Ava Max

＂	I love my superfans; I love my Avatars, but honestly, I love the haters too because without the haters I wouldn’t be here. So thanks to all the lovers but thanks to all the haters. You know when people get really crazy on the internet and they try and tear people down, it doesn’t really work. They’re not there in person; it’s just the internet. So if you think about it like that, you won’t get hurt. They can’t touch you.	＂
– Max on her haters

Ava Max
General
Born	Amanda Ava Koci 31 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Gender	Female
Occupation	Singer • Songwriter
Years active	2008 - Present
Musical Career
Genre	Pop
Instrument	Vocals
Label	Atlantic Records
Website	avamax.com
Social Media
Website	avamax.com
Twitter	avamax
Instagram	avamax
TikTok	avamax
Facebook	avamaxofficial
Streaming
Spotify	Ava Max
Apple Music	Ava Max
Youtube	Ava Max

Amanda Ava Koci (born Amanda Koci; February 16, 1994), known professionally as Ava Max (or previously AVA), is an American singer and songwriter. She has released multiple singles with Atlantic Records since signing with them in 2016, including her breakthrough hit, "Sweet but Psycho", in August 2018. Topping the charts in 22 countries, including the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, it is currently her most popular single. It has also been featured in Just Dance 2023 Edition. Her debut album, Heaven & Hell, was released in September 2020. Max is also known for her signature hair style, which she dubbed the "Max Cut". Her sophomore album, Diamonds & Dancefloors was released on January 27, 2023, which featured hit singles such as "Maybe You're The Problem" and "Million Dollar Baby".

Early life

Ava Max was born on February 16, 1994, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her parents are from Albania, from Sarandë and Qeparo respectively. They emigrated from Albania in 1990 because of the fall of communism. Arriving in France, they lived there for one year in a church before getting American passports and moving to Pennsylvania. They later moved to Virginia, where Ava spent most of her childhood.

When she was young, Ava would often hear her mother singing fragments of opera and wanted to do the same, which led her to pursue a career in music. What her also helped was that her father was a pianist. Another major inspiration for Ava was big celebrities from 1990s-2000s, such as Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.

When she was only 10 years old, the singer began to write her first songs, her first musical presentation being in a place called The NorVa in Virginia where she grew up. The singer began her career as a teenager, writing songs, making covers, singing at small events, and sharing work on the internet.

At the age of 14, after winning several local music competitions, Ava realized her potential and how she could become a singer. She managed to seek the help of Pharrell Williams, who gave her tips. Inspired by the courageous decision made by her family when they left their country of war, she eventually chose to move with her family to Los Angeles, California, to make her dream come true. To build a musical career, Ava moved to New York City, then returned to Los Angeles at the age of 17, moving there permanently. For several years, Ava did not perform too much, and things did not happen the way she and her family imagined before.

Personal life

Max has stated that she is "100% Albanian" and where possible "definitely wants to give back to the Albanian community when I can". English is actually Ava's second language with first being Albanian. This makes Ava Max bilingual. However, she has stated she can't fully read Albanian as she was raised around Americans.

When it comes to sexuality, Max revealed in a 2019 interview with Attitude that she has been attracted to women in the past, but has chosen not to label her sexuality, stating "Personally, I like it when it's about who you are as a person. I don't like people putting me or anyone else I know in a box."

Career

2008–2016: Musical beginnings

In 2008, at the age of 14, Max released her debut EP titled Amanda Kay on her MySpace profile. The six-track EP has since been removed from the singer's distribution sources.

She met producer Fritz Jerey in 2013, with whom she recorded two songs, "Take Away the Pain" and "Satellite", under the stage name AVA. "Take Away the Pain" was then released as a single 2013 along with a music video, while "Satellite" was later found through Jerey's website. In July 2015, the Canadian DJ and producer duo Project 46 released a remixed version of "Take Away the Pain". Throughout 2015 and 2016, Max recorded and released several singles produced by her boyfriend, Cirkut, including "Spinning Around", "Come Home", "Jet Set", and "Anyone But You". It was also confirmed that there was a scrapped EP that was recorded during that time.

2017–2019: Breakthrough with "Sweet but Psycho"

In late 2016, Max signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. In 2017, she was featured on Le Youth's single "Clap Your Hands". In April of 2018, "My Way" was released, Cirkut continuing as her producer. It reached a peak of #38 on the Airplay 100 chart of Romania. In May 2018, "Slippin'", a collaboration with Gashi, was released. followed by her second guest appearance on "Into Your Arms" by American rapper Witt Lowry. The songs "Salt" and "Not Your Barbie Girl" were released as promotional singles via SoundCloud in July and August respectively.

Max's single "Sweet but Psycho" was released on August 17, 2018. The song became Max's breakthrough hit, reaching number one in more than 22 countries including Sweden, Finland, and Norway. In January 2019, "Sweet but Psycho" reached the top of the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, and also peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Sweet But Psycho has also been featured in Just Dance 2023 Edition. After the song "Blood, Sweat & Tears" was announced as the follow-up single in December 2018, it ended up being cancelled, being replaced by the March 2019 release, "So Am I", the official follow up to "Sweet but Psycho". In late January, Max was publicly asked to do a collaboration with Bebe Rexha, Dua Lipa, & Rita Ora. The song hasn't come to fruition.

On July 31, 2019, Max simultaneously released two promotional singles, the previously cancelled "Blood, Sweat & Tears" and "Freaking Me Out". A little more than a week later, on August 9, she was featured on AJ Mitchell's "Slow Dance". Max then released her third official single, "Torn", on August 19, 2019. A music video for the promotional single "Freaking Me Out" was released in October as a Halloween special. Max went on to win best Best Push Act at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards. On November 6, 2019, a duet called "Tabú" between Max and Pablo Alborán was released.

The previously released song "Salt" was sent to digital streaming platforms on December 12, 2019, after receiving critical acclaim and being considered a "fan favorite". Max collaborated with British-Norwegian DJ and record producer Alan Walker on the song "Alone, Pt. II", which was released on December 27, 2019. "On Somebody" was released as a promotional single at the end of 2019.

2020–2021: Heaven & Hell

March 12, 2020, led to the release of "Kings & Queens", which became the singer's second Billboard entry, peaking at number 13. On July 30, 2020, Max released "Who's Laughing Now" along with the announcement of her debut album, Heaven & Hell. "OMG What's Happening", the seventh single, was released on September 3, 2020.

On September 18, 2020, Max released her debut studio album Heaven & Hell alongside a video for the album's eighth single, "Naked". The album debuted and peaked at #27 on the Billboard 200, and #2 on the UK Albums Chart. She then released the holiday single "Christmas Without You" on October 15, 2020, which later peaked at #16 and #10 on Billboard's US Adult Contemporary and US Holiday Digital Song Sales charts, respectively. On November 13, 2020, Max was featured on the BBC Radio 2 single "Stop Crying Your Heart Out". Six days later on November 19, 2020, Max released "My Head & My Heart" as the only bonus track from the digital reissue of Heaven & Hell. On June 8, 2021, Max released "Everytime I Cry", which she stated was a "continuation" of her aforementioned studio album.

On September 10, 2021, she appeared on the R3hab and Jonas Blue song "Sad Boy" as a featured artist with Kylie Cantrall. She collaborated on Tiësto's song "The Motto", which was released on November 4, 2021. A second music video for the song was released on March 11, 2022.

2022–2023: Diamonds & Dancefloors

In February 2022, Max hinted at a new project by replacing her "Max Cut" hairstyle with cherry-red hair and emphasizing a red and pink appearance on her social media accounts. While interviewed at the Billboard Women in Music event in March 2022, she acknowledged that her second studio album was written the previous year during a personally difficult time. The album's lead single, "Maybe You're the Problem", was released on April 28, 2022. Max announced her second studio album, Diamonds & Dancefloors on June 1, 2022, which was originally scheduled to be released on October 14, 2022.

On September 1, 2022, she colored her hair brown to release the album's second single, "Million Dollar Baby", and postponed the release date of Diamonds & Dancefloors from October 14, 2022, to a later date of January 27, 2023. On the same day, seven tracks from the album leaked online. Max stated in an interview that she considered "Million Dollar Baby" the lead single from Diamonds & Dancefloors because she was with her ex during the release of "Maybe You're The Problem". This is also why she dyed her hair brown. Later that month, the aforementioned album was reported to have shipped out 4 months in advance, causing the remainder of the album to get leaked.

On October 27, 2022, Max released a compilation EP, "A Sweet but Psycho Halloween". Two days later, Ava announced the album's first promotional single, "Weapons", which was released on November 10, 2022. From November 29, 2022 - December 18, 2022, she embarked on the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, where she teased "12 Days of Ava" later in the month. On December 17, 2022, Max released the music video for "Christmas Without You".

On December 19, 2022, Max released the updated cover art for Diamonds & Dancefloors. The following day, the album's second promotional single, "Dancing's Done" was released. A visualizer for the song was released on December 21, 2022. This marked the start of 12 Days of Diamonds & Dancefloors, a twelve day event in which visualizers were teased on TikTok each day.

On January 13, 2023, Max released the album's third promotional single, "One Of Us". On January 24, 2023, the album's fourth promotional single, "Cold As Ice" was released. On January 27, 2023, Diamonds & Dancefloors was officially released alongside a visualizer for "One Of Us". The track "Ghost" was added to various playlists, making it the album's third single.

On February 22, 2023, Ava Max officially announced the European leg of her her first tour, On Tour (Finally). Throughout the following months, multiple festival dates were announced. On April 3, 2023, Max announced the United States leg of the tour. The tour started on April 14, 2023 in Manchester, UK. On May 1, 2023, Max attended the Met Gala. At her Los Angeles show on June 20 2023, Max was injured by a concert-goer while she was performing "The Motto".

On June 30, 2023, Max released the single "Car Keys (Ayla)" alongside Brazilian DJ Alok. The same day, the North American leg of her tour ended in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On July 21, 2023, she released the song "Choose Your Fighter" as a part of the "Barbie" soundtrack. In August 2023, Max began recording and teasing her third studio album.

2024-present: AM3

On April 4, 2024, "My Oh My" was released as a standalone single between Max's second and third album cycle, similarly to "EveryTime I Cry".

On July 2, 2024, Max posted a snippet of an unused demo for her third album's then-first single, "Spot a Fake", with the caption "See you next month". The song had a minor delay to re-record some parts for copyright reasons and was released on September 20, 2024. This song has been scrapped from the album. From late December 2024 to the present, Max has continued recording and teasing the album with various Instagram stories about upcoming music. She released the single "Lost Your Faith" on February 7, 2025.

On March 18, 2025, Max released the music video for "Lost Your Faith", officially beginning her third album cycle.

On April 12, 2025, Max cut her hair in a Max Cut again live on stage during a performance of "Sweet but Psycho" at Coachella 2025, just days after posting snippets from her new album and a teaser website. This marks a return to her signature hairstyle three years after cutting it off, and is in keeping with the "rebirth" theme she has teased for AM3.

Discography

Main article: Ava Max/Discography

• Heaven & Hell (2020)
• Diamonds & Dancefloors (2023)

Tours

Headlining

• On Tour (Finally) (2023)

Supporting

• Maroon 5 - MMXXI Stadium Tour (2021)

Other

• iHeart Radio Jingle Ball Tour (2022)

Trivia

• Max's contract states she is able to do four full-length studio albums, one greatest hits compilation, and five world tours. A Sweet but Psycho Halloween is not this compilation.
  • Max has put out conflicting statements regarding what she releases - she stated on X in mid-2024 that she has no control over it, but in a November 2024 interview with Audacy, she brought up having full freedom. This is likely due to switching her management.
• Max was supposed to do R&B type music, but she ended up liking pop better.
• Max was pursued by her producer when she was getting started with music.
• Max believes that she will never make another song as big as "Sweet but Psycho".
• Max's dream collaborations include Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat and Ariana Grande.
• Max has 15 minutes to be alone just before she performs.
• Max wanted to keep her writing leaning towards female empowerment before her breakup in 2021.
• Max stated in an interview with Smallzy's Surgery that she wants to release an album "full of ballads."
• Max adopted a dog named Benji in November 2019.
• Max prefers her candles to be unscented.
• Max is a short woman with a slim figure. She stands at 155 cm (5 feet and 1 inch) tall.
• However, Max has also stated that she is 5 feet and 2 inches.

Gallery

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