Claire Elizabeth Cottrill[7][8] was born on August 18, 1998[9] in Atlanta.[10] She is the daughter of Geoff Cottrill, a marketing executive who has worked for Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Converse, and TopGolf, and Allie Cottrill, a children's fashion photographer and designer. Her father's industry connections - he served as one of the founding executives of a recording studio in Brooklyn and got Clairo her first recording contract - led to Clairo being called a "nepo baby" and an "industry plant".[11][12][13] She has a sister, Kimberly (Kim).[14]
In 2017, Clairo enrolled in the Bandier Program for Recording and Entertainment Industries at Syracuse University[19] but dropped out after one year to pursue music full time. Bandier Program director Bill Werde encouraged her to take time off, calling it a "rare opportunity."[20]
Career
2011–2016: Early career
When Clairo was 13 years old, she began learning to play guitar, first with some formal lessons, but mostly via tutorials on YouTube, copying hand movements.[11] Cottrill began recording cover versions on her laptop that year, beginning with a cover version of a Maroon 5 song. She recalled of this first recording,
"It took me hours to figure out if I wanted to post it on Facebook or not to even tell my friends that I'd made it. I was so nervous about it! I just closed my eyes and did it, and then I closed my computer and tried not to think about it".[21][22]
She performed cover versions of songs at local businesses including Blue Dry Goods. MTV contacted her to record a song to be used as background music for a television show on MTV, but the song was never aired.[19] She posted music to Bandcamp under the names Clairo and DJ Baby Benz. She also posted cover versions, songs, and DJ mixes of rap music on SoundCloud.[19] She also put three short films on an old YouTube channel[23] and maintained a second channel for cover versions and short films.[24]
She launched her EPDo U Wanna Fall in Love? in 2013 after releasing several home recordings. In 2015, she released more EPs of 3 or 4 songs each on Bandcamp: Aquarius Boy, Late Show, Moth Girl, Metal Heart, and Have a Nice Day.[25]
Clairo first drew wide attention in late 2017 when the video for her song "Pretty Girl" became a viral video on YouTube.[24] The song was recorded for an indie rock compilation benefiting the Transgender Law Center.[26] According to her, she recorded the track "using the resources around me which were pretty s_. I used like a little keyboard that I had and I was really into '80s pop music–my mom is obsessed with it–so it kind of inspired me to do something like that."[27] She attributes audience interest in the video to YouTube's algorithm system.[26] Her music was put into the growing genre of bedroom pop.[28] Her videos became popular on vaporwave-centric Facebook groups.[27]
Another video, "Flaming Hot Cheetos", garnered 3 million views by July 2018.[22]
The success of "Pretty Girl" led to interest from major labels such as Capitol, RCA, and Columbia.[26] Her father knew Jon Cohen, the co-founder of The Fader,[16] and he facilitated a recording contract for Clairo, who was signed to Fader Label and was introduced to Pat Corcoran, manager of Chance the Rapper. She became a client of talent agency Haight Brand near the end of 2017.[26] Clairo acknowledged her social privilege via her father's industry connections.[16]
In May 2018, the Fader Label released Clairo's debut record, titled Diary 001.[29] In her review for Pitchfork, Fader contributor Sasha Geffen wrote that the EP ought to subside the "legions of naysayers who dismissed her as a one-hit fluke or an industry plant."[30] Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times said that the EP "bridges both worlds, building on the coy, understated bedroom pop of 'Pretty Girl' and 'Flaming Hot Cheetos' toward sturdier numbers like '4EVER' and 'B.O.M.D.'"[26] Also in May 2018, Clairo announced a headlining tour in North America, as well as select dates as the opening act for Dua Lipa.[31] Her July 2018 performance at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City was a sold-out show.[22] In August 2018, she performed at Lollapalooza.[32] She performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2019.[33]
Clairo performing live at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, April 2019
In May 2019, Clairo released "Bags" and announced her debut studio album Immunity,[34] which was released in August 2019.[35] She released two more singles from the album, "Closer to You" and "Sofia".[36][37] Following the album's commercial success, Apple Music named Clairo an Apple Music Up Next artist in August 2019.[38]
In December 2019, she won Pop Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards for the second consecutive year, as well as Album of the Year for Immunity.[41] "Bags" was included in over 15 critics' lists ranking the year's top songs including Pitchfork's and Paste's lists of best songs of the decade.[42][43]Immunity was included in over 10 "Best of 2019" lists, including those of The Guardian (20th),[44]Pitchfork (18th),[45]Billboard (22nd),[46] and the Los Angeles Times (5th).[47] During the tour to support the album, Clairo was so stressed that her hair began to fall out and s lost a significant amount of weight, eating only two small portions a day.[48]
Since 2019, Clairo has been managed by Mike Ahern and Jimmy Bui.[49]
In October 2020, she formed a new band called Shelly with indie pop artist Claud and their two friends from Syracuse University, Josh Mehling and Noa Frances Getzug.[50] The group released two songs, "Steeeam" and "Natural", in October 2020.[50]
In June 2021, Clairo released "Blouse", the first single from her second studio album, Sling.[51][52] The album was released in July 2021, co-produced by Jack Antonoff,[53] and was praised for Clairo's artistic progression and thematic songwriting that ponders future motherhood, domesticity and the responsibility of becoming a caregiver.[54][55] It appeared on "Best albums of 2021" lists by The Guardian (29th),[56]NME (14th),[57] and Stereogum (19th).[58] The cover of the album features a dog that Clairo adopted in December 2020.[48]
In February 2022, Clairo embarked on the US leg of the Sling tour.[59] She canceled the last three dates of her North American tour after a technical error at her gig in Toronto, whereby her in-ear monitors became unbearably loud and left her with temporary hearing damage.[60] After two songs, her opening show of the UK tour in Bristol had to be canceled due to a case of sinusitis that was affecting her voice, leading to her having a panic attack onstage and leaving afterward.[61] The Glasgow show was canceled but the show the day after it in Manchester went ahead, and her final UK show of that tour was in London.[61]
Clairo performing at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles for the Charm residencies, September 2024
In May 2024, Clairo announced her third album, titled Charm, which she co-produced with Leon Michels, and released its lead single, "Sexy to Someone".[68][69] She also announced two residencies to support the album in New York City and Los Angeles in September 2024.[70]
In June 2024, "Nomad" was released as the record's second and last single.[71]
Charm was released in July 2024, to critical acclaim, with music critics highlighting the record's jazz-like production, songwriting and Clairo's overall musical expansion.[72][73] Also in July 2024, to promote the record, Clairo performed "Juna", the seventh track of the album, live at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[74][75] On the same day, she also announced the dates of her 2024 North American tour spanning between September and November,[76] with Alice Phoebe Lou as the opening act.[77]
In August 2024, the music video for "Juna" was released.[78] It marked Clairo's first music video in six years, and it is wrestling-themed.[79] She also released a cover version of Lana Del Rey's "Brooklyn Baby" exclusively on Spotify as part of the Spotify Singles series.[80]
In October 2024, Clairo released a cover version of Margo Guryan's "Love Songs". The cover song is a part of the Guryan tribute compilation album Like Someone I Know, released in November 2024.[81]
In December 2024, Clairo shared the music video for "Sexy to Someone".[83] That month, she was named to the music category of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.[17]
In February 2025, she released a music video for "Terrapin".[84] It was directed by actress Ayo Edebiri, and features "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Clairo".[85]
In July 2025, her band Shelly released Shelly 2, a double single which contains the songs "Cross Your Mind" and "Hartwell".[86] They marked the group's first release since 2020's "Steeeam" and "Natural".[87]
Clairo recalled that the Shins' Wincing the Night Away (2007) was the first album she "really completely geeked out over", crediting it as her inspiration to make music.[89] Since many around her told her that a career in music was unlikely, she did not consider it a prospect and therefore did "whatever" she wanted musically.[89] She said that her musical influences were a mixture of her mother and father's musical tastes, citing artists including Al Green, Brenton Wood, Billy Paul, Cocteau Twins, Trashcan Sinatras, the The, and Public Image Ltd.[90]
In October 2023, Clairo signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter to President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.[99] In January and July 2024, she performed at the Artists for Aid Benefit Concert in London which raised funds for the Gaza Strip and Sudan.[100] In October 2025, Clairo joined the "No Music For Genocide" movement, removing her music from streaming services in Israel.[101]
In April 2025, Clairo was introduced Coachella by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost, the first member of Congress from Generation Z. Sanders said he introduced Clairo because she "used her prominence to fight for women’s rights, to try to end the terrible, brutal war in Gaza". This was a stop on the Sanders' Fighting Oligarchy Tour against U.S. President Donald Trump.[102]
Personal life
Clairo came out as bisexual to her fans via Twitter in May 2018.[103][104] In an interview, she explained that making friends in college is what helped her to come out, as her friends were openly gay and she was inspired by "their confidence and their willingness to be exposed."[105] In a 2025 interview, Clairo said she is queer. She stated, "I don’t care for labels at all. I believe people should like who they want and no one should have a problem with it, I’ll kiss anyone”.[106]
Clairo lives "in the mountains of upstate New York"; she bought a five-acre property in the countryside between the Berkshires and the Catskill Mountains. She also rents an apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn.[16][110] She has said that she gets inspiration for her songs by living near nature.[111]
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