Kim Petras Biography
Kim Petras is a German singer and songwriter who was born on the 27th of August 1992 and currently resides in Los Angeles. Between the years 2016 and 2020, she worked as an independent musician and published music under her own imprint, BunHead Records. In 2021, she signed a recording contract with Amigo and Republic Records.
Petras started recording music when she was just a teenager, and she issued her first extended play, titled One Piece of Tape, in the year 2011. In 2017, she released her first single internationally under her own label. It was titled “I Don’t Want It at All,” and it quickly climbed to the top of various viral music lists on Spotify. After this song, the band released three more singles that were charted on the Billboard Hot 100: “Feeling of Falling” (with Cheat Codes), “Heart to Break,” and “1, 2, 3 Dayz Up” (featuring Sophie).
As a result of her early achievements, Petras decided to put out a series of digital singles, which would subsequently be compiled into her unofficial body of work known as Era 1. On June 28, 2019, Petras released her first studio album titled Clarity. ] The release of the record was preceded by a promotional effort that lasted for nine weeks. During this time, Petras released one track every week, each of which was accompanied with a visual lyric video. The album Clarity was met with praise from members of the music press, and it peaked at number seven on the Heatseekers chart and number 26 on the Independent Albums chart. In the wake of this, Petras issued her second studio album, titled Turn Off the Light, in the month of October 2019. In the year 2020, Petras achieved even more commercial success with the songs “Malibu” and “Broken Glass,” the latter of which was a duet with Kygo.
Petras got a recording contract with Republic Records in 2021, and the following year, in 2022, they released a seven-track EP titled Slut Pop. In the latter part of the year, Petras and Sam Smith collaborated on a single titled “Unholy.” It was the first single by Petras to reach number one on either the UK Singles Chart or the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Early life
The German city of Cologne is where Kim Petras began her life. Her father is an architect, her mother is a dancer and an artist, and her older sister is also a vocalist. Her mother is also an artist. Petras’s parents claim that she started identifying as a female as early as the age of two, despite the fact that she was given a male gender at birth. [source: missing citation] Petras, who was 13 years old at the time, made an appearance on a German television current affairs show in the year 2006, during which she explained her gender change through medical means. Petras made her first public appearances in a documentary and a talk show when she was just 14 years old. Her goal was to gain approval for gender reassignment surgery at the age of 16, two years younger than the legal age of consent in Germany, which is 18. Because of these appearances, her transformation received notice in media outlets all over the world, and she was hailed as the “youngest transsexual in the world.”
She was a model for a German hair salon chain in September of 2007, when that month took place.
Following an examination by the psychiatrist in charge of the mental section at Frankfurt Hospital, Dr. Bernd Meyenburg, Petras was given permission to have gender confirmation surgery when he was 16 years old; [10] Petras has been living as a woman since the procedure;
In November of 2008, Petras made the announcement that the procedure was successfully finished.
The Daily Telegraph reported that at the time of her surgery, Petras was the youngest person in the world to have undergone such procedure. She said this about her surgery: “I was asked if I feel like a woman now – but the truth is that I have always felt like a woman – I just ended up in the wrong body.” She was referring to the fact that she had undergone gender reassignment surgery.
Petras stated that the first song she ever composed was “about this dude in second grade who didn’t like me back” in an interview with BuzzFeed.
Career
Petras released a series of singles in the years 2008 and 2009 under the label Joyce Records. These tracks included “Fade Away” (2008), “Last Forever,” “Die for You,” and “Boomerang” (all 2009). In 2009, she was highlighted on Sobertruth’s track “Taste,” then in 2011, she was highlighted on the track “Magnetic.” Later same year (2011), Petras made her debut with an extended play titled “One Piece of Tape,” which was published under the imprint Bionic Ballroom.
Petras was featured on two singles released in 2013 by German DJ Klaas. The singles were titled “Flight to Paris” and “Hearbeat.” Petras began working on a music career over the course of the subsequent few years, collaborating with producers such as The Stereotypes, C.J. Abraham, Stephen Dresser, Johan “Jones” Wetterberg, Edward Ellis, and Aaron Joseph. She published demos of her work on her SoundCloud page, one of which was titled “STFU.” Petras was given the position of number 19 on the Artist Chart of Billboard, which lists growing artists, in the month of July 2013, in recognition of her contributions to social media. Petras made an appearance on Isaac Phase’s song “You,” which was released in 2015 as part of his album Phase 00001.
Petras published her first single, titled “I Don’t Want It at All,” in August of 2017. The song was successful, as it made it to the top of the Spotify Global Viral chart.
The music video that goes along with the song had its world premiere on Vevo back in October, and it contains a cameo appearance by Paris Hilton.
She was selected by Spotify to be one of the four artists chosen as a RISE Artist within the same month. This is a “program meant to identify and break the next wave of music superstars,” according to Spotify.
At the tail end of 2017, Petras was given the title of “most likely to conquer the pop charts” by Paper magazine. At the same time, he made an appearance on the tune “Unlock It” from Charli XCX’s mixtape Pop 2 (2017) alongside Jay Park.
The music video for Petras’ track “Faded,” which was directed by Nicholas Harwood and featured Lil Aaron, made its world premiere on Noisey in January of 2018.
She made her debut in the January edition of Galore, which was published in the same month.
Petras marked the occasion of Valentine’s Day by releasing the breakup-themed song “Heart to Break” in the month of February.
The song was played for the first time on the radio for the first time on February 19 on BBC Radio 1. In spite of the fact that the track “still keeps Petras’ peppy, unapologetic pop feel,” Bryan Kress of Billboard pointed out that it nevertheless “ventures into new terrain for the songwriter.”
Petras presented the world with their first Halloween-themed extended play on October 1, 2018, titled “Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1.” The album is a break from Petras’ regular style and incorporates a cameo by Elvira, who plays the role of a horror hostess in the project. After that, Petras revealed that she will be releasing a single once a month in the run-up to the release of her debut album. In the month of November 2018, she was featured on the song “Feeling of Falling” by Cheat Codes. On Twice’s sixth extended play (EP), titled Yes or Yes, the song “Young & Wild” is credited to Petras as the composer.
Petras came out with three new tracks in February 2019; the titles of the singles were “1, 2, 3 Dayz Up” featuring Sophie, “If U Think About Me…” featuring Lil Aaron, and “Homework.”
Petras has not made any public statements regarding her intentions to make an album containing any of her digital singles that were released between 2016 and early 2019, however she has referred to this period of release as Era 1.
In March of 2019, Petras performed as the main attraction at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which is recognized as one of the largest pride festivals in the world. Other notable acts, such as Kylie Minogue, Cher, Dua Lipa, Kesha, Sam Smith, The Veronicas, and George Michael, have previously served in this capacity at the festiva
On June 28, 2019, Petras released her first studio album, titled Clarity. As a buildup to the release of their album, Petras released a new song once every week between the months of May and June. Petras started their “Broken Tour” in June, playing 24 shows across the continents of Europe and North America. During the same month, Petras was showcased on the cover of Galore magazine as well as Notion magazine. On the day of the album’s release, it was accompanied by its lead single, “Icy,” as well as by promotional singles such as “All I Do Is Cry” and “Sweet Spot,” which came out before the album itself.
Petras said in August that Urban Outfitters would be carrying a limited edition vinyl pressing of Turn Off the Light, Vol. 1 and that the announcement was made public. Petras has revealed that the second volume of Turn Off the Light would be published precisely one year after the first part of the series. Turn Off the Light, the second studio album recorded by Petras, was made available for purchase on October 1, 2019. The album includes all of the songs from Vol. 1 in addition to nine additional tracks and a bonus track that was added after the album was released a year later. The song “Reminds Me” was released as a single by her on February 11th, 2020. During the same month, she made the announcement that she will be Camila Cabello’s supporting act for the European leg of The Romance Tour,[ which had been postponed owing to the widespread spread of the coronavirus.
Petras presented the song “Malibu” to the public for the first time on May 7 as the lead single from her upcoming studio album. The song reached number one on the charts in the United Kingdom after being performed there on the show Jimmy Kimmel Live! After that, Petras was featured on the song “Broken Glass” by Kygo, which was included on the album Golden Hour, which was released on May 29. [36] Petras revealed on the 23rd of October that Turn Off the Light, Vol. 3 will be released “when [she] can play it live” somewhere in 2021. A new song by her titled “Party Till I Die” was also recently published. The Kid Laroi used a sample from Petras’ song “Reminds Me” in his song “Reminds Me of You,” which was a duet with Juice Wrld and was released on the first anniversary of Petras’ passing.
Petras had an appearance on the song “Villain” by K/EP DA’s All Out, which was released on November 6, 2020. The song charted in New Zealand and on the US World Songs list. Madison Beer also made an appearance on the song. In the year 2021, Petras was featured on remixes of a number of songs that had gained popularity as a result of being uploaded to TikTok. These tracks included “Jenny” by Studio Killers and “SugarCrash!” by ElyOtto and Curtis Waters. [39] In addition, her song “Unlock It,” which she recorded in 2017 with Charli XCX and Jay Park, became extremely popular on the app. [40] Petras additionally declared that Turn Off the Light, Volume 3 would be distributed at some point in 2021 despite the fact that this plan did not come to fruition.
After signing with Republic Records in August 2021, Petras issued “Future Starts Now” as the debut single from her forthcoming major-label debut studio album. “Future Starts Now” was also the title tr
Petras gave a performance of the song during the pre-show for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2021, making history as the first openly transgender artist to ever perform at the VMAs.
In the month of November 2021, she gave live performances of “Coconuts” and “Hit It from the Back,” two additional singles from the upcoming album.
when she performed at the 2021 MTV Europe Music Awards, she made history by becoming the first openly transgender artist to ever do so at the EMAs.
a show that MTV had deliberately hosted in Budapest, as “an opportunity to stand in solidarity”[44] in protest against the Hungarian anti-LGBT law;[43] likewise, Petras’s performance was intentionally raunchy and “sex positive”[42], and she spoke out to say “It’s going to be pretty powerful to be in Hungary and perform the show when these laws have just happened.”
Petras also gave a performance at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2021, making her the first openly transgender performer to do so at that event.
The holiday comedy “The Bitch Who Stole Christmas” from 2021 had her as one of the main characters.
Petras released Coconuts on December 3, 2021, approximately one month earlier than was originally planned. This was in response to the overwhelmingly positive response from fans on TikTok.
Petras made the announcement on 10 February 2022 for a surprise EP titled Slut Pop, which was released the day after the announcement. Prior to the announcement, Petras had teased some of the tracks on TikTok.
On the 30th of July 2022, Petras posted a message on Twitter that appeared to announce that the album titled Problématique will not be released.
On August 2, 2022, a number of songs that were believed to be included on the album were discovered online. On Twitter, Petras provided a response to the disclosures by stating: “If you want to listen to the leaks, that’s fine with me… I’m in a bad situation because I won’t be able to release any songs any
Petras and Sam Smith worked together on the song “Unholy,” which was published by Petras on September 22nd, 2022. After its release, the song quickly gained popularity on TikTok and debuted at number one on the charts in a number of countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. t was also her first career entry on the Billboard Hot 100 list in the United States, where it finally reached number one in October 2022. As a result, Petras became the first artist in the annals of chart history to have an openly transgender song debut at number one.
Discography[
- Studio albums
- Clarity (2019)
- Turn Off the Light (2019)
Tours
- Headlining
- The Broken Tour (2019)
- The Clarity Tour (2019–2020)
- Supporting
- The Bloom Tour (Troye Sivan) (2018)
- The Romance Tour (Camila Cabello) (2020; cancelled)
- Special guest
- Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides Promotional Tour (Sophie) (2019)
- Pop 2 Tour (Charli XCX) (2018)
- Phoenix World Tour (Rita Ora) (2019)
- Charli Live Tour (Charli XCX) (2019)
