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.[1] At her first performance, in kindergarten, she had to be pulled off the stage after crying.[2] She began playing the piano at age 7 and began singing at age 13.[3][4] When she was 13, she performed a version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".[2] In her early youth, she planned to become a teacher or lawyer or journalist, thinking a career in music would be too uncertain.[4][2][5]

In her first year of high school, she realized that music was more than just a hobby.[4] When she was 17, she and her sister Johanne started a band called Sala Says Mhyp, which was named after their late cat, Sala.[6] 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.[6][3] She was a college drop out.[7]

At the age of 16 she wrote her first song, "Sun", after her brother, Tellef Raabe, 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.[3][2] In 2013, she released "Sun" as her debut single.[8] The song received airplay on Norwegian radio stations.[3] She signed to Petroleum Records the following year and performed at festivals such as Øyafestivalen.[9]

In 2016, in partnership with Martin Sjølie, she wrote "Don't Kill My Vibe", inspired by an incident where a producer belittled and patronized her in a songwriting session.[3] After executives at Island Records heard the song, they immediately signed her to a recording contract.[3] On 5 May 2017 she released her debut EP which was named after the song.[3][10] The EP charted in Norway, Australia, and the United Kingdom.[11][12][13][14] 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".[15] She is also featured on the 2017 Justice League soundtrack, performing a cover of Leonard Cohen's 1988 classic "Everybody Knows".[16]

In January 2018, Sigrid was announced as the winner of BBC Music Sound of 2018.[17] On 10 February 2018, she was a guest presenter for an episode of The Playlist for CBBC.[18] In the same month, Sigrid won the Newcomer of the Year award at Spellemannprisen. On 11 July 2018, Raw, her second EP, which features 5 tracks was released.[19]

On 8 March 2019, Sigrid's debut album, Sucker Punch, was released.[20][21] The album consists of 12 tracks, including five songs released prior to the album.[22] 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.[23][24][25] Sigrid contributed a song, "Home to You" for The Aeronauts soundtrack.[26] She was listed in Forbes "30 under 30" for European Entertainment in 2019.[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]

In November 2021, Sigrid performed in Dingle, Ireland as part of the twentieth series of the live music series Other Voices.[32]

Sigrid's second album, the 12-track How to Let Go, was released on 6 May 2022.

Sigrid's songs are underpinned by anger, melancholia, and disappointment; she says that it is easier to write about frustration than about having a nice time.[2] For her love songs Sigrid cites Bonnie Raitt, Coldplay, Adele, Lykke Li, and Robyn as influences.[3]

Sigrid is a brand ambassador for Gore-Tex.[33] While filming a commercial for the brand, she met Nikolai Schirmer, a professional skier from Tromsø. They dated, but the relationship had ended by June 2022.

Studio albums

• Sucker Punch (2019)
• How to Let Go (2022)

EPs

• Don't Kill My Vibe (2017)
• Raw (2018)
• The Hype (2023)

Headlining

• UK & Ireland Tour (2018)
• European Tour (November 2018)
• The Sucker Punch Tour (US 2019)
• UK & EU Tour (2019)
• How To Let Go Tour (2022–2023)
• Norway Club Tour (2023)

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