Clairo

Cottrill began recording covers at the age of 13; she often performed covers at local businesses including Blue Dry Goods. During this time, MTV contacted her to record a song to be used as background music for one of their shows, but the song was never used.[13] She began posting music to Bandcamp under the names Clairo and DJ Baby Benz while attending Concord-Carlisle High School. She went on to post covers and songs in addition to DJ mixes of rap music on SoundCloud.[13][14] She also posted three short films on an old YouTube channel,[15] and maintained a second one where she would post covers in addition to short films.[2]

She launched her EP Do U Wanna Fall in Love? in 2013 after releasing several home recordings. A few additional EPs, including Aquarius Boy, Late Show, Moth Girl, Metal Heart, and Have a Nice Day, came after this in 2015.

Clairo first drew wide attention in late 2017 when the video for her song "Pretty Girl" went viral on YouTube.[2] The song was recorded for an indie rock compilation benefiting the Transgender Law Center.[16] According to her, she recorded the track "using the resources around me which were pretty shitty. 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."[17] She has attributed audience interest in the video to YouTube's algorithm system.[16] The video also became popular on vaporwave-centric Facebook groups.[17] "Pretty Girl" had amassed more than 81 million views on YouTube by 2022.[16] A piece written by Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times said that the work: "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.'".[16]

Another video, "Flaming Hot Cheetos", was released a month before "Pretty Girl" on YouTube. It garnered 3 million views by July 2018.[18] The success of "Pretty Girl" led to interest from major labels such as Capitol, RCA, and Columbia. Jon Cohen, the co-founder of The Fader, signed Clairo to the magazine's associated record label with a 12-song record contract and introduced her to Pat Corcoran, manager of Chance the Rapper. She became a client of talent agency Haight Brand near the end of 2017.[16] After the success of "Pretty Girl", a number of social media users (specifically on discussion website Reddit) began claiming that Clairo was an "industry plant" who gained success through her father's nepotism.[19][18] She denied the claims, calling them sexist.[16] Writers for The Guardian and The Ringer also stated that her father's connections facilitated her record contract signing.[20][18] In 2021 she spoke openly about the accusations, telling Rolling Stone, "I definitely am not blind to the fact that things have been easier for me than other people's experiences. It would be stupid of me to not acknowledge the privilege I had from the start to be able to sign somewhere where there's trust, to be able to sign a record deal that doesn't revolve around keeping myself afloat financially."[21]

On May 25, 2018, Fader Label released Clairo's debut record, titled Diary 001.[22] 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."[23] That same month, she announced a headlining tour throughout North America, as well as select dates opening for Dua Lipa.[24] Her July performance at the Bowery Ballroom in New York was a sold-out show.[18] In October 2018, she performed at Lollapalooza.[25] She performed at Coachella in 2019.[26]

Clairo performing live at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, 2019

On May 24, 2019, Clairo released a new single, "Bags", and announced her debut studio album Immunity[27] which was released on August 2, 2019.[28] She would further release two more singles from the album "Closer to You" and "Sofia".[29][30] Following the album's commercial success, Apple Music named Clairo an Up Next artist in August 2019.[31] Clairo made her television debut performing "I Wouldn't Ask You" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September 2019,[32] before performing "Bags" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show a few days later.[33] In December 2019, Clairo won Pop Artist of the Year at the 2019 Boston Music Awards for the second consecutive year, as well as Album of the Year for Immunity. "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.[34][35] Immunity was included in over 10 critics' end of year lists, including The Guardian, Pitchfork, Billboard and Los Angeles Times. As of 2019, Clairo was managed by Mike Ahern and Jimmy Bui.[36]

In April 2020, Clairo revealed that she had begun working on her second studio album via a tweet of a screenshot of a playlist titled 'Album 2 (demos so far)'.[37] On October of that same year, Clairo formed a new band called Shelly with indie pop artist Claud and their two friends from Syracuse University, Josh Mehling and Noa Frances Getzug. The group released two songs, "Steeeam" and "Natural", on October 30, 2020.[38] On June 11, 2021, Clairo released "Blouse", the first single from her second studio album, Sling, which was announced that same day.[39][40] Sling is an album for Cottrill, but it is also a record of her attempts to reevaluate her goals in life. Sling, which replaces Immunity's sparse electronic flourishes with lush, acoustic folk frequently adorned with swooning vocal harmonies, delicate strings, and the warm swell of brass, bears the Laurel Canyon imprint. The album was released on July 16, 2021.[41] In February 2022, Clairo embarked on the US leg of the Sling tour.[42] She cancelled the last three dates of her North American tour, after a technical incident at her gig in Toronto left her with temporary hearing damage.[43] After two songs, her opening show of the UK tour in Bristol had to be cancelled due to a case of sinusitis that was affecting her voice, leading to her having a panic attack onstage and leaving afterward.[44] The Glasgow show was cancelled but the show the day after it in Manchester went ahead, and her final UK show of that tour was in London. In 2023, she will appear as an opening act for Boygenius during the inaugural Re:SET Concert Series. [45] In May, after being featured on remixes by Phoenix[46] and beabadoobee,[47] she released the EP Live at Electric Lady, containing new versions of songs from her first two albums.[48]