She is one of the most successful singers in the world, and in Israel she is wildly popular — but there is a good chance you do not know what she looks like.
Sia, the singer who declared herself “Titanium” and swung from a chandelier, covered her face for years with oversized wigs that became her trademark, including during a controversial performance in Israel. The wigs were not a fashion statement, however, but a way of hiding deep mental health struggles she continues to face.
This week she celebrated her 50th birthday, making it a good moment to get to know more closely the most mysterious singer who has dominated our playlists for years. “I smoked a lot of weed when I was a kid, and it ruined my brain.”
Most of the world knows her only by her first name, but her full name is Sia Kate Isobelle Furler. She was born December 18, 1975, in Australia, to a musician father and a mother who worked as an art lecturer
Her childhood was not easy. She has said she was sexually abused at age 9, and that her parents struggled as well. “My mom suffered from postpartum depression, and my dad was a very extroverted person with an alter ego named Stan,” she said. “When he got very angry, he became Stan, and when Stan showed up, it was very scary. The energy in the room completely changed.”
Several years later she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “I do not think my messed-up childhood made me this way,” she explained. “I prefer not to blame my parents, because I think they did the best they could. It probably happened because I smoked too much weed when I was a kid, and it messed up my head. My brain had not fully developed yet, and I completely ruined it.”
Her partner was killed while she was flying to meet him
Sia began her music career in Australia at a fairly young age, but received little exposure. She planned to move to London, where her boyfriend, Dan Pontifex, lived. In a tragic twist of timing, while she was en route, she was informed he had been killed in a car accident.
Despite the devastating news, she continued to London, where she ended up living with his former roommates under rough conditions: 13 people in a three-bedroom apartment. “I was hanging out with a bunch of kids, doing drugs and suffering,” she said. “His death messed me up. I knew I had a purpose and that I was loved — but I couldn’t feel anything.”
She added: “We were all wrecked by his death. We took pills and drank nonstop, and unfortunately, that went on for a few years. We were 19 or 20, and we became addicted to drugs and alcohol. I had no idea what alcoholism or addiction was. I just thought I was 20 and loved to party.”
Her dependency deepened when she realized she couldn’t perform unless she was under the influence. “I performed sober once, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. That’s when I understood I wasn’t built for this business and preferred to be behind the scenes. I only enjoyed being on stage when I was completely drunk. Without a drink, I was terrified.”
At one of her small performances, a music manager saw her, was impressed, and took her under his wing. It seemed like a classic success story — except for one twist: it turned out managing musicians was only his side job. “I found out he was actually a drug dealer,” she said. “I sensed something was off because he was always surrounded by celebrities. But I figured he was just really well connected.”
'I have to dumb down my music so the audience can enjoy it'
Sia released a few albums in the UK that failed to generate much buzz before moving to the United States to try her luck. That gamble paid off when the HBO series Six Feet Under used her song “Breathe Me” in its acclaimed final scene. The track became a massive hit, selling 1.2 million copies in the U.S. alone. It was followed by another success, “Soon We’ll Be Found.”
Thanks to those hits, she became a sought-after songwriter in the industry. Her breakthrough came in 2011 when she wrote a track called “Titanium” for DJ David Guetta. She recorded the demo herself, expecting he would later replace her vocals with another singer. “I actually wrote it for Alicia Keys,” she said.
To her surprise, Guetta never looked for a replacement and simply used her voice in the final version — without asking. “He didn’t ask for permission,” she said. “He just assumed everyone wants to be famous and that I’d be excited he kept me on the song.”
Excited or not, the track made Sia a household name and led to more successful collaborations between the two. She admitted: “No matter what we do together, and no matter how bad it is, it will be a hit. I’ll sing something completely uninteresting on the track he sends me, and he’ll turn it into magic.”
More hits followed, including “Chandelier,” which topped dozens of year-end charts around the world, including in Israel. Suddenly, every self-respecting singer wanted to work with her. She went on to write for Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Celine Dion, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Pink and Britney Spears, among others, and released songs with Sean Paul, Kanye West, Flo Rida and Eminem — a very partial list.
Sia conquered the charts but was not happy about how she did it. “Success doesn’t come from good songs. It’s all about marketing, and it’s disgusting — it’s a filthy business. It’s sad. It disappoints me to know what artists have to do to make it,” she said.
She added, “I had to make my music dumber, or broader and less specific, so more people would like it and relate to it more easily. You’re not allowed to be too specific, because then you alienate 70 percent of the world.”
She may not have been completely satisfied with her newer songs, but it’s safe to assume her growing bank account made that a little easier to bear. Those are what you’d call rich people problems. But something else bothered her far more: fame.
“I’m still the same person, with the same insecurities. Fame didn’t help me at all. I thought it would save me from feeling worthless — and it didn’t.”
While the dream of nearly every artist is to be stopped on the street by fans, Sia wanted no part of it. “It was awful. I just wanted privacy,” she said. “One time, just as a friend was telling me he had cancer, someone came up and asked to take a picture with me.”
Then she discovered the trick that allowed her to become anonymous again — sort of.
“I had been a singer for 10 or 11 years with moderate success, and I was also an alcoholic and addicted to drugs. Then I got sober and decided I didn’t want to be a singer anymore because the fame destabilized me,” she said. “So I asked myself, ‘What doesn’t exist in pop music right now?’ And the answer was mystery. Because everyone has photos of everything — even their dentist.”
Her original solution was an oversized wig that completely covered her face. Wearing it, she performed onstage and appeared at events and on red carpets. “I wear them so I can have a bit of privacy,” she explained, adding: “I don’t put them on when there are no cameras around.”
One of those stages, incidentally, was in Israel in 2016, when she arrived for a single performance at Yarkon Park — one she might have been better off skipping.
Israeli audiences struggled to connect with her concept of standing in one place and singing without movement, while a handful of dancers performed on an otherwise empty stage. Sharp-eyed concertgoers — especially those close enough — also noticed that the giant screens were not broadcasting what was happening live onstage, but rather pre-recorded video of the dancers.
Sia sends a message to her fans in Israel
In any case, Sia got what she wanted: she became “the singer with the wig,” and her face was far less recognizable.
These days, however, most of those wigs are likely tucked away deep in her closet. In 2023, she underwent a facelift and was so pleased with the results that she awarded her doctor, Dr. Ben Talei, a prize at a beauty awards ceremony in Los Angeles — yes, that is a real thing.
It was not her first cosmetic procedure. Before that, she had liposuction on her chin and abdomen, though those experiences did not leave her as enthusiastic. “I thought I had a double chin, and it turned out it was muscles I used for singing. I was so insecure,” she said, adding, “I won’t do things like that anymore. Just the last facelift.”
Sia will be portrayed tonight by: Maddie Ziegler
To make up for her lack of visibility, Sia cast a regular lead figure in her music videos: a young and gifted dancer named Maddie Ziegler, a breakout star of the reality show Dance Moms.
Ziegler was just 12 when she began appearing in Sia’s videos. The collaboration brought the young dancer widespread praise, but also criticism — particularly after she danced in a nude-colored leotard alongside actor Shia LaBeouf, who was 28 at the time and dressed only in underwear. The imagery prompted accusations of pedophilia.
Sia said she was trying to express the two sides within herself, and that it was an artistic concept that had been misunderstood.
Her relationship with LaBeouf later ended on a sour note. Several years afterward, she described him as a “pathological liar,” and said they were involved without him telling her he had a girlfriend.
The professional relationship with Ziegler continued for several more years, but it too ended on a sour note after Sia cast her in the film Music as an autistic teenager. The decision sparked widespread backlash over using an actor who is not on the autism spectrum for such a complex role, which critics said reinforced harmful stereotypes about autistic people.
Among the criticisms leveled at the film were descriptions such as “pretentious and condescending,” “harmful to the autistic community,” “demeaning to autistic functioning and making autistic people look like babies,” and claims that “if you don’t include autistic people on set, you undermine your entire purpose.”
This time as well, Sia apologized. She revealed that she herself is autistic and said that the harsh reaction led her to again experience suicidal thoughts and to enter rehab once more.
Her ex-husband claimed she planted pedophilic materials at his home
In recent years, Sia has made headlines mainly because of family drama. While she tries to keep her private life out of the spotlight, she has had limited success.
In 2014, she married filmmaker Erik Anders. The two were married for two years. “The divorce ruined my life,” she said. “It was a dark period, and I didn’t get out of bed for three years. I was deeply depressed and couldn’t function at all during that time.” She vowed to remain single, but later met Dan Bernard, who became her second husband — a decision she may now regret.
She swore she would remain single, but then met Dan Bernard, who became her second husband — a decision she may now regret.
Earlier this year, the couple divorced after three years of marriage. Divorce filings revealed that they share a son, born about a year ago, named Somersault Wonder Bernard. If the name wasn’t challenging enough, the divorce itself has been especially acrimonious.
After the split, Sia was granted full custody of the child. Bernard challenged the decision, alleging that she was still using drugs. She countered that she had entered rehab six months earlier and has been sober since and noted that he had recently been investigated on suspicion of possessing child pornography. Bernard, for his part, claimed she planted the materials.
Police ultimately closed the investigation, saying they found no evidence against him. A district court ruled that Bernard failed to provide sufficient evidence to support his claims against Sia, and for now the existing custody arrangement remains in place.
Bernard has since sought to take the fight to her finances. He has asked the court to order Sia to pay him $250,856 a month in spousal support — every month — so he can “continue living at the standard of living she accustomed him to.”
According to his filing, the couple employed an array of staff, including a personal assistant, private chefs, a stylist, two massage therapists, a personal trainer and a housekeeper, with monthly expenses ranging from $400,000 to $500,000. Sia’s net worth is estimated at $30 million, but if the court grants his request, that sum could shrink quickly. It may be time to produce another “Chandelier” — or “Cheap Thrills.”
'My younger son had two babies. I’m a damn grandmother!'
Somersault is Sia’s first biological child, but she also has two adult adopted sons. In 2020, she dropped a surprise announcement: “I adopted two 18-year-old boys last year.” She explained that because of their age, they were about to age out of the foster care system. “Each of them had lived in at least 18 homes. They never had stability. They had traumatic lives, and I had the means to adopt them and give them the ability to deal with that trauma, to help them address the problems and challenges they were forced to face.”
A year later, she became a grandmother. She shared the news excitedly: “My younger son had two babies. I’m a damn grandmother!” She also admitted the title did not quite suit her. “I’m trying to convince them to call me Lovey, like Kris Jenner’s grandkids do.”
The family revelations did not stop there. She also said her other son recently came out. “He’s flourishing now, he’s the light of my life. I love him so much.” She further revealed that both of her sons are Black, and said that only after adopting them did she truly understand what the Black community experiences. “I’m embarrassed to admit that only after I adopted them did I really understand what they have to deal with in their daily lives,” she said.
'Wrapping myself up like a little burrito and taking care of myself'
Recently, she said: “I had a lot of suicidal thoughts, and I couldn’t get out of bed. I always thought I was bipolar, but now I’ve received the correct diagnosis — that I have post-traumatic stress from several things that happened to me in childhood, developmental issues and traumas I experienced as an adult. I think fame also falls into the category of trauma, and I think that’s why so many celebrities end up in rehab or kill themselves.”
She added: “I hardly go out, except to walk my dogs, because I don’t want to be recognized. I used to be very social, and now I just want to be invisible. I liked myself much more before I became famous. I was friendlier and more energetic. In recent years, I’ve done what I needed to do for most of my adult life: I wrapped myself up like a little burrito and took care of myself.”
Despite how difficult success has been for her, she does recognize the positive impact of her work. “When people came up to me and told me how my music helps their children, that’s when I realized I was doing something of value,” she said. “One woman told me her child is on the autism spectrum with low functioning, and that my music is the only thing keeping him from killing himself. When she told me that, I realized I had to keep going. It’s my duty."