Charli XCX 4,336

Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer-songwriter known for her eclectic style. She began making music at fourteen, and her debut release was a 2008 limited-edition album aptly titled 14.

By 2010, Charli signed to Atlantic Records, and released her debut single “Stay Away” in May 2011. She released her “real” debut album, True Romance, in 2013. The record met critical acclaim but failed to attain much commercial success. Charli’s true breakthrough came with the release of hit collaborations like Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” and Icona Pop’s “I Love It.”

In April 2014, Charli found solo success with “Boom Clap,” which was featured on the soundtrack of The Fault in Our Stars. It’s now certified triple platinum in the United States and gold in her native United Kingdom. Her sophomore album, Sucker, was a pop-punk oriented effort and enjoyed more success than her debut. “Break The Rules,” “Doing It” (featuring Rita Ora), and “Famous” all performed well on the UK singles chart.

By 2015, Charli began work on a third studio album, teaming up with PC Music artists and affiliates such as SOPHIE, Danny L Harle and A. G. Cook to create harsher, more electronic music. Critics hailed the Vroom Vroom EP as a groundbreaking new form of pop. Despite this, her record label was dissatisfied with how the singles were performing: “After the Afterparty” and “Boys” both reached the UK Top 40 but had little success elsewhere.

Defying her label’s commercial expectations, she released two “mixtapes” in 2017: Number 1 Angel and Pop 2, which featured collaborations with the likes of MØ, ​CupcakKe, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Tove Lo. Critics again reacted positively to these releases, with the latter attaining an 84 score on Metacritic.

Throughout 2018, she released a handful of singles, including formerly-unreleased fan favorites “Girls Night Out” and “No Angel,”. From May to August, Charli joined pop superstar Taylor Swift on her reputation Stadium Tour, introducing her to a whole new audience.

The following summer, she released a 15 song self-titled album, featuring many previous collaborators. Notable new collaborators for the project included Troye Sivan, Big Freedia, Planet 1999, Christine and the Queens, and Lizzo.

In 2020, she recorded a new project almost entirely during the first few months of the Covid-19 global pandemic: how i’m feeling now. The project was created largely with the help of Cook and Bon Iver producer BJ Burton. A documentary about the project’s recording, called Alone Together, premiered at SXSW the following spring.