Kiara Saulters (born May 24, 1995), known professionally as Kiiara, is an American singer-songwriter from Wilmington, Illinois. She is currently signed to Atlantic Records. Her 2015 single "Gold" peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She is also known for contributing vocals to Linkin Park's 2017 single "Heavy".
Early life
Kiiara was born on May 24, 1995, in Wilmington, Illinois. She attended Wilmington High School where she played for the school's volleyball team. While recording her breakout EP, she also worked as a hardware store clerk. She started a studio internship to help familiarize herself with the music process and get practice recording.
Career
In 2013, Kiiara independently released an acoustic pop single called "Bring Me Back" under her real name.
In June 2015, after signing a deal to Atlantic Records and changing to her stage name from Kiara Saulters to Kiiara, she released her debut single "Gold". Later that year, "Gold" was chosen as background music of a 15-second Apple Watch commercial titled "Style". The song was her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 13. Her debut extended play (EP), Low Kii Savage was released on March 22, 2016. The video for "Gold" quickly gained popularity, reaching five million views during mid-May 2016.
On September 15, 2016, Kiiara made her television debut, performing "Gold" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Kiiara was featured on Linkin Park's single, "Heavy", which was released digitally on February 16, 2017 and on radio on February 21. She later performed "Heavy" with Julia Michaels at the Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington concert at the Hollywood Bowl which was held after the death of Linkin Park's vocalist Chester Bennington.
In March 2018, she was featured on the Cheat Codes single "Put Me Back Together".
On June 7, 2019, she released the single "Open My Mouth". Kiiara stated that it would serve as the lead single from her debut studio album, along with another single "Bipolar", released on September 6, 2019. However, both were cut from the final track listing, although the first one featured on a deluxe edition of the record.
On October 9, 2020, she released her debut studio album Lil Kiiwi, which includes her previously released singles "Gold", "Feels", and "Whippin" featuring Felix Snow, as well as new singles "I Still Do", "Never Let You", and "Numb" featuring DeathbyRomy and Pvris. A deluxe edition of her album was later released, which included two songs "Intention" and "Tennessee" taken from her debut extended play, Low Kii Savage, as well as two previous non-album singles, "Messy" and "Open My Mouth".
Influences
Kiiara has cited Eminem, Rihanna, Joyner Lucas, Yelawolf, and Linkin Park as her influences.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Certifications |
|---|---|---|
| Lil Kiiwi |
|
Extended plays
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
US Heat. |
AUS | ||
| Low Kii Savage |
|
41 | 13 | 46 |
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
AUS |
BEL (FL) |
CAN |
DEN |
ITA |
NLD |
NZ |
SWE |
UK | ||||
| "Bring Me Back" (as Kiara Saulters) |
2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Gold" | 2015 | 13 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 12 | 53 | 56 | 22 | 29 | 48 | Low Kii Savage and Lil Kiiwi | |
| "Feels" | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| "Hang Up tha Phone" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Low Kii Savage | ||
| "Dopemang" (featuring Ashley All Day) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "Whippin" (featuring Felix Snow) |
2017 | — | — | — | 94 | — | — | 113 | — | — | — |
|
Lil Kiiwi |
| "Wishlist" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "Messy" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Lil Kiiwi | |
| "Gloe" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "Diamonds" (with Jauz) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Wise and the Wicked | ||
| "1%" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||
| "L*** Is a Bad Word" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "I Don't Wanna Be Friends" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "How Can You Love Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Open My Mouth" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Lil Kiiwi | |
| "Bipolar" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "I Still Do" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Lil Kiiwi | |
| "Never Let You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Numb" (featuring DeathbyRomy and Pvris) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "So Sick" (featuring Blackbear) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Happy Hour" (with Felix Cartal) |
2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Expensive Sounds for Nice People | |
| "Used to Be" (with Steve Aoki featuring Wiz Khalifa) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||
| "King" (with Rosa Linn) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Closer" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Miss Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Microdose" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Hangover" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Cum in Peace" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Speed" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Whoops" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "This Time" (with Burko and The Archer) |
2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Love & Drugs" (with Teamwork. and American Authors) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
AUS |
AUT |
BEL (FL) |
BEL (WA) |
CAN |
IRE |
ITA |
SWI |
UK | ||||
| "Heavy" (Linkin Park featuring Kiiara) |
2017 | 45 |
33 |
9 | — | — | 46 |
88 |
78 |
8 | 43 |
|
One More Light |
| "Complicated" (Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and David Guetta featuring Kiiara) |
— | — | 51 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — | 37 | — |
|
Non-album singles | |
| "Cross My Mind Pt. 2" (A R I Z O N A featuring Kiiara) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Darkside" (Ty Dolla $ign & Future featuring Kiiara) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Bright: The Album | ||
| "Put Me Back Together" (Cheat Codes featuring Kiiara) |
2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Be Somebody" (Steve Aoki and Nicky Romero featuring Kiiara) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "You're Not Alone" (Don Diablo featuring Kiiara) |
2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Obsessed" (Ashley All Day featuring Kiiara) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Lonely Baby" (Hyphen Hyphen featuring Kiiara) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Back to You" (Ekali featuring Kiiara) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | A World Away | ||
| "Never Felt Like This" (Devault featuring Kiiara) |
2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Chit Chat" | 2018 | Alma | Heavy Rules Mixtape |
| "Makin Money" | Lil Aaron | Rock$tar Famou$ | |
| "In the Stars" | 2019 | One OK Rock | Eye of the Storm |
| "Ain't About You" | 2021 | Wonho | Love Synonym Pt.2: Right for Us |
