Background and career
Kerli Kõiv (Estonian: [ˈkerli ˈkɤ.iʋ] ; born 7 February 1987), known mononymously as Kerli, is an Estonian singer and songwriter. Kerli entered multiple singing competitions before LA Reid signed her to Island Records in 2006. She released her debut self-titled EP (2007) and her debut studio album Love Is Dead (2008), the latter charting on the Billboard 200. The lead single from the album, "Walking on Air", charted in several European countries; it was also featured as the iTunes Store's Single of the Week, being downloaded over 500,000 times to set a new record. Kerli contributed the song "Tea Party" to the album Almost Alice (2010). With her 2010 single "Army of Love", she began to move away from her alternative rock sound for a more electronic and dance-influenced sound. Kerli released her second EP Utopia (2013), which became her second release to chart on the Billboard 200. "Army of Love" and "Zero Gravity" were released as singles from the EP prior to the first official single "The Lucky Ones". All three songs entered the top 10 of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, two of them peaking at No. 1. Two songs co-written by Kerli for Utopia, "Skyscraper" and "I Feel Immortal", were left off the EP and later respectively covered by Demi Lovato and Tarja Turunen. Kerli's version of "I Feel Immortal" was later released on Frankenweenie Unleashed! (2012). Kerli performed twice on Dancing with the Stars in 2013. Vibe called the performances a "major milestone in the EDM world". In November 2013, Kerli left Island Records and signed a record deal with Ultra Music. She later released her second studio album Shadow Works (2019).
Kerli Kõiv was born in Elva on 7 February 1987, the daughter of social worker Piret and auto mechanic Toivo Kõiv. Her younger sister, Eliisa, is also a musician who competed on Eesti otsib superstaari. In 2003, when she was 16, her parents separated. Her father later married Leelo Suidt, chairwoman of Elva City Council, and faced up to three years in prison for a domestic violence incident against her in 2010. Kerli later said that when writing her 2013 track "Supergirl", a song about domestic violence, "I put myself in my mother's body and said things that I wished she would've said to my dad when I was little." As a child, Kerli practiced ballroom dancing five days a week for eight years. She was first introduced to music by her kindergarten teacher, who told her mother that Kerli had "nice pitch" and that she was interested in taking her to various singing competitions. At eight years old, Kerli gained an interest in classical music; as there was an absence of music in her early life, she only possessed two cassettes, which were albums by Bonnie Tyler and Phil Collins. She began writing stories, mini books, and poems at the age of 10 to escape to an "imaginary world" from her abusive household. Against the advice of her mother and teachers, she dropped out of school at the age of 16 to pursue music.
In 2002, Kerli competed in the singing competition Laulukarussell in the age group category 13–15 and on 18 May won with the song "Bridge over Troubled Water". Also in 2002, she falsified her age to enter the Baltic song contest Fizz Superstar, as the minimum age was fifteen. She ended up winning the contest, gaining a singing contract to Universal Republic Records by Rob Stevenson. She was later dropped as Stevenson's position at the label changed. Later, Estonian media began to use the term "Kerli Syndrome" as a synonym for "failure". Kerli has stated, however, that she feels no resentment towards her home country. In a 2008 interview she said the following:
No, I don't feel any resentment [towards Estonia]. For a while, because I left Estonia and Estonians didn't hear anything about me so all these Estonian young singers were like... I guess they're slowly turning around now and understanding that I really was doing something here. Stevenson later signed Kerli to his label Stolen Transmission but the label went bankrupt. At the age of 16, Kerli moved to Stockholm where she competed in Melodifestivalen in 2003 but was eliminated in the second semifinals. In 2004, she was the runner-up in that year's Eurolaul – a televised competition that determines the song that will represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest – with her song "Beautiful Inside". While in Stockholm for two years, she worked with numerous producers and due to lack of money as the contracts she had gained previously were unsuccessful, she ate nothing but rice for three months, lived in an abandoned house during winter and slept on a cot. At the age of 18, she moved to the United States where she continued to perform and write songs, ultimately getting an audition with L.A. Reid, who signed her to The Island Def Jam Music Group in 2006.
In 2006, Kerli worked with producer, songwriter, and mixer David Maurice on an autobiographical set of songs, the first set of which were released on a self-titled EP in 2007. She finally released her debut album, titled Love Is Dead on 8 July 2008, following her debut single "Walking on Air" which charted at number 75 on the European Hot 100, and a promotional single "Creepshow". "Creepshow" was featured in the TV series Fringe, The City, as well as in the video game Burnout Paradise. The music video for the song "Love Is Dead" was released on 29 February 2008 and the music video for "Walking on Air" premiered on MTV Overdrive on 20 May 2008. "Walking on Air" was downloaded 550,000 times when it was featured as iTunes' "Single of the Week", which was a record at the time. The song appeared twice on So You Think You Can Dance? as well in an advertisement for Fringe. Love Is Dead charted at number 126 on the Billboard 200 for the week of 26 July. Later in 2008, she was selected to perform a song titled "When Nobody Loves You" for the video game 007: Quantum of Solace, as well as the song "Bulletproof" on the official soundtrack of Punisher: War Zone. In 2009, Kerli performed at the Estonian music festival Õllesummer in Tallinn. On 10 September 2009, Island Def Jam announced Kerli's iPhone application and the first song, "Saima", was released the following month. Kerli re-released her song "The Creationist" as a duet with the Italian songwriter Cesare Cremonini. Kerli received a European Border Breakers Award for the success of the album Love Is Dead in Estonia.
On 2 March 2010, Almost Alice, a compilation album featuring music inspired by Disney's Alice in Wonderland was released. It contains two songs performed by Kerli, "Tea Party" and "Strange", the latter being a collaboration with Tokio Hotel. A remix album of "Tea Party" was released on 15 June 2010. She covered the song "Nature Boy" for a promo for the tenth season of Smallville.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
