2006–2011: Career beginnings At 14, Aitchison persuaded her parents to grant her a loan to record her first album,
14, and in early 2008 she began posting songs from the album, as well as numerous other demos, on her official Myspace page. This caught the attention of a promoter running numerous illegal warehouse
raves and parties in
East London, who invited her to perform at them. She was billed on flyers under the stage name Charli XCX; "XCX" (or "kiss Charli kiss") was her MSN Messenger display name when she was younger. Despite the illicit nature of the gigs, her parents were supportive of her career and attended several raves with her. In late 2008, while
14 was never commercially released, she released the two singles and double A-side "Emelline"/"Art Bitch" under Orgy Music. She has since frequently expressed her distaste for her music of the time, going as far to call it "gimmicky dance tracks" and "fucking terrible Myspace music". At the age of 18, Charli XCX moved to London to study for a fine art degree at
UCL's
Slade School of Fine Art but dropped out in her second year. In May and November 2011, she released the singles "Stay Away" and "
Nuclear Seasons" respectively, and gained attention from music website
Pitchfork, where she earned "Best New Track" accolades for both; the former was eventually named to the site's "Best Tracks of 2011" list.
2012–2015: Breakthrough with True Romance and Sucker In addition to Rechtshaid, she began working with Swedish producer Patrik Berger. He sent her two beats, and she quickly wrote songs for each, one of which became "
I Love It" and the other of which became "
You're the One". She stated she did not end up releasing "I Love It" herself as she could not reconcile it with her sound, but in 2012, Swedish duo
Icona Pop re-recorded the song and released it as a single featuring her vocals. The song became an international hit, hitting number one in Charli XCX's home country and climbing to number seven on the
Billboard Hot 100 in 2013. In June, she released "You're the One" as a single from her EP of the same name, followed by her debut mixtape
Heartbreaks and Earthquakes, a one-track file consisting of eight songs, including a cover of the
Blood Orange song "Champagne Coast" and
Odd Future's remix of "You're the One". On Halloween, she released a new song called "Cloud Aura" featuring
Brooke Candy, followed by her second mixtape
Super Ultra, released exclusively through her website in November. In early 2013, she released "
You (Ha Ha Ha)" and announced her debut album, followed by "What I Like" in March.
True Romance was released on 12 April 2013. It peaked at number 85 on the
UK Albums Chart, at number five on the
US Billboard Top Heatseekers, and at number 11 on the
Australian Hitseekers Albums Chart. The album was received well by music critics, earning a 76/100 on
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, indicating the album's "generally favorable reviews". In May, she released "Just Desserts", a song with Welsh singer-songwriter
Marina and the Diamonds. Charli XCX began writing her second album in mid-2013, saying she initially wanted to go to India to record, but later decided she wanted to record in France, she said: "Two months ago, I wanted to go to India and record it, and now I want to record it in France. So I feel like nothing is definite – like, I feel very all-over-the-place at the moment. But at the moment, my heart's set on going to France and recording it, but that was different two months ago, so who knows what's going to happen?" Frustrated with the music industry, she ended up going to Sweden, isolating herself from her record label, and made a
punk-inspired album over a month. Charli XCX worked on the album with Patrik Berger; of their process, she later reflected that it was "not thought-about, everything really spontaneous [...] We don't think – it's like the first thing that comes out of my mouth is the cut on the record." Their initial work, however, was eventually scrapped for a more "pop-oriented" album. The album included a song called "Mow That Lawn", which was debuted live a year later at
Ilosaarirock Festival in Finland. In late 2013, "
SuperLove" was released as the lead single from the album and reached number 62 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Charli XCX's first solo entry on the chart. In January 2014, she released a song called "Allergic to Love" on her
SoundCloud. While writing the album, she did further sessions with
Weezer frontman
Rivers Cuomo,
Rostam Batmanglij from
Vampire Weekend, production duo
Stargate,
John Hill and a session with
Dr. Luke which she said "wasn't for me". In an interview with
DIY magazine, she stated that she wrote the record for girls and wants them to feel "a sense of empowerment". Charli XCX explained in her tour diary with Replay Laserblast that the record's genre is still pop but has a very shouty, girl-power, girl-gang,
Bow Wow Wow feel to it at the same time. The album was influenced by
the Hives, Weezer, the
Ramones and 1960s
yé-yé music. "SuperLove" was eventually scrapped from the album. In early 2014, Charli XCX was featured on Australian rapper
Iggy Azalea's single "
Fancy"; the track topped the US
Billboard Hot 100, becoming both artists' first number-one single on the chart. Charli XCX expanded her portfolio of songwriting for other artists during this period, with credits on Azalea's 2014 single "
Beg for It",
Ryn Weaver's debut single "
OctaHate", and material for acts including
Sky Ferreira,
Neon Jungle,
Rihanna, and
Gwen Stefani. In mid-2014, Charli XCX contributed the song "
Boom Clap" to
the soundtrack of the film
The Fault in Our Stars. "Boom Clap" peaked at number eight on the
Billboard Hot 100 and at number six in the UK and was certified platinum in Australia. In August, a release date of October was announced for her new album
Sucker, along with the lead single "
Break the Rules". She said the song came about after she had made her punk album in Sweden, when she "came out of the other side of that punk phase and translated it into something more pop". She stated that the album was "obviously [...] about not giving a fuck". The album was pushed back the next month due to the success of "Boom Clap" and was officially released in December 2014. It debuted at number 28 on the US
Billboard 200, making it Charli XCX's first album to enter the chart and number 15 on the
UK Albums Chart. The album's third single, "
Doing It" featuring fellow British singer
Rita Ora, was released in February and peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. Charli XCX considers herself a
feminist and wrote one of the songs on
Sucker, "Body of My Own", as a feminist statement. She appeared in the documentary about gender equality
The F Word and Me, which premiered on
BBC Three in 2015. Charli XCX opened for
Katy Perry on the European leg of Perry's
Prismatic World Tour in early 2015, headlined her own UK tour, and featured alongside R&B artist
Tinashe on fellow singer
Ty Dolla Sign's single "
Drop That Kitty". A music video for the single "
Famous" was released on 23 March 2015. and was ranked by
Time and
Pitchfork as the 5th and 19th best pop music video of the year, respectively. In July and August 2015, Charli XCX co-headlined a US tour with
Bleachers. She announced on 21 August that, for "personal reasons", a planned second leg of the tour would not go ahead.
2015–2018: Vroom Vroom, Number 1 Angel, and Pop 2 In a July 2015 interview, Charli XCX said that she was working on her third album and described it as "the most pop thing, and the most electronic thing" she had ever done. In October 2015, she premiered the new song "
Vroom Vroom" on the Beats 1 Radio Show, claiming it would be the first song released from what would be her next studio album. On 23 February 2016, it was announced that she had set up an experimental pop record label, Vroom Vroom Recordings, and that she would release an
EP entitled
Vroom Vroom on 26 February 2016. The title song was officially released that day. The second song released from the EP, entitled "Trophy", received its first play on
Zane Lowe's
Beats 1 show that night. It was also announced that she would host her own Beats 1 show titled
The Candy Shop.
Vroom Vroom was mainly produced by
Sophie as a teaser for her album. The
avant-pop EP marked a sharp shift in tone from her previous album and was released to divided reviews. In July 2016, it was announced that British producer
A. G. Cook, founder of record label
PC Music, had signed on as Charli XCX's creative director. On 28 October, the lead single from her third album, "
After the Afterparty", was released. It charted at 29 in the
UK Singles Chart and was certified gold by the
BPI. On 8 February 2017, she performed it on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, along with a new song titled "Bounce" featuring
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. On 10 March 2017, Charli XCX released the mixtape,
Number 1 Angel, which featured an all-female line-up of guest artists including
MØ,
Raye,
Starrah,
Uffie,
Abra, and
Cupcakke and was produced largely by PC Music artists including A. G. Cook,
EasyFun, and Sophie. On 26 July 2017, Charli XCX released "
Boys", along with a self-directed music video featuring an ensemble cast of male celebrities, including
Joe Jonas and
Brendon Urie, among others. On 6 August, Charli XCX performed at
Lollapalooza music festival 2017. In 2017, the majority of Charli XCX's third studio album was leaked with the remainder of the tracks leaking the following year. The leak of the album featuring the then-lead single "After the Afterparty" led to the cancellation of the album release and Charli XCX deciding to make an entirely new third studio album. The
Number 1 Angel follow-up mixtape,
Pop 2, was released on 15 December 2017, featuring collaborations with
Carly Rae Jepsen,
Tove Lo,
Alma,
Caroline Polachek,
Brooke Candy,
Cupcakke,
Pabllo Vittar,
Dorian Electra,
Mykki Blanco,
Tommy Cash,
Kim Petras,
Jay Park and
MØ. On 15 March 2018, Charli XCX performed at
El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles in support of
Pop 2. In May 2018, Charli XCX started performing on
Taylor Swift's
Reputation Stadium Tour as an opening act alongside
Camila Cabello. On 31 May, the day of the first concert on Swift's tour, she released "
5 in the Morning". On 29 June, she released "
Focus" and "
No Angel" as a double single. On 27 July, she released the single "
Girls Night Out", which had previously been performed live and leaked in 2017.
2018–2023: Charli, ''How I'm Feeling Now and Crash'' On 5 October 2018, Charli XCX released the single "
1999" with South African–Australian artist
Troye Sivan, as the lead single from her third album
Charli. The single reached number 13 on the
UK Singles Chart and became Charli XCX's tenth Top 40 single and also her first Top 15 single since 2015. The music video for "1999" was released on 11 October and starred Charli XCX and Sivan, featuring various references to 1990s pop culture. Charli XCX was featured on
MØ's album
Forever Neverland with the song "If It's Over". On 16 May 2019, Charli XCX released the second single from
Charli, "
Blame It on Your Love", featuring American singer and rapper
Lizzo. The track was written in Los Angeles and produced by long standing collaborators Stargate with additional production by
A. G. Cook and
EasyFun. Elements from "Blame It on Your Love" were taken from a previous release, "Track 10", from her 2017 mixtape
Pop 2. On 25 May, Charli XCX pulled out of
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, with Chase and Status replacing her. On 30 May, she performed a new song from
Charli with
Christine and the Queens titled "
Gone" at
Primavera Sound in
Barcelona. On 30 May, Charli XCX collaborated with
Diplo and Herve Pagez on the song "
Spicy". On 7 June, Charli XCX released a collaboration track titled "
Dream Glow" with
Jin,
Jimin and
Jungkook of the South Korean boy band
BTS for the soundtrack to their upcoming
Netmarble game,
BTS World. On 17 July, "Gone" was released as the third single from the album. The first
promotional single, "
Cross You Out" featuring
Sky Ferreira, was released on 16 August, followed by the second to fourth promotional singles: "Warm" featuring
Haim, on 30 August; "February 2017" featuring
Clairo and
Yaeji, on 6 September; and "2099" featuring Troye Sivan, on 10 September. The album was released on 13 September by
Asylum and
Atlantic Records. 2022On 13 January 2020, Charli XCX was featured on the
Galantis song "We Are Born to Play", which was used as the theme song for the Japanese theme park
Super Nintendo World. The following month, she was featured on
100 gecs's single "
Ringtone" with
Kero Kero Bonito and
Rico Nasty. Amid the
COVID-19 pandemic, Charli XCX announced a new album, titled ''
How I'm Feeling Now in April 2020. She subsequently released the singles "Forever", "Claws" and "I Finally Understand". How I'm Feeling Now
was released on 15 May 2020. The album was written and recorded in the span of six weeks during the COVID-19 lockdowns. She used her platform on Instagram to communicate with fans while making the album, posting different variations of lyrics, single covers and sound samples that could be voted on, the most popular being the one she released officially. In reviews, Kitty Empire of The Guardian'' described it as "truly a work of its time". Charli XCX's first post-pandemic performance was at Wynwood Pride in
Miami in June 2021. Early in February 2021, the
Dirty Hit signed musician
No Rome announced he was working on a track featuring Charli XCX along with label mates
The 1975. On 19 February, she featured on a new version of a track called "Charger" by the Welsh-Canadian artist
Elio. In a
TikTok posted on 16 March, she revealed that she is working on her next studio album, saying she was "feeling very inspired". Her next album would be her final record with Atlantic Records. On 28 April, Charli XCX was featured on a remix of the song "Drama" from the album
Good Luck by
Bladee and
Mechatok. On 2 September, "
Good Ones" was released as the lead single from her upcoming album. A second single, "
New Shapes", featuring
Christine and the Queens and
Caroline Polachek, was released on 4 November. Along with the single release, Charli XCX officially announced her fifth studio album, titled
Crash, which was released on 18 March 2022. A third single, "Beg for You" featuring
Rina Sawayama, was released 27 January.
2023–2025: Brat In February 2023, Charli XCX revealed in an interview with
British Vogue that she had signed a new recording contract for her next two albums. On 15 April, she co-headlined the
Coachella Festival. She contributed to the soundtrack of three films, releasing the singles "Hot Girl", from the soundtrack to the 2022 film
Bodies Bodies Bodies, and "
Speed Drive", from
the soundtrack to the 2023 film
Barbie. "Speed Drive" entered the UK Singles Chart at number nine and the
Billboard Hot 100 at number 73, her first singles to chart since "Boom Clap" and "Break the Rules" in 2014. She also served as the
score co-composer alongside
Leo Birenberg for the 2023 film
Bottoms. The following October, she teamed up with English singer
Sam Smith on the single "
In the City". Smith and
Devon Lee Carlson also appear in the video of "Speed Drive". in 2024 In 2024, Charli XCX played her second
Boiler Room set since 2020, titled PARTYGIRL, which took place on 22 February in Brooklyn. The set received about 37,000 RSVPs, the largest number in the history of Boiler Room, and of that number, only 400 were permitted entry. The set featured guest performances from
A.G. Cook,
George Daniel,
Doss,
Easyfun,
Addison Rae and
Julia Fox, and songs from her upcoming album were teased. "
Von Dutch", the lead single for Charli XCX's sixth album,
Brat, was released on 29 February 2024. "
360" was released as the second single from the album alongside a music video on 10 May 2024. The video was described by Harper's Bazaar as "Brimming With the Internet's Favorite It Girls". The album was released on 7 June 2024.
Brat quickly received universal critical acclaim; it achieved a
Metacritic score of 95, the highest for any album released in 2024, thus becoming one of Metacritic's top 20 highest-rated albums of all time. Its lime-green cover art and aesthetic became a viral Internet trend and received widespread media coverage, including for its use by the
Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign. The song "
Guess" was initially released as part of the deluxe edition of
Brat, released on 10 June 2024, titled ''
Brat and It's the Same but There's Three More Songs So It's Not''. A remix of this song featuring
Billie Eilish debuted atop the
UK Singles Chart, marking Charli XCX's second number-one single after her feature on Icona Pop's "I Love It" a decade earlier. "
Apple" was released as a single from the album after the song went viral on TikTok. Charli XCX also served as the
executive producer to the soundtracks for the film
Mother Mary and the TV series
Overcompensating. She co-executive-produced the former with
Jack Antonoff and produced music for the latter. In 2024, she was awarded the
ASCAP Global Impact Award in recognition of her contributions to pop music. She was also on 2024
Gold House's most impactful Asian A100 list, making her the first woman of
British Indian origin to be honoured. The remix album, titled ''
Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat,
was released on 11 October 2024. It features artists such as Ariana Grande, Kesha, Caroline Polachek, Tinashe, Jon Hopkins, Bon Iver, Shygirl, Bladee, Julian Casablancas, The Japanese House, Bb trickz and The 1975. It included the previously released collaborations "Von Dutch A.G. Cook remix featuring Addison Rae", "360 featuring Robyn and Yung Lean", "Girl, so confusing featuring Lorde", "Guess featuring Billie Eilish" and "Talk talk featuring Troye Sivan" as part of the main tracklist. Charli XCX was named US ambassador of cosmetics brand Valentino Beauty in October 2024 and appeared as host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live'' on 16 November 2024. On 6 December,
Financial Times named Charli XCX one of the most influential women of 2024. After her song "
Party 4 U" began to resurge in popularity and
streaming in early 2025 after
going viral on
TikTok, a music video for the track was released on 15 May 2025, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the release of ''How I'm Feeling Now'', its parent album. On 7 June 2025, she made a surprise appearance during
Air's set at
Paris's We Love Green Festival, and performed "
Cherry Blossom Girl" with the band. On 21 June 2025, she made another appearance as
Dua Lipa's surprise guest on the 2nd night of the London dates of her
Radical Optimism Tour, where they performed "
360" together. On 22 October 2025, Charli XCX joined the stage at
Addison Rae's
debut album tour in
Los Angeles.
2025–present: Film projects and Wuthering Heights On 10 November 2025, Charli XCX released the song "
House" in collaboration with
John Cale of
the Velvet Underground. The song served as the lead single from her
soundtrack album for
Emerald Fennell's drama film,
Wuthering Heights (2026), based on the
novel by
Emily Brontë. The album was formally announced on 13 November 2025, coinciding with the release of second single "Chains of Love" and the film's official trailer featuring the song. A music video for "Chains of Love" was released on 17 November. The third single, "Wall of Sound", was released on 16 January. Charli XCX produced her first film,
The Moment, under the umbrella of her production company Studio365. The film premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2026. It was given a
limited release in the
United States on 30 January 2026, with a wider release on 6 February and in the
United Kingdom on 20 February. == Artistry ==