Sia

Whether stepping to the mic or writing for others, Sia Furler has made a seismic impact on modern pop. Born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1975, Furler started out singing in acts there and later in London. Her early solo albums did fine—with 2004’s “Breathe Me” memorably scoring the final sequence of HBO’s Six Feet Under—but it wasn’t until she started penning songs for other artists that her career took off. Furler’s writing made for some of the most bright-lined, all-caps pop of the 2010s, delivered by Beyoncé (“Pretty Hurts”), Britney Spears (“Perfume”), Katy Perry (“Double Rainbow”) and Rihanna (“Diamonds”). She answered that winning streak by belting out 2014’s “Chandelier”, a cathartic power ballad of self-empowerment that went multi-platinum in almost a dozen countries. Proving that it and the same year’s 1000 Forms of Fear were no fluke when it came to mainstream success, she hit her stride with 2016’s This Is Acting, a brashly exciting statement of individuality that made her two-colour oversized wig into an instant fashion icon that doubled as a shield against fame. Never one to follow a straight path, Furler went on to release a Christmas album, collaborate multiple times with EDM kingpin David Guetta and direct and also soundtrack the quirky 2021 movie musical Music. Her 2024 album Reasonable Woman surrounded her with equally distinctive feminine voices—Chaka Khan, Kylie Minogue, Tierra Whack, Paris Hilton—while reminding us just how openly adventurous and stubbornly catchy her arrangements can be.