Lights - The Musician Concerts Tickets

ABOUT LIGHTS

Born Valerie Anne Poxleitner, Lights is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter from Timmins, Ontario. The child of missionaries, she grew up in various parts of the world, including the Philippines and Jamaica, and was home-schooled by her mother and taught guitar by her father. In 2001, at the age of 14, she recorded her first song with an eight-track recorder that she purchased with inheritance money from her late grandmother. Four years later, she moved to Toronto and officially changed her name to Lights, circumventing the need to change her stage name despite a signed band named "Lights" existing already.

CAREER

2006-2007: Beginnings

When she was in high school, Lights sang and played guitar for a metal band called Shovel Face. Around that time, she began songwriting for Sony/ATV Music Publishing and co-wrote the song "Perfect", sung by Alexz Johnson in the role of Jude Harrison on the CTV show Instant Star. In 2007, Persian-Canadian broadcaster, writer, musician, producer, and former CBC Radio broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi signed on as her manager – a role he held until late-2014.

2008-2009: Lights and The Listening

Lights released her debut single, "Drive My Soul", on March 11, 2008, and reached number 18 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100. The song was certified gold in Canada. She spent much of her year touring Canada and the US, starting with cities in the Great Lakes region in the early part of the year.

That August, she signed a record deal with Toronto-based label Underground Operations and an American partnership deal with Warner Bros. and Doghouse Records. Lights’ self-titled debut EP was released on iTunes on July 24, 2008. "February Air", the EP’s second single, was released that December. Her third single, "Ice", was released in March 2009. That month, Lights won the 2009 Juno Award for New Artist of the Year.

In September 2009, she toured with the British band Keane on their Canadian/Pacific Northwest tour. That month also brought the release of her debut album, The Listening. The album went platinum in Canada and reached number seven on the Canadian Albums chart, as well as reaching number four on the US Heatseekers Albums chart. The album’s lead single, "Saviour", preceded the album and was certified gold in Canada. Her song "Ice" was re-recorded for the new album and a new video for the song was released on November 10.

Lights contributed vocals to Ten Second Epic's song "Every Day" and appeared in its music video. She also featured on the soundtrack for the 2008 Canadian film One Week with the songs "Ben" and "Climbing". She was a guest vocalist on the Silverstein album A Shipwreck in the Sand.

2010-2013: Acoustic EP, Siberia, Siberia Acoustic, and tour

Lights toured with Owl City in Canada, the US, and Europe from January to May 2010. That July, she released the acoustic EP, Acoustic and embarked on a six-date US Tour. Then, in September, she opened for Hedley on their The Show Must Go On… The Road Tour. "Crucify Me" and "Don't Go" of Bring Me The Horizon's 2010 album There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret features Lights as a guest vocalist, as does The Secret Handshake's song "Used to be Sweet". October 2010, brought the release of the digital single "My Boots" and a concert tour with Jeremy Fisher.

The following June, she was featured in "The Yacht Club" on Owl City's 2011 album All Things Bright and Beautiful, and appeared in their music video for "Deer in the Headlights". She also performed at the Utopia Music Festival. In July, Lights released the song "Everybody Breaks a Glass" as the debut single from her second studio album, Siberia. This was followed by a second single, "Toes", in August. Siberia was released in October 2011, debuting at No. 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart and gaining gold certification in Canada. The album was positively reviewed and earned a Juno Award nomination for Best Pop Album of the Year.

An acoustic version of "Cactus in the Valley" featuring Owl City was released in the UK in March 2013. The following month, Siberia Acoustic was released, reaching number seven on the Canadian Singles chart. Lights embarked on a North American tour in support of the album with Dear Rouge opening some dates and Lianne La Havas opening others.

2014-2016: Little Machines

"Up We Go", the first single from Lights’ third studio album, Little Machines, was released on July 22, 2014. The second single, "Running with the Boys", was released on September 9 and the album was released on September 23, debuting at number five in Canada. September also saw the release of the music video for "Up We Go", which had received over 3.5 million views on YouTube by May 2020. Throughout 2014 and into 2015, Lights toured to promote the album release.

Midnight Machines, an EP including acoustic versions of six songs from Little Machines and two new songs: "Follow You Down" and "Head Cold", was released in April 2016. Lights and her band were featured as character avatars in the 2016 video game LOUD on Planet X, along with the songs "Same Sea" and "Up We Go".

2017-present: Skin & Earth and Dead End

Lights’ fourth studio album, Skin & Earth, was released with a comic book series drawn and written by Lights, one song per issue, from July through September 2017. The album reached number three on the Canadian Albums chart. The song "Giants" was released on June 23 and peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart. Lights later released versions of the song in French, Japanese, Tagalog, and Spanish.

The We Were Here tour began in 2018 in support of the album on January 30 in Vancouver and ended on April 7, 2018, in London, Ontario. The tour involved 46 shows across North America with Chase Atlantic and DCF in support. She joined as Young the Giant's support act for their fall tour in October. The following month, she collaborated with Deadmau5 on his track "Drama Free". Early-2019 brought further collaboration when she joined with Felix Cartal on the track "Love Me" and with Sleepy Tom on the track "Amateurs".

Lights announced that she had signed to Fueled by Ramen in May 2019. That July, the label released Skin&Earth Acoustic supported by a North American concert tour.

In June 2020, Lights released a seven-track instrumental synth-wave album on Bandcamp titled How to Sleep When You're On Fire and donated the album’s proceeds to the Vancouver branch of Black Lives Matter.

Dead End, a remix EP, was released on August 7, 2020, preceded by the single of the same name on July 9.