Alessia Cara

Alessia Cara, born Alessia Caracciolo on July 11, 1996, broke through with “Here,” a 2015 debut single that became a sleeper hit in the United States and reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The Canadian singer and songwriter had begun building an audience years earlier, posting song covers on YouTube from age 13. Acoustic versions of songs including “Love Yourself” and “Sweater Weather” led to her signing with EP Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings in 2014.

Her debut album, Know-It-All, arrived in 2015 and reached number eight on the Canadian Albums Chart and number nine on the Billboard 200. Its third single, “Scars to Your Beautiful,” became another major US hit, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016. Cara also expanded her profile through collaborations: she joined Zedd for “Stay” in 2017, a single certified seven-times platinum in Canada, and appeared with Khalid on Logic’s “1-800-273-8255.”

In 2018, Cara won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, becoming the first Canadian artist to receive the award. She has received four Grammy nominations in total. Her second album, The Pains of Growing, followed later that year, with “Growing Pains” and “Trust My Lonely” achieving moderate commercial success. The record won Juno Awards for Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year, while Cara received the Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year.

Cara was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 2019 Latin Grammys for “Querer Mejor,” her collaboration with Juanes. Her third studio album, In the Meantime, was released in 2021 and received generally positive reviews from critics. She released her fourth album, Love & Hyperbole, on February 14, 2025, and it also drew positive reviews.