Lauren Amber Aquilina (born 23 June 1995) is a Maltese-English singer and songwriter. Born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

, she gained popularity by independently releasing a trilogy of EPs (''Fools'', ''Sinners'', and ''Liars'') whilst studying at school. Her debut album ''Isn't It Strange?'' was released on 26 August 2016, after being signed with

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. Aquilina took a musical hiatus in October 2016, but resumed in August 2018.

Life and career

Aquilina was born on 23 June 1995 in

to parents from

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Her musical origins began with her playing piano in school. She has been singing since she was eight years old and has been playing piano since she was nine. When she was thirteen years old she attended her first open mic event and sang " Poker Face" by

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

while her mother filmed her. Aquilina's manager (at the time), Ryan Walter, came across one of the videos and the two began working with one another putting together Aquilina's initial EP ''Fools''.