Things The World Should Know About Troye Sivan
Australian singer-songwriter Troye Sivan is blowing up. The YouTube sensation, who turned 21 in 2016, has transformed from a popular online cover artist to a full-fledged pop star with original hits such as "Youth," but even prolific vloggers have their secrets. Here are some things you might not know about Sivan.
Adele, Sam, and Taylor adore him
On his YouTube channel, Sivan speaks adorably about his musical dreams coming true, but it's safe to say he's probably been pinching himself as an increasing collection of renowned musicians sing his praises. Grammy-winning powerhouse Adele said she was psyched when Sivan covered one of her songs, and crooner Sam Smith told Instagram, "My boy [Sivan's] voice does things to my body" (via the Daily Mail). Even Taylor freaking Swift tweeted lovingly about one of his tracks, posting, "GO @troysivan WILD IS STUNNING AND AWESOME. (YES CAPS LOCK IS NECESSARY HERE.)"
When asked about that glorious Tay Tay tweet for Pedestrian TV, Sivan recalled a time when he'd wanted to approach Swift at a party but was "way too nervous to say hi, so I just like eyed her from across the room." And now? "Um, now I guess I can go up and say hi...if I ever see her again," he said. We're willing to bet that's a sure thing.
He played a young Wolverine
Marvel comic fans may have encountered Troye Sivan's work and not even known it. In 2009, he played the boy who grows up to be Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. That's right, his first international showbiz break was playing a young James Howlett, aka Logan, aka little Hugh Jackman. According to an Aussie news report, talent scouts were smitten by his YouTube projects. "I'm just any other normal kid," he said. "Why me over all those other thousands of kids? But I guess I just got lucky."
His LGBT inspiration was a Disney star
Sivan told BuzzFeed he came out to his family first in 2010, and the acceptance and support he received from them encouraged him to share his sexual identity with his millions of followers three years later, at age 18. That video has garnered substantial attention, but Sivan credits the countless vloggers that have come before him for helping him find his voice. "Before I came out I read and watched as much LGBT content as possible," he said. "There are so many people I would love to meet and say thank you for posting their videos, because hearing their stories and everything comforted me." In 2015, he made a follow-up video as part of an "Awkward Conversations with Troye" series aimed at helping young people discuss high-pressure issues such as identity, bullying, and safe sex.
Though Sivan has become a role model to millions of LGBT fans, who were his inspirations? He credits Miley Cyrus. Not grown-up, pansexual, thoroughly modern Miley, but rather, the squeaky clean Hannah Montana-era country-pop star. Sivan told Buzzfeed, "She wrote a song called 'My Heart Beats for Love' and she said in an interview that it was about her gay best friend. I was like, 'Oh my god, Miley Cyrus has a gay best friend. Why am I not that person?' And I was like, 'If everyone in the world rejects me, I can just go become friends with Miley Cyrus.'" As for Cyrus, the feelings of gratitude are mutual. She responded to his shout-out by tweeting, "Thank you for being brave, Mistaaaa."
He's outspoken on politics
Sivan is unapologetic about speaking his mind, telling Paper magazine in December 2016, "It's not your job to make other people feel comfortable." Although he's an Australian citizen born in South Africa, Sivan shared his feelings about the U.S. presidential election results loud and clear. "I've been pretty heartbroken about the whole thing and I don't even live here," said the outspoken LGBT rights advocate. "I broke down the other day thinking about the survivors of Pulse in Orlando, for example. Imagining how it would feel to feel like your country doesn't care about you, and your people...I have no doubt that we'll carry on and we'll be fine, and we'll make it through this. But it f**king sucks that we have to in the first place."
Sivan is equally vocal about equal rights in Australia, where same-sex marriage has yet to be legalized. In his acceptance speech for an Australian Recording Industry Award, he dedicated his song of the year trophy to "every gay kid in Australia."
His #MannequinChallenge is probably better than yours
#MannequinChallenge might be our favorite hashtag. A reminder of the golden age of Vine, the challenge consists of a group of people standing still — preferably in difficult to maintain postures — as somebody with a camera wanders through the real-life panorama. Some of the hashtag's best moments include fitness guru Bradley Martyn's incredible gym scene and these very well-behaved dogs, but on his U.S. tour, Troye Sivan took the challenge up a notch at packed stadiums. Of course, if history has taught us anything about viral content, it's that rock band OK Go will inevitably up the ante. Savor the moment, Sivan.
Grassroots meets A-list
Sivan's debut album, Blue Neighborhood, made a splash on the scene in 2015, but true to form, the formation of his record coupled industry somebodies with a heaping helping of grassroots up-and-comers. The former included production help from Tom Elmhirst, the mixer who helps Adele sound like Adele. Sivan also teamed up with co-songwriter Alex Hope, who sings with him on the understated ballad "Blue." Expect to hear more from her. She won breakthrough songwriter of the year at the Australian Performing Right Association Awards in 2016.
In a "How I Wrote That Album" segment for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Sivan dished on the more unorthodox elements of his album's creation. "I wrote it in a lot of places like garages and bedrooms and apartments and hotel rooms," he said. During one session, the power went out in the hotel. "A bus showed up outside that was powering the whole hotel, and I'm pretty sure you can still hear in the song a very, very low hum of this bus." As for the
As for the children's choir on his hit track "Wild," Sivan told the show those vocals were supplied by a bunch of kids who had simply come into the studio for a meet and greet earlier that day. "They went out for lunch," he said, but soon after, the songwriting team decided children's voices would be an awesome addition to the song. "We demanded that [the kids] come back, and we got them back into the studio, and we made them sing...I'm really, really happy about that."
He devised a clever way to combat nude photos
When nude photos of Silvan were leaked online, he took action in characteristically quirky fashion. Through his website, he started selling limited edition pairs of black and white unisex briefs with his name and a red rose stitched on the waistband. The underwear line helped skew search engine results away from the uncensored images and towards shopping pages for the novelty knickers. Launching an underwear brand was not just a lighthearted way for the entertainer to cash in on an uncomfortable situation; it was also a smart way to reach out to his diverse fan base. The unisex design shows solidarity with those seeking androgynous products, which can be a complicated endeavor, particularly in the realm of undergarments.
He carefully guards his boyfriend's identity
Fans have been desperate to learn the identity of the "beautiful boyfriend" mentioned in Troye Sivan's album liner notes, but the singer has remained uncharacteristically quiet. That may have something to do with the portmanteaus of his past. At one point, he became one-half of an alleged duo referred to as "Tronnor," the combination of Troye and another YouTube sensation named Connor Franta, and let's not forget the concoction known as "Troyler," referring to podcast personality Tyler Oakley. Sivan joined Oakley in a hilarious The "Boyfriend" Tag" video to answer hypothetical questions about their unconfirmed relationship, stoking matchmaker hysteria to a fever pitch that lingers today.
Sivan told Out magazine, "I feel like I share everything about myself. Like everything everything, especially in the music and stuff like that. So I am just, like—that's the one thing where I'm like, I should keep something to myself."
Although Sivan has remained quiet about his dating life, speculation continues. When he hung out at an award show with model Jacob Bixenman, the latest (and, as yet, the clumsiest) romance mashup was born: "Tracob." Since then, the guys have surfaced repeatedly on gossip sites, but even if they are a thing, can we all agree to stop trying to make "Tracob" happen? Seriously, it sounds like something that would set off a metal detector going through customs.