Lilly Singh

Lilly Singh

Singh at VidCon 2014
Personal information
Born Lilly Singh
(1988-09-26) September 26, 1988
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Nationality Canadian
Residence Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation
Website www.lillysingh.com
YouTube information
Pseudonym IISuperwomanII
Channel name IISuperwomanII
Years active 2011–present
Genre
Subscribers 8.5 million
Total views 1.2 billion
Network Studio 71
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 30 April 2016.

Lilly Singh (pronounced [lɪli sɪŋɡʱ]; born 26 September 1988), better known by her YouTube username Superwoman (styled "IISuperwomanII"), is an Indo-Canadian YouTube personality, vlogger, and comedian. Since beginning her channel in October 2010, her videos have received over 1 billion views, and her channel has accumulated over 8.5 million subscribers.[1] In 2015, she was ranked 8th on the Forbes list of World's Highest Paid YouTube Stars, earning a reported $3 million in 2015.[2] Singh was part of YouTube Rewind 2014 and led YouTube Rewind 2015.

Early life and Education

Singh was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to Malwinder and Sukhwinder Singh, who are originally from Punjab, India. She was raised in the Sikh tradition. Singh has an older sister named Tina. As a child, Singh was a tomboy.[3] She attended Mary Shadd Public School during her elementary years and high school at Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute, graduating in 2006.[4] She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from York University. Singh developed a strong connection with her Punjabi heritage during visits to India.[5] She struggled with depression, and began making YouTube videos as a way of dealing with her feelings.[6] She soon realized that more opportunities await her in Los Angeles, California, where she currently resides.[7] She is most recognized for having many young followers who help her to continue making YouTube videos.[8]

Career

In 2010, Singh started a YouTube channel under the pseudonym "IISuperwomanII", prompted by an S-shaped ring from her childhood. Punjabi culture is frequently portrayed in her videos, which also contain satirical takes on everyday life and people's favorite complaints.[9] Some of her most popular videos are "How Girls Get Ready", "Types of Kids at School", "Girls On Their Periods", a series: "My Parents Reacting to", and "Types of People in Drive-Thrus".[9][10][11] In 2014, IISuperwomanII was ranked at #39 on New Media Rockstars Top 100 Channels.[12] Singh has a separate vlog channel, "SuperwomanVlogs", chronicling her daily activities. She also documents people she meets, including Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Dwayne Johnson, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Shay Mitchell, Selena Gomez, Alessia Cara, Debby Ryan, Arjun Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri,Varun Dhawan and Kareena Kapoor among others.[13]

Singh is also a motivational speaker, a stand-up comedian and a rapper.[5][9] On her website, "Unicorn Island", she sells clothes based on her YouTube persona. In August 2013, Singh featured in the song "Hipshaker" alongside Jassi Sidhu. In March 2014, Singh performed the rap part of the song "Mauj Ki Malharein", used in in the Bollywood drama Gulaab Gang.[14] In July, she released a song titled "#LEH" in a collaboration with Humble The Poet.[15] Singh also had a small part in the Indo-Canadian production Dr. Cabbie (2014).[16] She recorded and released another music video in February 2015 titled "The Clean Up Anthem" in collaboration with Sick Kick music.[17] In April 2015, Singh released a song about her hometown Toronto in collaboration with Humble the Poet called "#IVIVI" (roman numerals for 416, Toronto's area code).[18]

Lilly Singh (IISuperwomanII) performs at the Warfield in San Francisco during her world tour, "A Trip To Unicorn Island".

In March 2015, Singh began a world tour called "A Trip to Unicorn Island", adaptating her YouTube content, including singing, dancing, music performances, comedy, and her well-known parent characters.[19] Her tour covered India, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Dubai, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. Singh’s vlog channel shows the planning of the tour, including dietary changes and rehearsing with her team. She documented the tour in her first feature movie, A Trip to Unicorn Island, which also describes how YouTube fame is affecting her life. The movie was released on February 10, 2016 on YouTube Red.[20] She describes the film as being very "raw and genuine".[21] She decided to partner with YouTube because of her and her fan’s loyalty to the platform. The documentary references her happy place and her travels around 26 cities. She aspires to spread happiness and show how discovering "Unicorn Island" has saved her life. "A Trip to Unicorn Island" is also the beginning of YouTube Red’s original movie. There is a $9.99-per-month service which includes ad-free and offline YouTube content helping her fans to tap into her more personal life.[22] She premiered her film at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles where special guests attended such as Colleen Ballinger Evans, Alyson Stoner, Bethany Mota and many more.[23] She also released her own app named "Unicorn Island".[24] This app was created to engage with her fans more by setting up meet and greets. She will be posting more about her life and share exclusive information to her fans.

In September 2015, People included Singh on their annual "Ones to Watch" list.[25] In October 2015, she ranked 8th on Forbes' list of World's Top Earning YouTube Stars of 2015[2] and uploaded a tribute parody of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" that has received over 2 million views on YouTube. In December 2015, Singh moved from Toronto to Los Angeles, California. She appeared on the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on January 22, 2016. On the show she was challenged to play a game of Fast Family Feud. She got all of the top answers correctly and impressed the live audience that night.[26][27] On the show she also discussed more about her family members and addressed the question on similarities of her actual parents and the parents she acts out on YouTube. She then talks about how her parents found out about her YouTube videos and how she stayed in touch with her fans.

She also appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on February 4,[28] and The Today Show on February 5, 2016.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
2011 Thank You Bhangra dancer Background dancer in song "Viah Di Raat"
2014 Gulaab Gang Lilly (herself) Playback singer and cameo in song "Mauj Ki Malharein"
2014 Dr. Cabbie Lilly (herself) Inspired by her real life character
2015 A Trip to Unicorn Island Lilly (herself) Documentary
Bad Moms Cathy Cameo
2016 Ice Age: Collision Course MiniCorns

Awards and Nominations

Year Award Show Category Result Ref.
2014 Shorty Awards YouTube Star Nominated [29]
Streamy Awards Best Original Soundtrack (for #LEH; shared with Humble The Poet) Nominated
2015 MTV Fandom Awards Social Superstar of the Year Won [30]
Teen Choice Awards Choice Web Star: Comedy Nominated [31]
Choice Youtuber
Streamy Awards First Person Won [32][33]
Entertainer of the Year Nominated [33]

References

  1. ↑ Ismail, Ferris (August 10, 2015). "Meet Superwoman Lilly Singh, biggest YouTube star of Indian origin". American Bazar. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Berg, Madeline (October 15, 2015). "The World's Highest-Paid YouTube Stars 2015". Forbes. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "How three local comics found global fame". The Globe and Mail. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Persaud, Devin. "My Roots- Outstanding Student of the Season" (PDF). My Roots. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  5. 1 2 Talwar, lolzersVidushi (25 June 2012). "The chic Sikh chick". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Lilly Singh: How battling Depression Turned YouTuber Lilly Singh Into a Superstar". People.com. Time Inc. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Lilly Singh's First-Ever Apartment Puts Your Place To Shame". MTV News. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  8. ↑ "Five things we learned from YouTube superstar Lilly Singh". latimes.com. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  9. 1 2 3 Borges, Andre (28 February 2014). "YouTube star Lilly Singh aka 'Superwoman' - The Tina Fey of Punjabis". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Patel, Arti (22 November 2013). "Lilly Singh Superwoman: YouTube Comedian's Take on White People and Indian Music Is Hilarious". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Cormack, Lucy (30 May 2014). "Lilly Singh is YouTube's Superwoman". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  12. ↑ "The NMR Top 100 YouTube Channels: 50-26!". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  13. ↑ D'souza, Sherick (1 June 2014). "5 Popular YouTube channels you must subscribe to". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  14. ↑ "Mauj Ki Malharein (Gulaab Gang)". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "#LEH - Superwoman & Humble The Poet video out now". The Times of India. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  16. ↑ Khan, Maz. "INTERVIEW: IISUPERWOMANII". MTV. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  17. ↑ "Lily Singh a.k.a Superwoman’s New Anthem Will Make you Want to Clean Your Room". Brown Girl Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Superwoman And Humble The Poet Show Toronto Pride In #IVIVI Music Video". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  19. ↑ "Superwoman Lilly Singh readies her first world tour". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  20. ↑ "Lilly Singh: A Trip to Unicorn Isl and teaser released - EW.com". ew.com. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  21. ↑ "Lilly Singh admits the hardest part of filming 'A Trip to Unicorn Island'". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  22. ↑ Lenker, Margaret. "YouTube Fans See a Different Side of Lilly Singh in YouTube Red’s ‘A Trip to Unicorn Island’". Variety. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  23. ↑ "A Trip to Unicorn Island Premiere". www.tclchinesetheatres.com. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  24. ↑ "Victorious, Lilly "IISuperwomanII" Singh Debut Official App 'Unicorn Island'". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  25. ↑ "Their Stars Are Rising: Meet PEOPLE's 2015 Ones to Watch!". People.com. Time Inc. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  26. ↑ "See Lilly Singh crush Jimmy Fallon in "Fast Family Feud"". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  27. ↑ "Lilly Singh dominated Jimmy Fallon with good answers in Fast 'Family Feud'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  28. ↑ Nick Romano (23 January 2016). "See Lilly Singh crush Jimmy Fallon in 'Fast Family Feud' on The Tonight Show". Entertainment. Entertainment Weekly Inc. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  29. ↑ "Lilly Singh was nominated for a Shorty Award". Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  30. ↑ Nizami, Ainee (16 September 2014). "Superwoman Diaries: Lilly Singh Gives Us a Sneak-Peek into #TeamSuper". iDiva. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  31. ↑ "Lilly Singh nominated for US award". Gulfnews.com. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  32. ↑ Hurwitz, Daniel. "And the 2015 Streamy Awards nominees are ...". USA Today. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  33. 1 2 "Streamys 5th annual nominees winners". Streamys. Retrieved 18 September 2015.

External links

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