Alexa Mercury

**Alexandra Beverly Moreau**, better known under her stage name **Alexa Mercury**, is a British-American singer, songwriter, music producer, performer and poet. She was born on August 6, 1991 in Wrexham, Wales. Often dubbed 'Empress of Pop Culture', she is the best-selling soloist in history, and made notable contributions to pop music via her lyricism, image and performances.

Mercury won multiple prestigious awards throughout her career, including twelve Dupont Music Awards (the second-most for a female artist), twenty-eight Paper Music Awards (the most for any artist), seven Iconica Awards, five European Paper Music Awards, was named 'Artist of the Century' by NME and Paper Magazine in 2022, and was featured on Time's '100 Most Powerful Women' list four times.

In the United States, she scored thirteen number-one singles and seven number-one albums. She's among the best-performing artist of all-time, placing third on the 2020 'Top of All-Time' list published by Paper Magazine.

## Life and career

### Early life

Mercury was born on August 6, 1991 at 12:45 AM in the Wrexham Maelor Hospital in Wrexham, Wales. She is the second child of a French businessman Jacques Moreau and Welsh painter and writer Anna Gittins. Raised in wealth, she was living in Great Britain until her mother's sudden illness and death. In October 1994, Mercury moved to Lexington, Kentucky with her father, who had to leave his job and became an alcoholic. They were occupying a council flat in the outskirts. She left her home in secret at the age of sixteen and moved alone to New York City, where she started seeking success in musical career.

As a teenager, Mercury took piano classes from a fellow tutor, who gave her teachings free of charge. In 2007, she was noticed in the underground scene of New York club music. She signed a contract with a small, independent label 'WavePop Records' soon after, using 'Beverly Monroe' as her pseudonym. The studio declared bankruptcy about four months later. She then changed her stage name to Alex Moore and started performing in Manhattan clubs, often incorporating the art of drag in her music. Her first independent single, *Mercury*, was released on January 25, 2008, and distributed illegally on USB sticks.

### Career beginnings

Eventually, Mercury started seeking a major label that would accept her works. After being turned down by Sony and Republic, she signed a five-album recording deal with Polydor in November 2008. A few months later, she released her debut single, titled *I Don't Want Your Money*, on February 10, 2009. It received widespread promotion in the United States and became a moderate hit, peaking inside the top-five of Paper US Songs chart. It was followed by *Sunflower Field*, the second promotional single off Mercury's upcoming debut studio album. The song was a commercial success, peaking atop the US Songs in its seventh week of charting. On June 2, 2009, *Rainbow Clouds* was released, containing twelve songs (nine of which new). The album exceeded expectations and debuted at the top spot of Paper US Albums chart, being one of the very few debut records to do so.

### Private life

As of 2022, Mercury lives in a 750 m2 mansion in Boston, Massachusetts, known as the Venus Estate, which she bought for $15 million in 2018. She also owns properties in Los Angeles, Wichita and London.

Mercury has dated both men and women in the past, and currently describes herself as bisexual. Between 2009 and 2011, she dated Blake Retter, a fashion designer from California. In December 2011, she got married to Justin Connor, but they split up after two years and divorced in 2013. Since 2019, she's in a relationship with songwriter Andrew Stiller. The couple got secretly married in New York City on February 5, 2021. In July 2022, Mercury announced she's pregnant with twins, expected to be born in November.

## Accolades and achievements

Alexa Mercury has won multiple prestigious prizes throughout her career, most notably ten Dupont Music Awards (the most for any female artist), twenty-two Paper Music Awards (the most for any artist debuting this century), ten European Paper Music Awards (the most for any artist from outside Europe), as well as seven SHARP Culture Awards and two MAUS Awards. She's been crowned the 'Woman of The Decade' by Paper Magazine in 2020, as well as 'Artist of The Century' in 2022. She appeared on Time's list of most influential public persons in the world four times - in 2011, 2013, 2020 and 2021. She was inducted into the US Music Hall of Fame twice - in 2013 and 2021. UNICEF recognized Mercury's efforts into helping people in need by giving her the title of 'Caring Celebrity' in July 2020, following her educational programme about coronavirus.

## Discography

### Studio albums

* Rainbow Clouds (2009)
* Poptronica (2010)
* X Heart (2012)
* Beverly Hills (2015)
* Destiny (2017)
* Atmosphere (2020)
* The Art Heaven (2021)
* Chivalry Isn't Dead Yet (2023)

### Extended plays

* Barbie's Revenge (2015)
* Academy of Pop (2020)

### Live albums

* Rainbow Festival (2010)
* Mercury Acoustic (2019)
* Poptronica Experience (2020)

## Tours

### Headlining tours

* Rainbow Festival (2009)
* Poptronica: The Tour (2010-2011)
* X World Tour (2013-2014)
* The Pink Revolution World Tour (2016)
* Destiny: The Tour (2018)
* Kings & The Queen World Tour (2023-2024)

### Residencies

* Beverly Hills Night (2017)
* Mercury MTV Sessions (2019)