The Australian-born, US-based singer and songwriter Sia admitted to James Corden in his increasingly viral series, Carpool Karaoke, that she believes in aliens. But as is always the way with Sia, it’s tricky to tell it was her.
Her face dominated by the black and white wig that was debuted with her latest album This Is Acting, Sia entered Corden’s car for the segment, in which he drives various pop stars around – names such as Adele, One Direction, Stevie Wonder and Justin Bieber – and they sing their way through an interview.
Between songs, Sia told Corden that she began believing after watching a video of a former Canadian defence minister plainly stating “that the American government are working with five different alien races”.
Paul Hellyer, who served as Canada’s defence minister from 1963 to 1967, first publicly admitted he believed in aliens in 2005. In 2013 he was invited to testify at the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, where he claimed “a [government] document was prepared which concluded that at least four species had been visiting Earth for thousands of years”.
“My blood ran cold,” said Sia, who told a similar story to Interview Magazine last year. “That guy is the ex-Canadian minister of defence! He’s not just some guy on YouTube!”
In the clip, Sia, 39, explained why she started hiding her face in public, a decision she described in her 2013 essay My Anti-Fame manifesto. “I don’t wear this unless there’s cameras around,” she laughed, when Corden asked. “I only wear this just to try to maintain a modicum of privacy.”
She had developed a drug and alcohol addiction after spending more than 10 years as a singer. “I sobered up and decided that I didn’t want to be an artist any more, because I was starting to get a little bit famous and it was destabilising.”
Sia quit singing after the release of her 2010 breakthrough album, We Are Born, but after spending the interim period writing songs for other artists, she found a new route to the stage: eye-covering wigs. “I thought, ‘What doesn’t exist in pop music at the moment?’ And it was mystery.”
Through the clip, the pair sing chart-topping hits Chandelier, Alive, Elastic Heart, Titanium and Diamonds – a Rihanna song written by Sia, which was certified five-times platinum. Sia has writing credits with Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Katy Perry and Britney Spears as well, but This Is Acting compiles tracks written for others that were sent back.
