ↑ INTERVIEW: AVA MAX OPENS UP ABOUT HEAVEN, HELL & HOARDING
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Duboff, Josh (February 13, 2019). "'Sweet but Psycho' Singer Ava Max Is Trying to 'Bring Pop Back'". *Vanity Fair*. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
3. ↑ BWW News Desk (May 1, 2018). Ava Max Takes Control With New Single 'My Way'. *BroadwayWorld* . Retrieved September 16, 2020.
4. ↑ Amanda Kay. (archived link) *MySpace*. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
5. ↑ "New one out this Friday 👏 ft. Ava Max...". August 1, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2019 – via Facebook.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ava Max Chart History (Hot 100). *Billboard*. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
7. ↑ "Ava Max to drop debut album in September". *Martinsville Bulletin.* July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
8. ↑ "One of my favorite songs on the album...Omg. Tomorrow!! #OMGWhatsHappening". September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020 – via Instagram.
9. ↑ Twitter - Attack response
10. ↑ Ava Max & Kelly Clarkson Talk About Heartbreak Inspiring Their Best Songwriting
11. ↑ Ava Max Talks New Album, Her Goals Of A World Tour, & More