Kerli

Born

1987-02-07

Birthplace

Elva, Tartu District, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Tartu County, Estonia]

Biography

Kerli Kõiv (Estonian: [ˈkerli ˈkɤ.iʋ]; born February 7, 1987), better known mononymously as Kerli, is an Estonian singer and songwriter. Born in Elva, Kerli entered multiple singing competitions before being signed to Island Records in 2006 by LA Reid. In 2007, she released her debut self-titled extended play and in 2008, released her debut studio album, Love Is Dead, which charted on the Billboard 200. The lead single from the album, "Walking on Air," charted in many countries and was also featured as the iTunes Store's Single of the Week where it was downloaded over 500,000 times, a record at that time. In the years following, Kerli was featured on Almost Alice with the song "Tea Party" and she began to abandon her alternative rock sound and started to adopt a more electronic and dance-influenced sound, as can be heard in her 2010 single "Army of Love". Following the release of Love Is Dead, Kerli began production on a second studio album which became her second extended play Utopia, released in early 2013, where it became Kerli's second release to chart on the Billboard 200. Two promotional singles from the EP, "Army of Love" and "Zero Gravity", were released prior to the release of the album's first official single, "The Lucky Ones". All three songs entered the top ten of Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart; two of them peaking at number one. Two songs which were co-written by Kerli for Utopia — "Skyscraper" and "I Feel Immortal" — were later recorded by artists Demi Lovato and Tarja Turunen, respectively. Kerli's version of "I Feel Immortal" was later released on Frankenweenie Unleashed!. In 2013, Kerli performed twice on Dancing with the Stars; Vibe called the performances a "major milestone in the EDM world." In November 2013, Kerli left Island Records and signed a record deal with Ultra Music. In 2019, Kerli's second studio album Shadow Works was released.