Sarah Jessica Cothran (born ) is an American singer-songwriter. Raised in Mississippi and based in Nashville, Cothran gained popularity on social media platform

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

with a series of song covers in a

minor key In Western music, the adjectives major and minor may describe a chord, scale, or key. As such, composition, movement, section, or phrase may be referred to by its key, including whether that key is major or minor. Intervals Some intervals may ...

. She gained recognition for her cover of

Matt Maltese Matthew Jonathan Gordon Maltese (born 6 October 1997) is a British-Canadian singer-songwriter. His style blends elements from indie pop, indie rock, and chamber pop. Since releasing his debut single "Even If It's a Lie" in 2015, Maltese has rele ...

's song "As the World Caves In" in 2021, earning 400 million streams and a gold

certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. She subsequently signed with

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

and released two singles in 2022 before her first

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''ihope you're happy'', in September. She toured as a

supporting act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

for

Alec Benjamin Alec Shane Benjamin (born May 28, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona. His 2018 breakthrough single "Let Me Down Slowly" reached the top 40 in over 25 countries and has amassed over 1 billion streams on Spotify as of April ...

in 2022.

Career

Sarah Jessica Cothran was born on June 11, 2002, in

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, Mississippi. She began writing and playing music in

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

at the age of thirteen. Cothran began posting music on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in 2017, and launched a

account after graduating high school in 2020, having moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tennessee. She gained popularity on TikTok with her series of videos singing covers of songs in a

. She considered social media an effective opportunity to share music and connect with her supporters. In January 2018, Cothran released a cover of

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...

's " So Far Away" featuring her sister Michaila, which received more than one million views. Cothran gained recognition for her cover of

's song "As the World Caves In", originally released with three short videos on TikTok before receiving a full release on streaming platforms on May 12, 2021. It ranked tenth among the most viral songs worldwide on July 14, according to

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. The single earned 400 million global streams, and was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

gold by the

on September 16, 2022. It was featured in the first episode of ''

The Summer I Turned Pretty ''The Summer I Turned Pretty'' is a trilogy of young adult romance novels written by American author Jenny Han, and published by Simon & Schuster. The series includes ''The Summer I Turned Pretty'' (2009), ''It's Not Summer Without You'' (2010) ...

'' in June 2022, and an episode of '' The Morning Show'' in October 2023. Maltese's original song saw a resurgence after Cothran's cover. Cothran considered it important to co-

produce Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...

her own music to maintain her creativity and to "level out the huge gap" regarding the lack of female producers. Following the song's success, Cothran signed with

in August 2021, represented by Sara Bollwinkel of Wasserman Music, and legally by Doug Mark. Cothran's first single with Republic, "Baby Why", was released on July 29, 2022. The song is about constant fighting in a

toxic relationship Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic ...

. Cothran was inspired by vintage sounds but wanted to add a "modern twist". The single gained over one million global streams in ten days. The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was released on August 11, with visuals inspired by the 1950s. Her next single, "Funeral", was released on August 26; co-written with Maltese over several days in a studio in Nashville, the song is about attending one's own funeral. The music video was released on December 2. Cothran's debut EP, ''ihope you're happy'', was released on September 30. She wrote and produced most of the songs late at night in her bedroom. ''

Consequence Consequence may refer to: * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * In operant conditioning, a result of some behavior * Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determi ...

''s Mary Siroky named one of the EP's songs, "I'm Here", a runner-up for Song of the Week, writing that it "unspools like a diary entry ... the knowledge that life could have been different can be haunting, and Cothran tries to close the chapter on her own terms with this poignant brush of her pen". The music video for "I'm Here" was released on December 17, filmed by the Nashville Drone Company at Harpeth Valley Farm in

Kingston Springs Kingston Springs is a town in Cheatham County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,824 at the 2020 census and 2,756 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of . Climate ...

, Tennessee. Cothran was one of

s on his tour in September 2022. She released a single, "Stronger Than Me", on September 8, 2023, followed by "Me Myself & I" on October 6.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cothran, Sarah 2002 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers American singer-songwriters American women pop singers Living people Place of birth missing (living people)