Moriah Rose Pereira (born January 1, 1995), known professionally as Poppy and formerly as That Poppy, is an American singer, songwriter and YouTuber. In 2014, she gained viral fame by starring in surreal performance art videos on YouTube as an uncanny valley-like android who commented on and satirized internet culture and modern society. She signed a recording contract with Island Records in early 2014 and released her debut pop EP Bubblebath in 2016.
In 2017, Poppy signed a deal with Mad Decent and released her debut studio album Poppy.Computer, which consisted of art pop and bubblegum pop songs. To promote the album, she embarked on the Poppy.Computer Tour. In 2018, she released the pilot for the proposed surreal comedy online series I'm Poppy on YouTube Premium. She also released her second studio album Am I a Girl? In stark contrast to her previous style, the second half of Am I a Girl? began to show a heavy nu metal influence.
In 2020, Poppy signed to Sumerian Records and released her third studio album I Disagree, incorporating heavy metal and industrial rock. Continuing the stylistic shift that started with her second album, I Disagree featured lyrical themes and music videos which some critics described as "disturbing", "violent", and "macabre". In 2021, as part of her long-time collaboration with professional wrestling promotion WWE and its NXT brand, she released the metalcore EP Eat (NXT Soundtrack). Her fourth studio album, Flux, was released three months later to critical acclaim and featured a less harsh and more stripped-down sound than her previous works, which saw Poppy experimenting with alternative rock. Her fifth studio album Zig was released in 2023, the singles to which have been described as dark pop.
Poppy's song "Bloodmoney" received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2021.
Early life
Moriah Rose Pereira was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 1, 1995. She moved with her family to Nashville, Tennessee at age 14. She recalls wanting to be a Rockette as a child, and took dance lessons for 11 years until deciding to be a musician. She was bullied at school for being skinny and quiet, leading her to complete the latter half of her studies via homeschooling. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18.
Career
2011–2014: Moriah Poppy and ThatPoppyTV
Poppy had her first performance at IndieCove in August 2011, where she covered an Alanis Morissette song. She made two YouTube channels: "Moriah Poppy", which has been deleted, and "Poppy", her current channel. Prior to 2014, she performed at social media festivals, including VidCon in June 2012 and DigiTour in June 2013.
2015–2016: YouTube partnership, Bubblebath, and 3:36 (Music to Sleep To)
Poppy moved to Los Angeles in 2013 to pursue her musical career. There she teamed up with director Corey Michael Mixter, known by his stage name Titanic Sinclair, to make a series of abstract promotional videos on a YouTube channel originally titled "thatPoppyTV". Though her partnership with Sinclair dissolved in 2019, as of April 2022, the channel is actively uploading videos and has attracted a large audience. In 2015, she signed to Island Records under the name That Poppy and released her debut single, "Everybody Wants to Be Poppy", in June of that year. She performed at the Corona Capital Festival in November 2015. She released the song, "Lowlife", a month after releasing her first single "Everybody Wants to Be Poppy" and released her first EP, a four-track pop record called Bubblebath, on Island in 2016. The EP consists of four songs; "Lowlife", "Money", "Altar", and "American Kids". In August 2016, she released a series of advertisements for the shoe company Steve Madden on her channel as a part of its Steve Madden Music program.
On October 17, 2016, Poppy released an ambient music album called 3:36 (Music to Sleep To), composed by Titanic Sinclair and herself, with assistance from polysomnographists from the Washington University School of Medicine.
In November 2016, she became the face of Japanese retailer Sanrio's first "Hello Sanrio" collection.
2017–2018: Poppy.Computer, Poppy.Church, and Am I a Girl?
In February 2017, Poppy starred in a series of videos for Comedy Central called "Internet Famous with Poppy". That September, they won a Streamy award in the category 'Breakthrough Artist'.
Poppy's debut studio album, Poppy.Computer, was released on October 6, 2017, by Mad Decent. Her first concert tour, the Poppy.Computer Tour, started on October 19, 2017, in Vancouver. In November, Poppy announced that their second studio album was "almost ready", and that they were going to Japan again to finish it.
