Childhood & Early Life
Sara Bareilles was born on December 7, 1979, in Eureka, California, USA, to Bonnie Halvorsen, a funeral home worker, and Paul Bareilles, an insurance adjuster. Raised in Eureka, California, she has two sisters and a half-sister. She is of Italian, English, German, Portuguese, and French descent.
She became passionate about singing at a young age, and sang in her high school choir‘Limited Edition.’ She sang in the local community theater musical productions, and in her high school's production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’
Childhood was not easy for her as she was bullied and body shamed by other kids.She even had to change schools as the school kids bullied her too much.
She graduated from high school in 1998, and studied communication studies at the ‘University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA). She was a member of the ‘Awaken a Cappella’ group. The group's rendition of ‘Gravity’ was featured on the ‘Best of College a Cappella 2004 Compilation’ CD. She performed at the annual student concert ‘UCLA Spring Sing.’ She graduated from UCLA in 2002.
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Career
After graduating, Sara Bareilles set out to pursue her dream of making it big as a musician. Over the next fewyears, she worked at local bars and clubs, such as‘Hotel Café’ and ‘Genghis Cohen’ in Los Angeles. She also performed at open-mic nights, eventually performing at festivals.
In 2004, she recorded her first independent debut album ‘Careful Confessions’ which caught the attention of ‘Epic Records.’Subsequently, ‘Epic Records’ signed a deal with her in 2005. She opened for ‘Rocco DeLuca and the Burden’ during their inaugural tour and supported ‘Guster’during their first UK tour in mid-2004.
She spent the years 2005 and 2006, writing, composing, and reworking songs for her upcoming album. Her song ‘Gravity’ appeared in the 2006 independent film ‘Loving Annabelle.’ In 2007, she was part of the opening act for Aqualung and Mika, and also opened several shows for‘Maroon 5’ and Paolo Nutini's U.S. tours. She also opened for James Blunt when he headlined VH1’s‘You Oughta Know Tour.’
She released her major-label debut and second studio album ‘Little Voice’ in 2007. The song ‘Love Song’ became successful and the album gained momentum. The success of ‘Little Voice’ gave her an opportunity to tour Europe.
In October 2008, she released ‘Between the Lines: Sara Bareilles Live at the Fillmore’ on DVD and CD. It contained the recordings of her first headlining tour at Fillmore in San Francisco. It also included live recording of her unreleased song ‘August Moon’ and a cover of Otis Redding's ‘The Dock of the Bay.’
In 2009, she embarked on her second headlining tour ‘The Gravity Tour’ to promote ‘Gravity,’ the third single from her album ‘Little Voice.’ In 2010, she recorded a video titled ‘An Ode to Jersey Shore’ and posted it on her official website for her fans.
In 2010, she released her third album ‘Kaleidoscope Heart’ which included the single ‘King of Anything.’ She toured to promote the album and most of the shows were sold out. She also toured Europe, Asia, and Australia in 2011. The same year, she appeared as a celebrity judge in the third season of ‘The Sing-Off,’ a popular singing competition series on NBC.
She released an EP titled ‘Once Upon Another Time’ in 2012, which featured the lead single ‘Stay.’ It also contained four other new recordings. In 2013, she released ‘Brave,’ the first-released single from the album ‘The Blessed Unrest.’
In 2013, she performed two songs—‘The Kill’ and ‘GonnaGetcha’—for the feature film ‘Bounty Killer.’ Later that same year, her live album ‘Brave Enough: Live at the Variety Playhouse’ released in October.
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In January 2014, she performed a duet with Carole King at the 56th ‘Annual Grammy Awards.’ In April the same year, she performed with Elton John at The Breast Cancer Research Foundation's ‘Annual Hot Pink Party Fundraiser.’ In May, she recorded a cover of Jackie Wilson's song ‘(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher’ for ‘Oprah Winfrey Network.’
In 2015, she released a book titled ‘Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song,’ containing essays and photos. It became a bestseller.
In 2015, she wrote the music and lyrics for the musical ‘Waitress,’ which was based on the 2007 movie of the same name. In April 2016, she earned her first ‘Tony Award’ nomination for ‘Best Original Score.’ She also released a companion album titled ‘What's Inside: Songs From Waitress.’
In February 2017, she performed Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Both Sides, Now’ at the 89th ‘Academy Awards.’ She appeared as herself in ‘Julie’s Greenroom,’ an American educational pre-school television series which released on Netflix in March 2017.
In 2018, Sara was nominated at the ‘Primetime Emmy Awards’ for her portrayal of ‘Mary Magdalene’ in the NBC TV musical special ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.’ Subsequently, she received a nomination for ‘Best Musical Theatre Album’ at the ‘Grammys’ for the same TV special.
In June, she hosted the 72nd ‘Tony Awards’ alongside Josh Groban. Together, they performed the opening song ‘This One’s For You’ at the show. She released her sixth studio album ‘Amidst the Chaos’ in April 2019, which included the singles ‘Armor’ and ‘Fire.’
In November 2019, Bareilles announced that she would be a part of the ‘West End’ production of ‘Waitress’ at the ‘Adelphi Theatre’ in January 2020.
Major Works
Sara Bareilles’ single ‘Love Song’ peaked at number four on the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart and sold more than four million copies. In June 2007, iTunes featured the song as the ‘free single of the week.’
The album ‘Little Voice’ peaked at number one on the list of ‘most downloaded albums of the music store iTunes’ in July. In 2010, ‘Little Voice’ was certified platinum by the RIAA.
The album ‘Kaleidoscope Heart’ debuted at number one in the US, and sold 90,000 copies in its first week. The single ‘King of Anything’ met with critical success and received radio airplay in the US in May 2010. It was also certified platinum by the RIAA. The success of the album ensured that she was selected for VH1's ‘Posted Artist of the Month’ for July 2010.
