Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery by a promoter who invited her to perform at warehouse raves. In 2010, she signed a recording contract with Asylum Records, releasing a series of singles and mixtapes throughout 2011 and 2012. She rose to prominence with the 2012 Icona Pop collaboration “I Love It”, which became an international success, reaching the top 10 in North America and Europe.
In 2013, Charli XCX released her debut studio album, True Romance, which earned critical acclaim but failed to meet commercial expectations. In 2014, she contributed the hook and bridge to “Fancy” by rapper Iggy Azalea, which finished the year as one of the best-selling singles worldwide and was nominated for two Grammy Awards. The same year, Charli XCX released “Boom Clap”, which was included on the soundtrack of the 2014 film The Fault in Our Stars and became her first solo top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second studio album, the punk-influenced Sucker, was released at the end of the year, and spawned the successful singles “Break the Rules” and “Doing It”.
In 2015, Charli XCX began working closely alongside producers associated with the UK collective PC Music, including A.G. Cook and SOPHIE, developing a more experimental sound and image. While working on her third album, she released the Vroom Vroom EP (2016) and the mixtapes Number 1 Angel and Pop 2 (both 2017), as well as a series of singles including the BPI-certified “After the Afterparty”, “Boys”, and “1999”. Her third and fourth studio albums, Charli (2019) and How I’m Feeling Now (2020), received acclaim; the latter was created within a span of six weeks during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In 2021, Charli XCX featured on the Jax Jones and Joel Corry UK top-ten single “Out Out”. Her fifth studio album, Crash (2022) became her first number-one album in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, while also becoming her first top-ten album in the US.
In addition to her solo work, Charli XCX has co-written songs for other artists, including Iggy Azalea’s “Beg for It” (2014), Selena Gomez’s “Same Old Love” (2015), Blondie’s “Tonight” (2017), and the Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello collaboration “Señorita”