Sara Bareilles

Sara Beth Bareilles born December 7, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Bareilles has sold over one million albums and over nine million singles/downloads in the United States of America alone and has earned five Grammy Award nominations, including one for Album of the Year. In the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off, Bareilles was a celebrity judge alongside Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman. In February 2012 VH1 placed Bareilles in the 80th spot of the Top 100 Greatest Women in Music. Her memoir, published in 2015, Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song is a The New York Times best seller. She wrote music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Waitress, and earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score in 2016.

Bareilles was born and raised in Eureka, California in Humboldt County, one of three daughters of Bonnie Halvorsen (née Capellas), a funeral home worker, and Paul Bareilles, an insurance adjuster.She has a half-sister named Melody. She is of Italian, English, German, Portuguese, and French descent; she speaks Italian and lived in Italy for a year. Bareilles was raised Catholic and participated in the high school choir, Limited Edition, and local community theater musical productions, including her high school's production of Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey.

After graduating from high school in 1998, Bareilles attended the Communication Studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles,where she was a member of the co-ed a cappella group Awaken a Cappella, and can be heard on their Dysfunktional Family album singing "Gravity" and "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5. The group's rendition of Bareilles' "Gravity" was featured on the Best of College a Cappella 2004 compilation CD. Bareilles and the band Maroon 5 have been acquainted since their younger days in California when the band was known as Kara's Flowers.She performed in the annual student concert UCLA Spring Sing, winning twice. Bareilles taught herself to play the piano and subsequently all other instruments she is seen playing.

Bareilles began work on her fifth studio album, What's Inside: Songs from Waitress, in April 2015 at New York City's Electric Lady Studios with producer Neal Avron, who previously worked with Bareilles on Kaleidoscope Heart.In June 2015, Bareilles confirmed during a Google Hangout Q & A session that the album would feature songs she'd written for Waitress reworked "to sound like Sara Bareilles songs." On June 27, 2015, Bareilles and Nadia DiGiallonardo performed "She Used To Be Mine", the album's lead single, with Rich Dworsky and The Berkshire Boys on A Prairie Home Companion. The album was released on November 6, 2015, through Epic Records.

Bareilles performed with many other singers on the season 3 finale of 30 Rock, alongside Mary J. Blige, Rachael Yamagata, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones and Elvis Costello. She also appeared with Weezer on Jimmy Kimmel Live and AOL Sessions guest performing "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" as well for a special performance on YouTube.

She has performed for the First Family numerous times. Bareilles was first invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to play at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009. Here she performed songs for the First Ladies of 20 nations and afterward dined with Michelle Obama. The Obamas again invited her to perform at the Easter Egg Roll in 2010. On October 20, 2010, it was announced that Bareilles would open for President Obama at a Las Vegas rally for the Democratic midterm elections.[68] In late 2010 as pop rock band Maroon 5 was touring in promotion for their Hands All Over album, Bareilles contributed to the female vocals (originally belonging to Lady Antebellum) for the song "Out of Goodbyes". She appeared with the band Sugarland for a cover of Dexys (Midnight Runners) "Come on Eileen" in a YouTube exclusive. In December, Bareilles and fellow singer Ingrid Michaelson performed "Winter Song" for the Obamas and many spectators at the National Christmas Tree Lighting.

In December 2010, Bareilles appeared with The Backbeats on the season finale of The Sing-Off. She performed the duet "Love Won't Let You Get Away" with Seth MacFarlane on his debut studio album Music Is Better Than Words, and reunited to perform the song with him at Club Nokia on March 26, 2011.

Bareilles is featured on the first single from Jon McLaughlin's fourth studio effort Promising Promises, "Summer Is Over". The track was released in January 2012.

Bareilles is featured on Seth MacFarlane's Christmas album Holiday for Swing, released on September 30, 2014. She joins MacFarlane on the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside". The album, which also has collaborations with Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra's bassist Chuck Berghoffer as well as a 65-piece orchestra, was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Bareilles considers herself "definitely sort of a feminist", saying: "I don't think that being a feminist has anything to do with hating anything. It's about celebrating women and being productive for females. I'm not one for seeing amazing, intelligent women being reduced to sex symbols."