Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, known simply as Sia, is a singer-songwriter who is highly regarded for her incredible voice, which has enabled her to produce hit songs such as 'Cheap Thrills', 'Chandelier' and 'The Greatest'.
Also contributing to her success is her highly original look: she often wears a blonde and black wig that covers her face, often topped with large bows or hats.
This time, Sia decided to 'pull off the mask' by revealing her diagnosis during an interview.
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, known simply as Sia, is a singer-songwriter who is much loved for her incredible voice, which has enabled her to create hit songs such as 'Cheap Thrills', 'Chandelier' and 'The Greatest'. Also contributing to her success is her highly original look: she often wears a blonde and black wig, topped with large bows or hats, which covers her face up to her nose. This time, Sia decided to 'pull off the mask' by revealing her diagnosis during an interview.
As a guest of US host Rob Cesternino on his podcast 'Rob Has a Podcast', the singer-songwriter spoke about herself without filters and without shame: 'For 45 years I felt like I had to wear a mask. Only in the last two years have I become fully myself,' the singer-songwriter said.
The Australian artist confessed that she had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Sia also stated that having received this official news gave her a sense of liberation. However, the singer-songwriter made no reference to the symptoms or the reasons that led her to consult experts.
To describe her emotions and condition, Sia used very particular words: 'No one can know you or love you when you are full of secrets and live in shame. Only when we finally sit down in a room full of strangers and tell our deepest, darkest, most shameful secrets, and everyone laughs with us, and we don't feel like pieces of rubbish for the first time in our lives, we feel seen for the first time in our lives for who we really are, can we start to go out into the world and simply operate as human beings with heart and not pretend to be nothing."
In 2021, Sia had ended up at the centre of controversy for a film she had produced and written, 'Music', which centred on the topic of autism: the film starred Kate Hudson as a villain who took care of her half-sister, a non-verbal autistic child. The film was contested because Sia had chosen Maddie Ziegler, an actress and dancer who was not on the autism spectrum, for the role of the child. Many also felt that in some scenes the autistic disorder seemed to be portrayed in a cartoonish manner: Sia was even forced to close her Twitter account.