Sia is not just a popular “singer.” Rather, she’s a pop-artist who uses music for expression– she sings, writes and produces her songs, and also directs music videos.
August publications, such as The Atlantic magazine, write long and serious tracts about her work, as do mainstream news outlets such as the Huffington Post.
Artists like Sia don’t ”entertain,” rather, they absorb and interpret our shared social reality, for example, “The Greatest,” her new Top 40 hit — a collaboration with five time Grammy winner and rap superstar Kendrick Lamar– is her attempt to commemorate the victims of the Pulse Nightclub massacre, which occurred last June in Orlando, Florida–the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
“The Greatest,” is somber, abstract, choppy and hyper, as is the video, which is dark and features 49 limp, almost lifeless, tangled bodies, strewn and in disarray, which represent the 49 dead as they might have looked in Orlando. The star dancer is Maddie Ziegler, who has been featured in previous Sia videos.
The intensity in “The Greatest” builds, similar to Kate Bush’s hit, 1985’s “Running Up That Hill,” which turned heads and was was an international sensation. Bush, too is an “artist who sings.” Coincidentally, this Friday, Dec. 2, Bush will release a live album of her famous 2014 London “Before The Dawn“ concerts –22 shows that sold out in 15 minutes.
Sia’s had a good year. In addition to “The Greatest,” which is climbing the music charts, her “Cheap Thrills” is one of 2016’s biggest hits.
Sia is From Australia, she’s 41 years old, and lives in Palm Springs, CA.