Kiesza
Exhibitions & Theatrical, Music
ActiveAbout
Kiesa Rae Ellestad, known professionally as Kiesza, was born on January 16, 1989, and is a Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist from Calgary whose meteoric rise to fame was followed by a remarkable story of resilience. Her last name, Ellestad, is Norwegian from her paternal side, with her grandfather hailing from Fagernes in Norway. Kiesza took part in the Young Canadians program, where she trained in jazz and tap dancing, as well as theatre. She also trained as a ballerina, but a knee injury at age 15 ended her ballet career, redirecting her path toward music.
She began playing guitar while serving in the Royal Canadian Navy, a unique chapter in her life that instilled discipline and determination. When Kiesza was 18, her parents' divorce inspired her to write her first song as a way of expressing her feelings, and that same year, she heard one of her songs played on the radio for the first time. She was accepted to Selkirk College in Nelson, British Columbia, where she studied keyboard, voice, and guitar, graduating in 2009. Kiesza then won a scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, further honing her craft.
In February 2014, Kiesza released the video for her single "Hideaway" through the label Lokal Legend, which became a viral sensation, accumulating over half a billion views on YouTube and establishing her as an international dance-pop star. A winner of two Juno Awards for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Video of the Year, Kiesza has also written for other major artists including Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, and Icona Pop. She has released the albums "Sound of a Woman" (2014) and "Crave" (2020). In 2017, she was involved in a severe car accident in Toronto, suffering injuries that required several years of recovery, but she courageously returned to music, demonstrating the same resilience that has defined her remarkable career.