Charli XCX facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Charli XCX
Charli XCX in 2023
Born	Charlotte Emma Aitchison (1992-08-02) 2 August 1992 (age 32) Cambridge, England
Occupation	Singer songwriter
Years active	2008–present
Works	Discography songs written performances
Partner(s)	George Daniel (2022–present; engaged)
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Electropop dance-pop experimental pop hyperpop
Labels	Vroom Vroom Warner Asylum Atlantic Iamsound

Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter.

She has received several awards including three Grammy Awards and five BRIT Awards. Charli XCX was awarded the ASCAP Global Impact Award in 2024 in recognition of her contributions to pop music.

Early life
Career
Artistry
- Musical style
Personal life
Activism
Discography
Awards and nominations
Images for kids
See also

Early life

Charli XCX in 2022

Charlotte Emma Aitchison was born on 2 August 1992, in Cambridge, England. Her father, Jon Aitchison, is a Scottish entrepreneur and former show-booker, and her mother, Shameera, is a former nurse and flight attendant who was born and raised in Uganda to a Gujarati Indian family. Charli was raised in Start Hill, Essex, and attended Bishop's Stortford College in nearby Bishop's Stortford. While her parents were not very musical, she demonstrated an affinity for music from an early age, being interested in pop acts such as the Spice Girls and Britney Spears. She began writing songs at the age of 14, writing a song called "Fish and Chips Shop".

Career

Charli XCX in 2011

At 14, she persuaded her parents to grant her a loan to record her first album, 14, and in early 2008, began posting songs from the album, as well as numerous other demos, on her official Myspace page, which led to her discovery by a promoter who invited her to perform at warehouse raves. In 2010, she signed a recording contract with Asylum Records, releasing a series of singles and mixtapes throughout 2011 and 2012.

In 2012, Charli XCX rose to prominence with the Icona Pop collaboration "I Love It", which became an international success, reaching top 10 in North America and Europe. Her debut studio album, True Romance (2013), was released that year to critical acclaim but failed to meet commercial expectations. In 2014, she contributed the hook and bridge to "Fancy" by rapper Iggy Azalea, which finished the year as one of the best-selling singles worldwide and was nominated for two Grammy Awards. The same year, Charli XCX released "Boom Clap", which became her first solo top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second studio album, the punk-influenced Sucker, was released at the end of the year, and spawned the successful singles "Break the Rules" and "Doing It".

In 2015, Charli XCX began working alongside producers associated with the UK collective PC Music, developing a more experimental sound and image. While working on her third album, she released the Vroom Vroom EP (2016) and the mixtapes Number 1 Angel and Pop 2 (both 2017), as well as a series of singles including the BPI-certified "After the Afterparty", "Boys", and "1999". Her third and fourth studio albums, Charli (2019) and How I'm Feeling Now (2020), received widespread acclaim; the latter was created within a span of six weeks during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In 2021, Charli XCX co-wrote and provided vocals on the Jax Jones and Joel Corry single "Out Out". The singer's fifth album, Crash, was released in March 2022, and became her biggest commercial success to date.

In addition to her solo work, Charli XCX has co-written songs for other artists, including Iggy Azalea's "Beg for It" (2014), Selena Gomez's "Same Old Love" (2015), Blondie's "Tonight" (2017), the Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello duet "Señorita" (2019), and the Sigala & Rita Ora collaboration "You for Me" (2022).

In a TikTok posted on 16 March 2021, she revealed that she is working on her next studio album, saying she was "feeling very inspired". Her next album would be her final record with Atlantic Records. On 2 September, "Good Ones" was released as the lead single from her upcoming album. A second single, "New Shapes", featuring Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek, was released on 4 November. Along with the single release, Charli XCX officially announced her fifth studio album, titled Crash, which was released on 18 March 2022. A third single, "Beg for You", featuring Rina Sawayama, was released 27 January. In February 2023, Charli XCX revealed in an interview with British Vogue that she had signed a new recording contract for her next two albums. On April 15, she participated in the Coachella Festival as one of the co-headliners.

In 2024, Charli XCX released her sixth studio album, Brat, to critical acclaim and wide media coverage. It produced the commercially successful singles "360", "Apple", and "Guess" featuring Billie Eilish, her first number-one hit as a lead artist on the UK Singles Chart.

On 6 December 2024, Financial Times named Charli one of the most influential women of 2024.

Artistry

Musical style

Music critics have described Charli XCX's music in a variety of terms including dance-pop, electropop, pop punk and alternative pop. Her early recordings were described as a blend of dark wave and witch house. As her career progressed, she showcased several other musical styles such as gothic pop and synth-pop in her debut album, her second album was described as pop punk containing elements of punk rock, new wave and power pop. Her latest projects explored an avant-pop direction, Vroom Vroom contained elements of Eurodance, meanwhile Number 1 Angel showed influences of trap, R&B, electropop, synth-pop and experimental pop. Charli XCX's singing voice has been compared to that of Gwen Stefani and Marina and the Diamonds. Charli XCX has been described as a figurehead of the 2010s "hyperpop" style, though she rejected the term on social media, stating that she does "not identify with music genres."

Personal life

Charli XCX has spoken about her experiences with sound-to-colour synesthesia. She states, "I see music in colours. I love music that's black, pink, purple or red—but I hate music that's green, yellow or brown."

She has stated that she is "extremely proud" of her Indian heritage.

Charli XCX previously dated filmmaker Ryan Andrews, who directed numerous music videos at the start of her career, notably "Nuclear Seasons" (2011), "You (Ha Ha Ha)" (2013) and "Super Love" (2013). In 2019, Charli XCX was in a long-term partnership with Huck Kwong, whom she had previously dated in 2014, and has been friends with since 2012. They broke up before 2022.

As of 2022, Charli XCX is dating The 1975 drummer and producer George Daniel. The couple first met while working on the No Rome track "Spinning", released on 4 March 2021, and they collaborated again on her album Crash, released on 18 March 2022, on the album's title track and several songs on its deluxe edition. Charli XCX divides her time between London and Los Angeles.

Activism

Charli XCX considers herself as a feminist and wrote her song "Body of My Own" as a feminist statement. She also appeared in the documentary about gender equality The F Word and Me, which premiered on BBC Three in 2015.

In July 2020, she signed an open letter to the UK Equalities minister at that time, Liz Truss, calling for a ban on all forms of LGBT+ conversion therapy.