Alice Phoebe Lou

Alice Phoebe Lou, born on July 19, 1993, in Kommetjie, Cape Town, South Africa, developed an early interest in music taking piano and guitar lessons. Her parents were documentary filmmakers, and she grew up listening to artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Joni Mitchell. In 2010, she spent time in Paris, initially fire-dancing to earn money. After graduating from high school in 2012, Lou took a gap year, traveling through Europe before settling in Berlin. There, she began performing in public spaces like S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations, finding it more financially viable than fire-dancing.

Lou self-released her first EP, ‘Momentum’, in April 2014, and one of its tracks, “Fiery Heart, Fiery Mind,” was featured in the 2015 South African film ‘Ayanda’. Despite receiving offers from record labels after a TEDx Berlin performance in September 2014, she chose to maintain her independence. To fund her debut studio album, she released a live album, ‘Live at Grüner Salon’, in December 2014. She commenced her first tour in 2015, performing at SXSW in the USA and TEDGlobal London. She also opened for Rodriguez during their 2016 South Africa tour.

Her debut studio album, ‘Orbit’, produced by Matteo Pavesi and Jian Kellett-Liew, was released in April 2016. That same year, she was nominated for best female artist at Germany’s Preis Für Popkultur. She continued to tour across Europe, South Africa, and the USA, performing sold-out shows at the Berlin Planetarium. In December 2017, she released the EP ‘Sola’ and a booklet of writings. Her song “She,” from the film ‘Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story’, was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2017. Her second studio album, ‘Paper Castles’, was released in March 2019, followed by ‘Glow’ in March 2021, and ‘Child’s Play’ in December 2021. Her fifth self-funded studio album, ‘Shelter’, was released in July 2023. Lou is also involved in the side project Strongboi, which began in 2019.