Troye Sivan (born: Troye Sivan Mellet; June 5, 1995) is a South African actor, singer-songwriter & YouTuber. As an actor, he played young James Howlett in the X-Men film X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and most recently has starred as the titular character in the Spud film trilogy. Sivan also regularly makes YouTube videos, and as of 26 September 2015, has over 3.6 million subscribers and over 203 million total views.
On 15 August 2014, Sivan released his first major-label EP, entitled TRXYE, which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200. The lead single from the EP, "Happy Little Pill", reached number 10 in the Australian charts. On 4 September 2015, Sivan released his second major-label EP, WILD. His debut studio album was announced on 14 October with a release date of 4 December. The album is called Blue Neighbourhood.
His video, "The 'Boyfriend' Tag", with fellow vlogger Tyler Oakley earned them a Teen Choice Award in the "Choice Web Collaboration" category. In October 2014, Time named Sivan as one of the "25 Most Influential Teens of 2014".
Early Life
Sivan was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 5 June 1995 to Shaun and Laurelle Mellet, a real estate agent and a homemaker respectively. His family moved to Australia when he was two years old due to rising crime in South Africa. He is Jewish (his father was born to a Jewish family and his mother converted to Judaism). Sivan attended Carmel School until he started distance education in 2009. He has two brothers and one sister. His parents, Shaun and Laurelle, are incredibly supportive of his career. Troye is the third child of the family. The eldest is Steele Mellet, the second child is Sage Mellet and the youngest child of the four is Tyde Levi Mellet.
Sivan is openly gay. He came out to his family on 7 August 2010 and came out publicly via a YouTube video on 7 August 2013. He has a mild form of Marfan syndrome, which makes his fingers extra bendy and is capable of bending his pinky to the back of his hand.
Sivan currently lives in Perth, Western Australia with his parents and siblings.
Career
Music
Sivan's music career began when he sang at the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Channel Seven Perth Telethon. His 2006 performance included a duet with Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian. In 2006, Sivan made it to the grand finals of StarSearch. His debut EP, Dare to Dream, was released in February 2008. In February 2010, Sivan opened "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)", a collaborative music charity video produced by Lisa Lavie to help raise money for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
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. TRXYE debuted at No. 1 on iTunes in over 55 countries. The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 the following week, scoring Sivan his first Top 10 album. "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. Sivan released his second major-label EP, Wild, on 4 September 2015. The EP was supported by a music video trilogy entitled Blue Neighbourhood, comprising the three songs "Wild", "Fools" and "Talk Me Down" and released from September 2015 to December 2015. Additionally, the EP served as an "introduction" to his album Blue Neighbourhood, which was released on 4 December 2015. Sivan supported his debut studio album Blue Neighbourhood and his EP Wild with his first tour, 2015's Troye Sivan Live. Sivan further supported his debut studio album with 2016's Blue Neighbourhood Tour and Suburbia Tour.
Acting
In 2007, Sivan starred as Oliver Twist in a production of Oliver! at the Regal Theatre. In 2008, Sivan was cast in a West Australian short film, Betrand the Terrible. 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. 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. 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. Filming took place in South Africa from early March to mid-April 2010. 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.
Sivan appeared in the West 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. 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.
YouTube
In September 2012, Sivan began creating video blogs 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. As of April 2016, Sivan has over 4 million subscribers and over 243 million total views across his YouTube videos. His YouTube channel is the third most subscribed channel in Australia, after HowToBasic and Planet Dolan.
One of Sivan's most notable works on YouTube is a video he made with fellow YouTuber Tyler Oakley. Titled "The 'Boyfriend' Tag", the video earned them a Teen Choice Award in the "Choice Web Collaboration" category.
Artistry
Sivan's favourite artists include Amy Winehouse, Taylor Swift and Lorde. MTV Artists also cites Michael Jackson and Frank Ocean as additional influences of his.
Sivan's music has been described as "layered electropop with constant tinges of EDM", as well as "youthful", "dreamy", and "mature". His baritone voice has been described as a "coffee-and-cream voice" as well as "sultry", "wounded" and "breathless". His work has been compared to that of Lorde and Taylor Swift.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Young James Howlett | |
| 2010 | Betrand the Terrible | Ace | Short film |
| 2010 | Spud | John "Spud" Milton | |
| 2013 | Spud 2: The Madness Continues | John "Spud" Milton | |
| 2014 | Spud 3: Learning to Fly | John "Spud" Milton |
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2006–08 | Channel Seven Perth Telethon | Opening act |
| 2007 | Star Search | Finalist |
| 2015 | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Musical guest |
| 2016 | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Musical guest |
| 2016 | The Late Late Show with James Corden | Musical guest |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Oliver! | Oliver Twist | Regal Theatre |
| 2010 | Waiting for Godot | Boy | His Majesty's Theatre |
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Release details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARIA Charts (AUS) [1] |
Canadian Albums Chart |
Tracklisten (DEN) |
GfK Entertainment (GER) [2] |
Irish Albums Chart [3] |
Single Top 100 (NLD) [4] |
Official New Zealand Music Chart [5] |
Sverigetopplistan (SWE) [6] |
UK Albums Chart [7] |
Billboard 200 (US) | |||
| Blue Neighbourhood |
|
6 | 11 | 19 | 73 | 30 | 25 | 9 | 10 | 43 | 7 |
|
Extended plays
| Title | Release details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARIA Charts (AUS) [1] |
Canadian Albums Chart |
Hitlisten (DEN) [9] |
Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (FRA) [10] |
GfK Entertainment (GER) [11] |
Irish Albums Chart [12] |
Official New Zealand Music Chart [5] |
Sverigetopplistan (SWE) [6] |
UK Albums Chart [7]
|
Billboard 200 | |||||
| Dare to Dream |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| June Haverly |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| TRXYE |
|
— | 2 | — | 177 | — | — | 2 | — | — | 5 |
| ||
| WILD |
|
1 | 6 | 7 | 96 | 37 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 5 |
| ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Singles
| Song | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARIA Charts(AUS) [1] |
Canadian Hot 100 [16] |
Tracklisten (DEN) [9] |
GfK Entertainment'(GER) [2] |
Irish Singles Chart [3] |
Single Top 100 (NLD) [4] |
Official New Zealand Music Chart [5] |
Sverigetopplistan (SWE) [6] |
UK Singles Chart [7] |
Billboard Hot 100 [17] | |||||
| "Happy Little Pill" | 2014 | 10 | 50 | 11 | 87 | 11 | 85 | 2 | — | 86 | 92 |
|
TRXYE | |
| "WILD" | 2015 | 16 | 72 | — | — | 62 | — | 29 | — | 62 | —[18] |
|
Wild | |
| "YOUTH" | 17 | 47 | — | 22 | 62 | 78 | 23 | 74 | 96 | 23 | Blue Neighbourhood | |||
| "TALK ME DOWN" | 2016 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | - [23]}} | — | 118 | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Song | Year | Peak chart positions |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARIA Charts (AUS) [1] | |||
| "Papercut" (Zedd featuring Troye Sivan) |
2015 | 93 | True Colors |
Promotional singles
| Song | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "The Fault in Our Stars"[24] | 2013 | TRXYE |
Other charted songs
| Song | Year | Peak chart positions |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARIA Charts (AUS) [1] | |||
| "Fools" | 2015 | 85 | Wild |
Trivia
- Troye is 5'8".
- Mac and cheese is one of Troye's favorite foods.
- Troye moved from South Africa to Australia when he was two and he began his YouTube channel at the age of 12.
- Troye has released one studio album and four EPs.
- He has a dog named Jagga.
- He recorded his own charity single that was inspired by the film The Fault In Our Stars.
- He has over 4.4 million subscribers on YouTube.
- He played a young Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
- Troye signed to EMI Australia way back in 2013 but kept it a secret.
- Troye came out in a YouTube video four years ago, which has accumulated 7.6 million views.
- Tyler and Troye's video collab The Boyfriend Tag won an actual Teen Choice Award.
Gallery
“look at you, pop the culture, iconography” To view the Troye Sivan gallery, click here.
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Discography Troye Sivan" at [2]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Discography Troye Sivan" at German Charts Portal
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Peak positions for singles in Ireland:
- "Happy Little Pill": "Chart Track: Week 34, 2014" at Chart-Track
- "Wild": "Chart Track: Week 37, 2015" at Chart-Track
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Discografie Troye Sivan" at Dutch Charts Portal
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Discography Troye Sivan" at charts.org.nz
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Discography Troye Sivan" at Hung Medien
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Chart History - Troye Sivan" at Official Charts Company
- ↑ "ARIA Albums: Beyoncé Is No 1 But Prince Is Everywhere" at Noise11
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Discography Troye Sivan" at Danish Charts Portal
- ↑ "Discographie Troye Sivan" at lescharts.com
- ↑ "German Charts > Troye Sivan" at GfK Entertainment
- ↑ "Irish Music Charts Archive - TOP 100 ARTIST ALBUM, WEEK ENDING 10 September 2015" at GFK Chart-Track
- ↑ "The June Haverly – Single by Troye Sivan" at iTunes Store (Australia)
- ↑ "Troye Sivan Talks 'Wild' Chart Success, Upcoming Music Plans: 'It's a Little Insane, To Be Honest" at Billboard
- ↑ "Upcoming Releases" at daily double.com Hits Daily Double
- ↑ "Troye Sivan" at Billboard
- ↑ Peak positions for singles in the US:
- "Happy Little Pill": "Hot 100 Chart Moves: Pharrell's 'Bae' Bounds Into Top 40" at Billboard
- "Wild": "Pentatonix's "Can't Sleep Love" Debuts on Bubbling Under Hot 100" at Headline Planet
- ↑ "Pentatonix's "Can't Sleep Love" Debuts on Bubbling Under Hot 100" at Headline Planet
- ↑ "ARIA Singles: Justin Bieber 'Love Yourself' Spends 6th Week at No 1" at Noise11
- ↑ "ARIA Singles: Gnash 'I Hate U, I Love U' Spends Second Week at No 1" at Noise11
- ↑ "Search Troye Sivan" at Sverigetopplistan
- ↑ "Gold & Platinum" at RIAA
- ↑ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart" at Recorded Music NZ
- ↑ "The Fault In Our Stars (MMXIV) at Troye Sivan