Sigrid (singer)

Sigrid Solbakk Raabe was born in Ålesund to Håkon Raabe and Anette Sølberg Solbakk on 5 September 1996. She has two older siblings, a brother, Tellef, who is also a musician, and a sister, Johanne.[2] At her first performance, in kindergarten, she had to be pulled off the stage after crying.[3] She began playing the piano at age 7 and began singing at age 13.[4][5] When she was 13, she performed a version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".[3] In her early youth, she planned to become a teacher or lawyer or journalist, thinking a career in music would be too uncertain.[5][3][6] In her first year of high school, she realized that music was more than just a hobby.[5] When she was 17, she and her sister Johanne started a band called Sala Says Mhyp, which was named after their late cat, Sala.[7] After finishing high school in Ålesund, Sigrid moved to Bergen for its indie music scene, living in a shared flat with her brother and friends.[7][4] She was a college drop out.[8]

At the age of 16, she wrote her first song, "Sun" after her brother, who is also a musician, told her to stop performing cover versions of Adele songs at performances and challenged her to write a song that she could perform at one of his gigs.[4][3] In 2013, she released "Sun" as her debut single.[9] The song received airplay on Norwegian radio stations.[4] She signed to Petroleum Records the following year, and performed at festivals such as Øyafestivalen.[10]

In 2016, after executives heard her song "Don't Kill My Vibe", Sigrid signed with Island Records, and on 5 May 2017, her debut EP, named after the song, was released.[4][11][12] The EP charted in Norway, Australia, and the United Kingdom.[11][13][14][15][16] In the spring and summer of 2017, Sigrid performed at The Great Escape Festival, Roskilde Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Latitude Festival, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. She was also a part of The Sims 4: Parenthood soundtrack with the Simlish version of her song, "Don't Kill My Vibe".[17] She is also featured on the 2017 Justice League soundtrack, performing a cover of Leonard Cohen's 1988 classic "Everybody Knows".

In January 2018, Sigrid was announced as the winner of BBC Music Sound of 2018.[18] On 10 February 2018, she was a guest presenter for an episode of The Playlist for CBBC.[19] The same month, Sigrid won the Newcomer of the Year award at Spellemannprisen. On 11 July 2018, her second EP, titled Raw and featuring 5 tracks, was released.[20]

On 8 March 2019, Sigrid's debut album, Sucker Punch, was released.[21][22] The album consists of 12 tracks, including five songs released prior to the album.[23] In 2019, Sigrid toured with Maroon 5 for the Red Pill Blues Tour in Europe, was the support act for George Ezra's tour across the United Kingdom, and headlined a tour in North America and Europe.[24][25][26] Sigrid contributed a song, "Home to You" for The Aeronauts soundtrack.[27]

In 2020, Sigrid was one of many artists that took part in a BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge cover of the Foo Fighters song "Times Like These" that was organised to raise funds for the COVID-19 pandemic.[28][29][30][31]

Sigrid's second album, the 12-track How to Let Go, is scheduled to be released on 6 May 2022.[32] The album includes the songs "Mirror", which was released on 26 May 2021[33] and "Burning Bridges", released and premiered on BBC Radio 1's "Hottest Record" on 25 August 2021.[34] In November 2021, Sigrid performed live in Dingle as part of the twentieth series of the live music series Other Voices.[35]

Sigrid's songs are underpinned by anger, melancholia, or disappointment, since she finds it easier to write about frustration than about having a nice time.[3] For her love songs, Sigrid cites Bonnie Raitt, Coldplay, Adele, Lykke Li, and Robyn as influences.[4]

Since May 2020, Sigrid has been dating Nicolai Schirmer, a professional skier from Tromsø who is 5 years older than her.[36] She enjoys reading,[3] hiking, biking, and nature.[6][7] She is also a brand ambassador for Gore-Tex.[37]

Headlining

• UK & Ireland Tour (2018)
• European Tour (November 2018)
• The Sucker Punch Tour (US 2019)
• UK & EU Tour (2019)
• UK & EU Tour (2022)

Supporting

• Oh Wonder – European Ultralife Tour (2017)
• George Ezra – UK Arena Tour (2019)
• Maroon 5 – Red Pill Blues Tour (2019)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sigrid Raabe.

• Official website