Alessia Cara facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alessia Cara
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Alessia Cara at the 2018 Capital Pride Concert, Washington, D.C.
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Alessia Caracciolo
July 11, 1996 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
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| Other names | Alessia (2014–2015) |
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| Years active | 2014–present |
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| Instruments | Vocals |
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Alessia Caracciolo (born July 11, 1996), known as Alessia Cara, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She started her career by posting song covers on YouTube when she was 13 years old. After sharing her acoustic versions of popular songs, she signed with EP Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings in 2014.
Her first song, "Here", came out in 2015. It became a big hit, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US. Alessia's first album, Know-It-All (2015), was also very popular. Another song from the album, "Scars to Your Beautiful", reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2017, Alessia worked with DJ Zedd on the song "Stay". She also joined Khalid and Logic on the song "1-800-273-8255". Alessia Cara has been nominated for four Grammy Awards. She won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2018, becoming the first Canadian artist to achieve this. Her second album, The Pains of Growing (2018), won Juno Award for Album of the Year and Juno Award for Pop Album of the Year. Her third album, In the Meantime, was released in 2021. Her fourth album, Love & Hyperbole, came out in February 2025.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Alessia Cara was born on July 11, 1996, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. She grew up in Brampton. Her family comes from Calabria, Italy. Her father was born in Canada to Italian parents, and her mother moved from Italy. Alessia is the second of four children. She can speak Italian very well.
When she was a child, Alessia enjoyed writing poetry and acting in plays. She started playing guitar at age 10 and taught herself many songs. At 13, she created her own YouTube channel. On this channel, she shared videos of herself singing covers of popular songs. She looked up to Justin Bieber as a role model for her music career.
Music Career
Starting Her Music Journey
In July 2014, Alessia Cara signed a management deal in New York. She then began working on her first album. For a short time, she used only "Alessia" as her stage name. Later, she added part of her last name to become Alessia Cara.
In April 2015, Alessia released her first official song, "Here". MTV described it as "a song for everyone who secretly hates parties." The song was about her own feelings of being uncomfortable at a party. Many music magazines, like Spin and Cosmopolitan, praised the song. Rolling Stone even listed "Here" as one of the best songs of 2015.
On July 29, 2015, Alessia Cara performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for the first time on TV. She also released an EP (a mini-album) called Four Pink Walls, which had five songs. Her first full album, Know-It-All, came out on November 13, 2015.
Tours and Collaborations
From January to April 2016, Alessia went on her first tour, called the "Know-It-All Tour." She performed in many cities in the US and Canada. She was named Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2016 Juno Awards. In March 2016, she released a music video for her song "Wild Things".
In April 2016, Alessia Cara joined the band Coldplay as a supporting act for their "A Head Full of Dreams Tour." She performed in Europe and North America. On June 23, 2016, she was featured on a new version of the song "Wild" by Troye Sivan. She also performed at the Glastonbury Festival.
Alessia sang "How Far I'll Go" for the Disney movie Moana. The music video for this song was released in November 2016 and has been watched hundreds of millions of times. In December 2016, she released a music video for her song "Seventeen".
Alessia was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in February 2017. In April 2017, the music video for "Stay" by Zedd, featuring Alessia, was released. She also appeared on the song "1-800-273-8255" from Logic's album Everybody. This song also featured Khalid.
Grammy Win and New Albums
On January 28, 2018, Alessia Cara won the Best New Artist award at the 2018 Grammy Awards. This made her the first Canadian artist to win this award.
On June 15, 2018, Alessia released a new song called "Growing Pains". The music video for this song came out on June 20, 2018. On her birthday, July 11, 2018, she released another song called "A Little More," which she wrote and produced herself.
In October 2018, Alessia worked with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti on the song "Vale per sempre." She released another song, "Trust My Lonely", on October 5, 2018, with a music video. Her second album, The Pains of Growing, was released on November 30, 2018. It quickly became number one on the US iTunes Pop Charts.
In January 2019, Alessia also worked with Alec Benjamin on "Let Me Down Slowly". In February, she announced that she would be the opening act for Shawn Mendes on his world tour in Europe, the UK, and the US. In May, she started her own "The Pains of Growing Tour" in Canada.
This Summer and Recent Projects
In July 2019, Alessia announced an EP called This Summer. She released new songs from it every few weeks until the full EP came out on September 6, 2019. The first song from the EP was "Ready", followed by "Rooting for You", "OKAY OKAY", and "October".
Alessia was also featured in Bastille's song "Another Place". In March 2020, she worked with American singer Lauv on the song "Canada". In April 2020, Alessia released "I Choose" for the Netflix animated movie The Willoughbys. She also voiced the character Jane Willoughby in the film.
On July 17, 2020, Alessia released her first live EP, This Summer: Live Off The Floor. This EP featured live versions of songs from This Summer. All the money Alessia earns from this EP for the next 21 years will go to Save The Children.
New Music and Future Plans
On July 2, 2021, Alessia Cara announced two new songs, "Sweet Dream" and "Shapeshifter," which were released on July 15, 2021. The music video for "Sweet Dream" came out that same day. The video for "Shapeshifter" was released on July 23, 2021.
In August 2021, Alessia released "The Use In Trying" for the animated movie PAW Patrol: The Movie. She also wrote and sang "Feel You Now," the theme song for Blade Runner: Black Lotus.
On September 2, 2021, Alessia revealed the cover for her third album, In the Meantime, which was released on September 24, 2021. On September 10, 2021, she worked with the Mexican rock band The Warning on a cover of "Enter Sandman". This song was used in a trailer for the video game Marvel's Midnight Suns.
In the Meantime received positive reviews from music critics. In December 2021, Alessia performed "My Heart Will Go On" in the show Yearly Departed on Amazon Prime Video. In 2023, she joined other artists to record Serena Ryder's song "What I Wouldn't Do" as a charity single for youth mental health.
In August 2023, Alessia confirmed she was working on her fourth album. The first song from this album, "Dead Man", and its music video were released on July 19, 2024. Her fourth album, Love & Hyperbole, was released on February 14, 2025.
Personal Life
Alessia Cara lives in Toronto, Canada. She has shared that she experiences synesthesia, which means she can "see" sounds or "taste" words. She also has skin conditions called keratosis pilaris and alopecia areata. Alessia has been open about her experiences with mental health and insomnia. She holds dual citizenship for both Canada and Italy.
Music Style
Alessia Cara sings pop, R&B, alternative R&B, indie pop, and soul music. She has been influenced by many artists, including D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys, Pink, Fergie, Christina Aguilera, Drake, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift.
Albums
- Know-It-All (2015)
- The Pains of Growing (2018)
- In the Meantime (2021)
- Love & Hyperbole (2025)
Film and Television
Movies
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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| 2020 | The Willoughbys | Jane Willoughby | Voice role |
TV Shows
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
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| 2015 | Undateable | Herself | 1 episode | |
| 2017 | iHeartRadio MMVA's | Co-Host | With Joe Jonas | |
| 2021 | The Other Two | Herself | 1 episode | |
| Yearly Departed | Herself | 1 episode | ||
| 2022 | That's My Jam | Herself/Guest | Along With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Chance the Rapper, and Josh Groban | |
| Blade Runner: Black Lotus | Selene (voice) | 2 episodes | ||
| 2024 | Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World | Herself | 1 episode | |
| Rock Paper Scissors | Lolly (voice) | 1 episode |
Awards and Achievements
In 2018, Alessia Cara made history by becoming the first Canadian artist to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. She has also received nominations at the American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards. She has won an iHeartRadio Music Award, five Juno Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and an MTV Europe Music Award.
See also
In Spanish: Alessia Cara para niños
