Troye Sivan Mellet (/trɔɪsɪˈvɑːn/TROY sih-VAHN; 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.[7]
Sivan was born on 5 June 1995[11] in
Johannesburg, South Africa,[12] the son of Laurelle Mellet, a homemaker and former South African fashion model, and Shaun Mellet, an entrepreneur and
real estate agent.[13][14][15] At age two,[16] Sivan moved to
Perth, Western Australia, with his parents and three siblings due to rising crime in South Africa.[15][14]
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.[25]TRXYE debuted at No. 1 on iTunes in over 55 countries.[26] The EP debuted at No. 5 on the
Billboard 200 the following week, scoring Sivan his first Top 10 album.[27] "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.[28]
On 10 January 2018, Sivan released the single "
My My My!", along with an accompanying music video.[35] He confirmed that his second album was inspired by his then-boyfriend, American model
Jacob Bixenman.[36] 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".[35]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."[35] 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.[37] Sivan later confirmed that his new album would feature a collaboration with long-time friend
Ariana Grande,[38] titled "
Dance to This".[39] 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.[40] "
Bloom" was released as the third single on 2 May 2018, following "
The Good Side".[41] That month, he announced that his second studio album is titled Bloom, while accompanying
Taylor Swift as a guest performer at a concert in
Pasadena, California, during her
Reputation Stadium Tour. The album was released on 31 August 2018.[42][43][44][45] The album's final pre-release track, "
Animal", was launched on 9 August 2018.[46] 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.[47] He was also shortlisted for an
Academy Award for the song.[48] In October 2018, Sivan collaborated with British singer-songwriter
Charli XCX on the single "
1999";[49] the two also performed the single together live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[50] A sequel collaboration, titled "
2099", was debuted on 6 June 2019 at the two artists' LA Pride event "Go West Fest"[51] and released as a promotional single from Charli XCX's album Charli on 10 September 2019.[52] In January 2019, Sivan released the single "
I'm So Tired..." with American singer-songwriter
Lauv.[53]
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.[54] On 15 July, Sivan released the single "
Easy" and announced the release of the
concept EPIn a Dream. The EP was released on 21 August 2020.[55] 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.[56] 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.[57] Sivan's single "
Angel Baby" was released on 10 September.[58] After becoming viral in Southeast Asia, it reached the top 5 in several countries.[59]
In February 2022, two original songs Sivan had written for the film Three Months were released.[60] In December 2022, he released a collaboration with
PNAU titled "
You Know What I Need".[61]
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.[62] 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.[63] The album's fourth single, "Honey", was released on 16 May 2024 with remixes by
Mura Masa.[64][65]
Acting
In 2007, Sivan starred as Oliver Twist in a production of Oliver! at the
Regal Theatre.[23] In 2008, Sivan was cast in a Western Australian short film, Betrand the Terrible.[66] 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.[23] Though
Kodi Smit-McPhee was already cast for this role, he was unable to be a part of the film, due to his other film, The Road.[67] 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.[68] Filming took place in South Africa from early March to mid-April 2010.[69][70] 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.[71]
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.[72] 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.[73]
Sivan had a supporting role in the 2018 film Boy Erased.[74] 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.[75]
On 22 November 2021, Sivan was cast as a series regular in the
HBO drama series The Idol.[76] The series was cancelled in August 2023 after a single season.[77]
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.[78] As of November 2023, Sivan had over 8.1million subscribers and over 1.9billion total views across his YouTube videos.[79]
Endorsements
In 2018, Sivan was the face of
Valentino's Spring/Summer 2018 collection.[80] In 2019, he was an ambassador for
MAC's Viva Glam campaign.[81] He also appeared in
Calvin Klein's #MyCalvins and #CK50 compaigns that year.[82][83] Since 2020, he has been a
Cartier ambassador.[84] In February 2021, Sivan's capsule t-shirt collection that he designed with
Uniqlo was released.[85] On 24 September 2021, he was featured as a model in the third volume of
Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show.[86] In early 2022, he was involved in
Beyoncé's
Ivy Park's campaign for her capsule collection with
Adidas.[87] He has been an ambassador for
YSL Beauty since 2022.[88]
Brands
In July 2023, it was reported that in addition to his new album, Sivan would be releasing "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.[89]
Sivan's music has been described as "layered electropop with constant tinges of EDM".[3] His
baritone voice[95] has received widespread praise,[96][97][98] and his work has been compared to that of Lorde and Taylor Swift.[99][100][101] In December 2020, Sivan was listed at number 34 in Rolling Stone Australia's "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue.[102]
Music videos
Sivan's music videos frequently feature gay relationships between the characters. Blue Neighbourhood's 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". The singer says these portrayals are important to him, especially when he considers his younger life when he remembers "such vivid memories of the few times I saw any type of LGBTQ relationship on TV or in music videos".[103]
On 16 July 2020, Sivan released a self-directed[104] music video for his second song, "
Easy", from his EP In a Dream.[105] A remix of "Easy", featuring country singer-songwriter
Kacey Musgraves and producer
Mark Ronson, was released alongside a second music video in December 2020.[106]
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.[107] The video garnered Sivan his first nomination for the
Grammy Award for Best Music Video.[108] Sivan received some criticism for a lack of
body diversity amongst the dancers in the music video; in response, he said "it just wasn't a thought [he and creative director Gordon von Steiner] had."[109]
Personal life
Sivan
came out publicly as gay via a YouTube video on 7 August 2013, three years after coming out to his family.[110] He stated that he wanted the video to be out because he did not want his sexuality to be a secret from EMI Australia because 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.[14]
^Van de Ruit, John (20 April 2010).
"Icarus Allsorts". John van de Ruit's blog at Book South Africa. Archived from
the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2010.