When a deeply religious and conservative couple gave birth to twin daughters, the second and third children following their older brother, no one suspected that one of them would go on to break records. Olivia Peris grew up in a suburb of San Diego for the first five years of her life before her father uprooted his family in search of a closer bond with the God that ruled their home and lives - being a pastor was no longer enough for him, and he made it his new mission to help establish new Pentecostal churches all over the state of California. From the very moment she was born, Olivia was reminded that being a part of the Peris family came with responsibilities and duties to the church. She spent her weekends aiding her parents in their work within the parishes, singing in choirs and attending religious camps in an effort to strengthen her believe of the mysterious figure in the sky that her parents placed so much importance on. Religion wasn't just a way of life for the Peris family, it was practically an obsession.
Though listening to most pop music was forbidden in the Peris household, Olivia loved to sing and dance. Her parents picked up on her musical abilities early and nurtured them, encouraging her participation in choirs and helping her to learn covers of songs she'd hear on their Christian rock radio stations. Liv was proficient on a guitar by the time she was eleven and writing her own songs shortly afterwards, and a chance meeting with Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp when she was fourteen saw Liv win a serious opportunity to hone her musical skills and attempt a real career when they offered to take her to Nashville and mentor her talent. Graduating from high school early with a GED when she was fifteen, Liv followed her new mentors and was quickly signed to a record label where she released her first album, a self-titled gospel record, as well as performing a small tour. Unfortunately for Liv the album was a disaster and, with less than 200 copies sold, she was unceremoniously dropped from her label and found herself back at square one.
Creating music had given Liv a thirst for something she hadn't even realized she'd wanted. She moved to Los Angeles and began working with producers on mainstream albums after being influenced and impacted by the huge exposure to a broad range of genres in Nashville. Though her parents weren't happy with the new direction her music was taking, Liv was headstrong about her intentions and financially independent through a number of part-time jobs she picked up while she wasn't busy writing songs and auditioning for vocalist roles. She signed another record deal with The Island Def Jam Music Group the same year she moved to LA, though the contract was short lived and Liv was dropped before the album she was working on could even come to fruition. The same happened with Columbia Records a few months later, and it was only performing backing vocals for Mick Jagger on one track that gave Liv the esteem boost she needed to refrain from giving up entirely.
It wasn't until 2007, when Liv was 21, that she was signed to Virgin Records and teamed up with Dr. Luke to work on her material, and the two together finally came up with the music that would make Liv a commercial success. Her abandonment of the Pentecostal church a year previously put Liv on shaky grounds with her family, and her first single released in 2008 would act as her official coming out party - I Kissed A Girl was playful, upbeat and far more controversial than the average listener would realise. Though the song didn't sound serious, the material itself was symbolic of Liv's self-acceptance of her bisexuality and simultaneously the loss of her family's support. Though her twin sister would later remedy their relationship, the song's release marked the last contact Liv had with her parents and older brother.
Every single released from Liv's album - released under the moniker Liv Hart after her parents forbid her from releasing pop music under her family name - became a smash hit, with a sold out tour and plenty of media exposure to go along with it. She achieved her first symbol of recognition from Guinness World Records in 2009, earning the record of Best Start on the U.S. Digital Chart by a Female Artist for selling in excess of two million album copies. After a world tour Liv was immediately put back to work by her ecstatic record label where she created Teenage Dream, an album heavily influenced by her first public relationship with a woman. The media frenzy around the couple was at an all time high when they had a civil partnership ceremony in 2010, though the breakdown of the relationship came shortly afterwards and was one of the focus points of her 2012 autobiographical documentary, A Part Of Me.
After a period of much speculated depression and rehabilitation, Liv began working on her next studio album in 2012. Prism was released the following year, just as Liv became certified as the first woman to achieve five number one singles from one album (Teenage Dream) and embarked on a huge world tour, releasing a series of lavish music videos which reflected the money her label were happy to pour into her work. She performed the half time show at the Super Bowl in 2014 and became the most followed person on Twitter in 2013, with new markers of her success becoming an almost daily occurrence. Nowadays Liv is truly at the top of her game, an unparalleled force in the world of music, and has even started her own record label to promote upcoming talent. Though the media view of her tends to be polarising, her domination of the music charts and popular culture continues and Liv is determined not to let her appeal slow down.
• Started her own record label in June 2014 called Metamorphosis Music, a subsidary of her own label Capitol Records.
• Nicknames her fans the 'Hartbeats', a play on her last name, and refers to her team of managers and organizers as Team Hartbeat. Liv has had the same manager since she first moved to LA in 2002 and many of her team members were put together during her first rise to fame in 2008 - as such, they are all exceptionally close and Liv generally thinks of them as her family.
• As well as co-writing her own music, Liv has written for artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Iggy Azalea, Rita Ora, Jessie James Decker, Selena Gomez and Ashley Tisdale.
• Collaborated with video game manufacturers The Sims to produce a 'stuff' pack for The Sims 3 in 2012 called Liv Hart's Sweet Treats.
• Has released three perfumes since 2010 - Purr in November 2010, Meow! in December 2011 and Killer Queen in August 2013, the latter a homage to her favourite Queen song. Killer Queen has been re-released twice, once as a spring/summer limited edition called Oh So Sheer in March 2014 and secondly as a Royal Revolution limited edition in May 2014.
• Her identical twin sister Megan has worked as her personal assistant since 2009, an arrangement which works surprisingly well for the girls due to Megan's more mature (despite technically being 14 minutes younger than Liv) and maternal personality. Though the girls are easily confused when wearing no makeup, Liv's far more extravagant sense of style means mimimal mixups among the rest of their touring family.
• Liv has signed several endorsement deals with companies such as Proactiv, CoverGirl and Popchips, the latter of which she also holds a shareholding stake. OPI also released a Liv Hart range in 2010 featuring five polishes named after various songs on her Teenage Dream album.
• In 2009 a doll was made in Liv's likeness and 500 pieces were sold, making it somewhat of a collector's item nowadays, and in 2011 a one off, handmade Barbie doll was released and auctioned for $15,000 to raise funds for charity.
• Her philanthropic work generally focuses on children's charities, in particular HIV awareness and poverty, and Liv is also a supporter of gay rights and regularly supports and attends events within the LGBTQ community.
2013 prism
1. roar 2. legendary lovers 3. birthday 4. walking on air 5. unconditionally 6. dark horse 7. this is how we do 8. international smile 9. ghost 10. love me 11. this moment 12. double rainbow 13. by the grace of god 14. spiritual 15. it takes two 16. choose your battles
2010 teenage dream
1. teenage dream 2. last friday night (t.g.i.f) 3. california gurls 4. firework 5. peacock 6. circle the drain 7. the one that got away 8. e.t. 9. who am i living for? 10. pearl 11. hummingbird hearbeat 12. not like the movies
2008 one of the boys
1. one of the boys 2. i kissed a girl 3. waking up in vegas 4. thinking of you 5. mannequin 6. ur so gay 7. hot n cold 8. if you can afford me 9. lost 10. self inflicted 10. i'm still breathing 11. fingerprints
2001 olivia peris
1. trust in me 2. piercing 3. search me. 4. last call 5. growing pains 6. my own monster 7. spit 8. faith won't fail 9. naturally 10. when there's nothing left
featured
2014 john mayer feat. liv hart - who you love
2010 timbaland feat. liv hart - if we ever meet again
2009 3oh!3 feat. liv hart - starstrukk
other albums
2012 teenage dream: the complete confection
2009 mtv unplugged
2009 the hello liv tour ep
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2014 cmt crossroads
2013 the smurfs 2
2013 saturday night live
2012 liv hart: a part of me
2012 raising hope
2011 the smurfs
2011 how i met your mother
2011 saturday night live
2010 the simpsons
2010 american idol
2010 the x factor
2010 saturday night live
2008 wildfire
2008 the young and the restless
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... herself (1 episode)
... smurfette (voice)
... host (1 episode)
... herself
... rikki hargrove (1 episode)
... smurfette (voice)
... honey (1 episode)
... performer (1 episode)
... herself (1 episode)
... guest judge (1 episode)
... guest judge (1 episode)
... performer (1 episode)
... herself (1 episode)
... club singer (1 episode)
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