Biography

Alice Merton (born 13 September 1993) is a German-Canadian-English singer and songwriter. Merton achieved mainstream success with her debut single, "No Roots", a number one single in France. In March 2018, the single was released in the UK, joining BBC Radio 2's playlist.

Early life

Merton was born on 13 September 1993 in Frankfurt, Germany to a German mother and an Irish father. Merton's family moved frequently due to her father's job as a mining consultant. When she was three months old, Merton moved to Connecticut.Shortly thereafter, they relocated to Oakville, Ontario, Canada where she was raised until the age of thirteen when her family relocated to Munich. Merton's return to Germany prompted her to learn German which enabled her to speak with her German grandmother whom she had only seen once annually growing up. Merton attended a German-language high school before graduating and moving to England. In 2013, she started her studies at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim, where she earned a bachelor's degree in composition and song writing, and met the members of her future band. Merton moved frequently in her early life, living in Oakville, Ontario, Connecticut, New York, Munich, Bournemouth, London, and Berlin, among other cities. Through her upbringing, Merton has stated she has felt connected to Canada, England, Germany, and France where her mother lived.

Career

Merton first drew major attention in 2015 as a songwriter and singer on Fahrenhaidt's album The Book of Nature. On 14 November 2016 while in Hamburg she won the annual award for the promotion of talented newcomers in the category Acoustic Pop.

After moving to Berlin, Alice and her manager Paul Grauwinkel founded the record label Paper Plane Records International, and released the song "No Roots" at the end of 2016. The song's lyrics were inspired by her feeling of “There’s no one place where my home is." On both Hype Machine and Spotify's Global Viral 50 charts the song reached number one, and was soon included on the "Hit Play" lists of several radio stations. The song was also featured on episode 5x09 of the NBC TV series, The Blacklist.

On the basis of this success, Merton officially released her first EP, No Roots, on 3 February 2017. No Roots reached number two on the German charts, and number one on the French charts. Vodafone Germany even included the song in one of its commercials. Alice signed with Mom + Pop Music in August 2017 for marketing within the United States, and on 2 August 2017 she released her second single Hit the Ground Running with her new record label.

She performed at the Life Ball in Vienna on 10 June 2017, and ended the year touring throughout Germany, appearing as opening act for Bosse and Philipp Poisel, among others. In late 2017 she won the 2018 European Border Breakers Award. 

Personal life

Merton currently resides in Berlin and England.