Troye Sivan

Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his third EP, '' TRXYE'' (2014), which peaked at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Its lead single, " Happy Little Pill", reached the top 10 on Australian music charts. In 2015, he released his fourth extended play, '' Wild'', followed by his debut studio album, '' Blue Neighbourhood.'' The album's lead single, "Youth", became Sivan's first single to enter the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 23.

His second studio album, '' Bloom'' (2018), reached the top five in Australia and the US. Its lead single, " My My My!", became Sivan's second number-one single on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart. In 2020, his EP '' In a Dream'' was released. In 2023, he released his third album, '' Something to Give Each Other'', on 13 October. The album's three singles, " Rush", " Got Me Started", and " One of Your Girls", all reached the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart and the ARIA Singles Chart, while both "Rush" and "One of Your Girls" charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. For the track "Rush", Sivan received his first Grammy Award nominations, one for Best Pop Dance Recording and another for Best Music Video.

As an actor, Sivan portrayed the younger Wolverine in '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2009) and starred as the titular character in the '' Spud'' film trilogy (2010–2014). In 2017, he became the youngest recipient of the GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award. In 2018, he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for "Revelation", from the film '' Boy Erased'', in which he also had a supporting acting role. He has since starred in the film '' Three Months'' (2022) and the HBO series '' The Idol'' (2023).

Early life and education

Sivan was born on 5 June 1995 in Johannesburg, South Africa, the son of Laurelle Mellet, a homemaker and former South African fashion model, and Shaun Mellet, an entrepreneur and real estate agent. At age two, Sivan moved to Perth, Western Australia, with his parents and three siblings due to rising crime in South Africa. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, though he does not consider himself to be religious. His mother converted to Judaism when marrying his father, who is of Lithuanian-Jewish descent including from a grandmother who escaped from Lithuania to Johannesburg as a Holocaust survivor. He attended Carmel School, a private Modern Orthodox school, until 2009, when he started distance education.

Career

Music

Sivan's musical career started when he sang at the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Channel Seven Perth Telethon. His 2006 performance included a duet with '' Australian Idol'' winner Guy Sebastian. Sivan made it to the finals of ''StarSearch'' 2007. His debut EP ''Dare to Dream'' was released in June 2007. In February 2010, Sivan opened " We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube edition)", the collaborative music charity video produced by Lisa Lavie to help raise money for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

On 5 June 2013, Sivan was signed to EMI Australia, a Universal Music Australia label, but kept it a secret until a year later. On 15 August 2014 he released a five-song EP entitled '' TRXYE'', led by its first single " Happy Little Pill", which was released on 25 July 2014. ''TRXYE'' debuted at No. 1 on iTunes in over 55 countries. The EP debuted at No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' 200 the following week, scoring Sivan his first Top 10 album. "Happy Little Pill" peaked at number 10 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments exceeding 35,000 copies.

Sivan released his second major-label EP, '' Wild'', on 4 September 2015. The EP was supported by a music video trilogy entitled ''Blue Neighbourhood'', comprising the three songs " Wild", "Fools" and " Talk Me Down" and released from September 2015 to December 2015. Additionally, the EP served as an introduction to his debut studio album '' Blue Neighbourhood'', which was released on 4 December 2015. The single "Youth" reached number 23 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Sivan supported ''Blue Neighbourhood'' and ''Wild'' with his first tour, 2015's Troye Sivan Live. He further supported ''Blue Neighbourhood'' with 2016's Blue Neighbourhood Tour and Suburbia Tour. On 26 May 2017, Troye collaborated with Martin Garrix to produce the song " There for You".

On 10 January 2018, Sivan released the single " My My My!", along with an accompanying music video. He confirmed that his second album was inspired by his then-boyfriend, American model Jacob Bixenman. The song was described as a departure from his earlier work, with ''Pitchfork'' calling his vocals "assured" and '' NPR Music'' describing it as "an infectious celebration of sexual desire". NPR also noted the significance of the song and music video displaying confidence in Sivan's sexuality, writing "it's not every day you see a young, skinny, queer kid get to be completely himself in a music video, and Sivan makes us want to dance along with him." Sivan's first live performance of the song was on 20 January as the musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live'' in an episode hosted by Jessica Chastain. Sivan later confirmed that his new album would feature a collaboration with long-time friend Ariana Grande, titled " Dance to This".

On 16 March, his song " Strawberries & Cigarettes" from the ''Love, Simon'' soundtrack was released. It received a nomination for the 2018 Satellite Awards for Best Original Song. " Bloom" was released as the third single on 2 May 2018, following " The Good Side". That month, he announced that his second studio album was titled '' Bloom'', while accompanying Taylor Swift as a guest performer at a concert in Pasadena during her Reputation Stadium Tour. The album was released on 31 August 2018. The album's final pre-release track, "Animal", was launched on 9 August 2018. That same year, Sivan received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for "Revelation", which he recorded and co-wrote for the film '' Boy Erased''. He was also shortlisted for an Academy Award for the song. In October 2018, Sivan collaborated with British singer-songwriter Charli XCX on the single "1999"; the two also performed the single together live on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. A sequel collaboration, titled " 2099", was debuted on 6 June 2019 at the two artists' LA Pride event "Go West Fest" and released as a promotional single from Charli XCX's album '' Charli'' on 10 September 2019. In January 2019, Sivan released the single " I'm So Tired..." with American singer-songwriter Lauv.

On 1 April 2020, Sivan released " Take Yourself Home", his first single from his fifth EP '' In a Dream''. Sivan worked with freelance artists in need of work during the COVID-19 pandemic to create the visual art for his single. The artists, who Sivan met on Instagram, also designed t-shirts for the single, and all net proceeds were donated to the WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and Spotify's COVID-19 Music Relief Project. On 15 July, Sivan released the single " Easy" and announced the release of the concept EP ''In a Dream''. The EP was released on 21 August 2020. In June 2021, he performed songs from the EP for Grubhub's virtual concert series ''Sound Bites'', in support of the NGLCC's efforts in assisting LGBT-owned restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 16 April 2021, his collaboration " You" with Regard and Tate McRae was released. The song topped ''Billboard''s Dance/Electronic Songs chart for eight weeks. Sivan's single " Angel Baby" was released on 10 September. After becoming viral in Southeast Asia, it reached the top 5 in several countries. In February 2022, two original songs Sivan had written for the film '' Three Months'' were released. In December 2022, he released a collaboration with PNAU titled " You Know What I Need".

Sivan announced his third studio album, '' Something to Give Each Other'', on 13 July 2023, alongside the release of its lead single, " Rush". On 20 September, the second single, " Got Me Started", was released with an accompanying music video. The album was released on 13 October, along with the third single, " One of Your Girls". On 10 November 2023, Sivan received two Grammy nominations for "Rush": Best Music Video and Best Pop Dance Recording. The album's fourth single, "Honey", was released on 16 May 2024 with remixes by Mura Masa.

On 12 September 2024, Troye was featured on Charli XCX's remix album '' Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat'', the remix album of '' Brat'', on the song " Talk Talk". A voice note from Dua Lipa is featured in the beginning and end of the song. They embarked on the co-headlining Sweat tour in North America in support of ''Brat'' and ''Something to Give Each Other''.

Acting

In 2007, Sivan starred as Oliver Twist in a production of '' Oliver!'' at the Regal Theatre. In 2008, Sivan was cast in a Western Australian short film, ''Betrand the Terrible''. In February 2008, Sivan was cast as young James Howlett in '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine''. Sivan got the part after videos of his telethon performance were posted on YouTube, catching the attention of a Hollywood agent who contacted Sivan and asked him to send in an audition tape. Though Kodi Smit-McPhee was already cast for this role, he was unable to be a part of the film, due to his commitment to '' The Road''. In July 2009, he auditioned successfully for the lead role in '' Spud'', a film adaptation of the 2005 novel by South African author John van de Ruit. Filming took place in South Africa from early March to mid-April 2010. The film was released in South Africa on 3 December 2010 and was later nominated for six SAFTAs, including a Best Lead Actor in a Feature Film nomination for Sivan.

Sivan appeared in the Western Australian season of Samuel Beckett's absurdist play '' Waiting for Godot'' which opened on 28 May 2010. Sivan shared the role of "Boy" with Craig Hyde-Smith, alternating nights. In June 2012, Sivan returned to South Africa to film '' Spud 2: The Madness Continues'', which was released in South Africa on 21 June 2013. Sivan also starred in the third film in the series, '' Spud 3: Learning to Fly'', released on 28 November 2014.

Sivan had a supporting role in the 2018 film '' Boy Erased''. In 2022, he starred as Caleb, a 17-year-old exposed to HIV following a one-night fling on the eve of his high school graduation in the feature film '' Three Months'', which explores the ongoing stigma that HIV-positive persons experience. On 22 November 2021, Sivan was cast as a series regular in the HBO drama series '' The Idol''. The series was cancelled in August 2023 after a single season.

Other ventures

YouTube

In September 2012, Sivan began creating vlogs on the video sharing site YouTube, after having only sung on the site since 2007. At the time of posting his first vlog, Sivan had accumulated 27,000 subscribers in his five years since joining YouTube on 1 October 2007. A YouTube video Sivan made with fellow YouTuber Tyler Oakley, titled "The 'Boyfriend' Tag", earned them a Teen Choice Award in the "Choice Web Collaboration" category. As of November 2023, Sivan had over 8.1million subscribers and over 1.9billion total views across his YouTube videos.

Endorsements

In 2018, Sivan was the face of Valentino's Spring/Summer 2018 collection. In 2019, he was an ambassador for MAC's Viva Glam campaign. He also appeared in Calvin Klein's #MyCalvins and #CK50 campaigns that year. Since 2020, he has been a Cartier ambassador. In February 2021, Sivan's capsule t-shirt collection that he designed with Uniqlo was released. On 24 September 2021, he was featured as a model in the third volume of Rihanna's '' Savage X Fenty Show''. In early 2022, he was involved in Beyoncé's Ivy Park's campaign for her capsule collection with Adidas. He has been an ambassador for YSL Beauty since 2022.

Brands

In July 2023, it was reported that in addition to his new album, Sivan would be releasing with his brother "an independent luxury lifestyle collection of fragrances and art-driven objects" called Tsu Lange Yor. The name is Yiddish for 'to long years', a tribute to his grandmother and great-grandmother, who spoke the language. The idea of "home" and creating a space for yourself was a very personal concept, leading Sivan to turn away companies offering him white label products and pre-built businesses.

The brand launched in August 2023 at a pop-up store but later since expanded. The brand sells homeware, candles and fragrances, including "Sala Eau de Parfum", named after his nephew. The fragrance was created alongside a short film of the same name.

Artistry

Sivan's favourite artists include Janet Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Taylor Swift and Lorde. He is also inspired by Michael Jackson and Frank Ocean. He told '' Wonderland'' in 2018, "When I think about the songs that I grew up listening to that made me feel ... gay, it was mostly straight women: Cher, Madonna, Miley, Robyn, Lady Gaga. Those are my gay icons, which is a bit strange. I would have loved to have had more queer music growing up. That would have been nice." Sivan also cites Ariana Grande and Christina Aguilera as his inspirations, as his music video for " My My My!" was directly influenced by the one for " Dirrty" (2002).

Sivan's music has been described as "layered electropop with constant tinges of EDM". His baritone voice has received widespread praise, and his work has been compared to that of Lorde and Taylor Swift. In December 2020, Sivan was listed at number 34 in '' Rolling Stone Australia''s "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue.

Music videos

Sivan's music videos frequently feature gay relationships between the characters. ''Blue Neighbourhood'' trilogy followed the narrative of two gay teenagers in a secret relationship while "Youth" featured Sivan with another male love interest. His music video for "Heaven" features footage of historical LGBT movements and couples, as well as sensual shots with him and an anonymous man with the running taglines "Without losing a piece of me, how do I get to Heaven?" and "If I'm losing a piece of me, maybe I don't want Heaven". Sivan has said that these portrayals are important to him, especially when he remembers "such vivid memories of the few times I saw any type of LGBTQ relationship on TV or in music videos".

On 16 July 2020, Sivan released a self-directed music video for his second song, " Easy", from his EP ''In a Dream''. A remix of "Easy", featuring country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves and producer Mark Ronson, was released alongside a second music video in December 2020.

On 13 July 2023, Sivan released the music video for " Rush", the lead single for ''Something to Give Each Other'', which received widespread acclaim for its unapologetic display of queer culture. The video garnered Sivan his first nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video. Sivan received some criticism for a lack of body diversity among the dancers in the music video; in response, he said "it just wasn't a thought e and creative director Gordon von Steinerhad."

Personal life

Sivan came out publicly as gay via a YouTube video on 7 August 2013, three years after coming out to his family. He stated that he wanted the video to be out because he did not want his sexuality to be a secret from EMI Australia as he was in negotiations with them at the time for a record deal and had not yet discussed his sexuality with them. The morning after he posted his coming out video, he received a congratulatory email from EMI.

Sivan has a mild form of Marfan syndrome making him "super thin, with long bendy fingers, and a high alate which he considers "weird". He has also suffered from body image issues. In an interview with ''Billboard'', Sivan said "I think that everyone's body is as beautiful as it is, including my own, and it just sucks to see people talking about other people's bodies."

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Discography

* '' Blue Neighbourhood'' (2015)
* '' Bloom'' (2018)
* '' Something to Give Each Other'' (2023)

Tours

* Troye Sivan Live (2015)
* Blue Neighbourhood Tour (2016)
* Suburbia Tour (2016)
* The Bloom Tour (2018–2019)
* Something to Give Each Other Tour (2024)
* Sweat Tour (with Charli XCX; 2024)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sivan, Troye

1995 births
21st-century Australian LGBTQ people
21st-century Australian male actors
21st-century Australian male singers
21st-century Australian singer-songwriters
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award winners
Australian actors with disabilities
Australian child singers
Australian expatriate male actors in the United States
Australian gay actors
Australian gay musicians
Australian LGBTQ singers
Australian male bloggers
Australian male child actors
Australian people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
Australian people of South African descent
Australian pop singers
Australian video bloggers
Australian YouTubers
Capitol Records artists
Dance-pop musicians
EMI Music Australia artists
Former Orthodox Jews
Gay Jews
Gay singers
GLAAD Media Awards winners
Jewish Australian male actors
Jewish Australian musicians
Jewish bloggers
Jewish film people
Jewish singers
Jewish YouTubers
LGBTQ musicians with disabilities
LGBTQ YouTubers
Living people
Male actors from Perth, Western Australia
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Perth, Western Australia
People with Marfan syndrome
Singers with disabilities
South African emigrants to Australia
Synth-pop singers
YouTubers from Perth, Western Australia