Lindsey Stirling

For the album, see Lindsey Stirling (album).

Lindsey Stirling (born on September 21, 1986) is an American violinist, dancer, performance artist, and composer. She presents choreographed violin performances, both live and in music videos found on her YouTube channel, Lindseystomp, which she introduced in 2007. In 2010, Stirling was a quarter-finalist on the fifth season of America's Got Talent, where she was known as the Hip Hop Violinist.

Lindsey Stirling
Stirling performing in Hamilton, New Zealand, 2007
Background information
Born	(1986-09-21) September 21, 1986 Santa Ana, California, U.S.
Genres	Classical crossover, classical, hip hop, electronic
Occupation(s)	Violinist, Performance artist, Composer
Instrument	Violin
Website	www.lindseystirling.com www.youtube.com/lindseystomp

Since 2010, Stirling has released a self-titled album, an EP, and several singles. She performs a variety of music styles, from classical to pop and hip-hop to dubstep. Aside from original work, her discography contains covers of songs by other musicians and various soundtracks.

Biography

Lindsey Stirling was born in Santa Ana, California and grew up in Gilbert, Arizona. She moved to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham Young University to study therapeutic recreation. She went on to serve a mission in New York City for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Stirling returned home to Provo in 2009 to continue studying at BYU. She resided there until December 2012, when she moved back to Arizona with her family.

At the age of 5, after being influenced by the classical music records played by her father, Stirling began to study the violin. She took private lessons for 12 years. When she was 16, she joined a rock band in Mesquite High School with four friends called "Stomp on Melvin". As part of her experience with Stomp on Melvin, Stirling wrote a solo violin rock song, and her performance helped her to win the state title of Arizona's Junior Miss and claim the Spirit Award in the America's Junior Miss Finals competition. Stirling was also a member of Charley Jenkins Band for about a year.

In 2010, at the age of 23, Stirling was a quarter-finalist on the fifth season of America's Got Talent, where she was described as a "hip hop violinist". Stirling's performances were dubbed "electrifying" by the judges, and won the acclaim of the audience, but after she attempted to step up the dance level in her quarter-final performance, judge Piers Morgan told her: "You're not untalented, but you're not good enough to get away with flying through the air and trying to play the violin at the same time." Sharon Osbourne commented: "You need to be in a group. ... What you're doing is not enough to fill a theater in Vegas." In her blog, Stirling confided: "I was devastated at the results ... It was painful, and a bit humiliating; however, I had to relearn where it was that I drew my strength." Stirling decided to continue to embrace her unique style of performance, promoting herself on the Internet. In a 2012 interview she remarked: "A lot of people have told me along the way that my style and the music I do ... is unmarketable. But the only reason I'm successful is because I have stayed true to myself."

Shortly after her performance on America's Got Talent, cinematographer Devin Graham (DevinSuperTramp) contacted her in hopes of making a YouTube video together. They agreed to shoot a music video for her song, "Spontaneous Me". It was filmed the week of May 9, 2011. The video boosted Stirling's popularity, and she began making music videos for her YouTube channel regularly. Graham has filmed almost all of her videos, while Stirling often does backup camera work and assists with his music videos. Stirling's YouTube channel, Lindseystomp, which she created in 2007 and which is named after her first band "Stomp on Melvin", is the main repository for her music videos. During 2011, the channel rapidly gained popularity and has over 310 million total views and over 2.3 million subscribers, as of May 2013. Her music is featured on Pandora, Spotify, and Last.FM. Stirling also created a second YouTube channel, LindseyTime, in September 2012, in which she posts videos related to her life, vlogs, behind-the-scenes content, etc.

Stirling performing at VidCon 2012.

Stirling has experimented in combining violin playing with hip hop and dubstep. Stirling's collaborations with other musicians and singers have included Shaun Barrowes ("Don't Carry It All" – The Decemberists), Jake Bruene and Frank Sacramone ("Party Rock Anthem" – LMFAO), Tay Zonday ("Mama Economy"), Peter Hollens ("Skyrim" and later "Game of Thrones"; they are currently working on a new collaboration), Alisha Popat ("We Found Love"), John Allred ("Tomb"), Kurt Schneider and Amiee Proal ("A Thousand Years"), Megan Nicole ("Starships"), The Piano Guys ("Mission Impossible"), Tyler Ward ("Thrift Shop"), and Pentatonix ("Radioactive"). She has also collaborated with the Salt Lake Pops orchestra and Alex Boye. Stirling's debut album was released on September 18, 2012 in conjunction with a North American tour that same month.

Stirling completed her first US tour on November 26, 2012. She announced her second US tour as well as a "test tour" for Europe on December 3, 2012 which kicked off in January 2013. The tour covered 55 cities throughout Europe, Canada and the US and ended in Arizona on April 5, 2013. On February 25, 2013 Stirling announced her official European tour, which will kick off in Russia on May 22, 2013 and end in Norrkoping, Sweden, June 29, with a total of 26 cities covered.

In December 2012, YouTube announced that Stirling's song, "Crystallize", was the #8 top viewed video of 2012 with over 42 Million views. In 2013, Stirling was featured by the LDS Church in its "I'm a Mormon" campaign in which she spoke openly about how her faith helped in her battle with anorexia.

Discography

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	Dance/ Electronic	Classical	Independent	AUT	GER	SWI
Lindsey Stirling	Released: September 18, 2012 Label: Independent Format: CD, digital download	79	1	1	13	1	4	5

Singles and EPs

The following list of official music singles is available at the official independent record label website.

Lindsey Stomp EP (2010)

1. "Transcendence"
2. "Song of the Caged Bird"
3. "Spontaneous Me"

Other singles

• "Electric Daisy Violin" (2011)
• "Shadows" (2011)
• "Zelda Medley" (2011)
• "Silent Night" (2011)
• "Celtic Carol" (2011)
• "Crystallize" (2012)
• "Anti-Gravity" (2012)
• "Minimal Beat" (2012)
• "Stars Align" (2012)
• "Zi-Zi's Journey" (2012)
• "Elements" (2012)
• "Moon Trance" (2012)
• "What Child Is This" (2012)

Collaborations

• 1 Original, ONE Cover EP (with Tyler Ward, 2013)

1. "Some Kind of Beautiful"
2. "Thrift Shop"

• Living Room Sessions EP (with Tyler Ward and Chester See, 2013)

1. "Daylight"
2. "I Knew You Were Trouble"

• "Paris" (with Benton Paul, 2010)
• "Don't Carry it All" (with Shaun Barrowes, 2011)
• "Party Rock Anthem" (with Jake Bruene, 2011)
• "By No Means" (with Eppic, 2011)
• "Waiting" (with Allred, 2011)
• "River Flows in You" (with Debi Johansen, 2011)
• "Mama Economy" (with Tay Zonday, 2011)
• "Skyrim" (with Peter Hollens, 2012).
• "A Thousand Years" (with Kurt Hugo Schneider and Aimée Proal, 2012)
• "You Don't Know Her Like I Do" (with Artie Hemphill Band, 2012)
• "Sail Away Soldier" (with Shaun Canon and Maddie Wilson, 2012)
• "Starships" (with Megan Nicole, 2012)
• "Grenade" (with Alex Boyé, 2012)
• "Come with Us" (with Can't Stop Won't Stop, 2012)
• "Lying" (with Justin Williams, 2012)
• "Game of Thrones" (with Peter Hollens, 2012)
• "Mission Impossible" (with The Piano Guys, 2013)
• "Radioactive" (with Pentatonix, 2013)
• "Halo Theme Song" (with William Joseph, 2013)

External links

• Official website
• Lindsey Stirling's channel on YouTube