Aren’t songs like Koi Vi Nahi or Naiyo Jaana rocking our playlists? Isn’t everyone buzzing about the YouTube sensation Shirley Setia? So let us read along the journey of this girl.
Shirley Setia born in Auckland, New Zealand on 2nd July 1995, is a YouTube sensation and social media star with more than 6.5 lakh subscribers on YouTube, 3.6M fans on Facebook and 4.8M followers on Instagram. Before heading into the YouTube industry Shirley also worked as an RJ at Radio Tarana with her regular show, Showtime with Shirley going on air every Sunday.
She developed an interest in singing when she was in high-school and started to learn singing by watching Reality shows. Shreya Ghoshal, during a chat show, told her to practice regularly and find a medium to connect with the Indian audience. In 2013, T-Series launched a singing competition where Shirley posted a cover of the song Tum Hi Ho. She did not only win the competition but also gained thousands of followers on YouTube. She was right inside the hearts of millions of people. Today, 6 years later, she has become a global millennial. From collaborating with Marshmello in her latest release to showing off her dance steps on electric disco series, she has collaborated with multiple artists across India, UK, Canada, and US such as Sanam Puri, Arjun, Kurt Hugo Schneider, Darrel Mascarenhas, Antareep Hazarika, and The Gunsmith. She calls herself, The tiny one… with not so tiny dreams.
In 2016, she moved to Mumbai and revamped her YouTube channel making it more diverse. She did various tours across India and her channel now contains vlogs and tour diaries from cities like Durgapur, Varanasi, Raipur, Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai.
She made her Bollywood debut with the song Disco Disco from the movie A Gentleman featuring Siddharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandes. From Garba to Hip-Hop, Shirley nails it all.
Shirley has bagged a lot of prestigious awards at such a young age. She has won the BIG Golden Voice Award for BIG Digital Sensation along with Outlook Social Media Award for OSM Musician of the year. She was also acknowledged as the New YouTube sensation of India by Hindustan Times. New Zealand TV Network TVNZ called her one of New Zealand’s Biggest International Artist. Her biggest achievement was when she was featured in the Forbes magazine. Rob, the contributing author of the magazine called her, Bollywood’s Next Big Singing Sensation.
Her story is a wonderful inspiration for any millennial who without any prior training wants to step into the field of music. Inspiring and entertaining, this little girl has indeed achieved milestones of success at such a young age. With continuous support from her fans, #TeamShirley says that she has long roads to cover. We wish her all the best for her future prospects and hope that she achieves much more in life.