On September 30, young mega-star, Maddie Ziegler, turned the big 18 (we know, we can’t believe she’s that young either!)
If you somehow haven’t heard of Maddie before, she first became famous for appearing on the Lifetime show ‘Dance Moms’, from 2011-2016, with her mum and younger sister Mackenzie.
Maddie (right) with her mum Melissa (centre) and younger sister Mackenzie (left).
Image: PA Images
Since then, Maddie has racked up a huge list of achievements in all sorts of areas, from music videos and tv shows, to modelling and writing. She has also accumulated a huge following on social media, including 13.7m Instagram followers.
So, to help celebrate Maddie’s 18th birthday, we’ve brought together a description of just some of the amazing things that she has achieved in her years of stardom.
Music videos
After ‘Dance Moms’, Maddie is most famous for appearing in multiple music videos for Australian singer Sia. She made her first appearance in the music video for ‘Chandelier’, in 2014, when she was just 11 years old. The music video has received over 2.2 billion views on YouTube and has previously won the ARIA Music Award for Best Video, as well as the award for Best Choreography at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.
The following year, she appeared in the music video for ‘Elastic Heart’ by Sia, which has received over 1.1 billion views on YouTube and also featured the American actor Shia LaBeouf. In addition to this, she also appeared in the videos for ‘Big Girls Cry’, ‘Cheap Thrills’ and ‘The Greatest’.
Acting
Maddie made her acting debut in 2012, when she played the character Young Deb on the Lifetime series ‘Drop Dead Diva’. She then went on to make guest appearances in the Disney Channel show ‘Austin & Ally’ and ABC Family’s ‘Pretty Little Liars’.
Maddie also provided the voiceover for one of the characters, Camille, in the animated film ‘Ballerina’ and played Christina in the feature film ‘The Book of Henry’. She is also set to appear in the Steven Spielberg remake of ‘West Side Story’ and has been cast in the high school drama film ‘The Fallout’.
Modelling
Over the years, Maddie has modelled for some major companies, such as the skincare brand Clean & Clear, the American retailer Target, and the fashion brands Ralph Lauren and Fabletics.
She has also appeared on multiple magazine covers and in fashion editorials for huge brands such as Elle, Seventeen, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Teen Vogue.
TV shows
In June 2016, Maddie joined the judging panel on ‘So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation’, a competition show for dancers aged 8-14. She also appeared as a judge on another dance competition show, ‘Floored’, this year, alongside her younger sister Mackenzie.
Since appearing in her music videos, Maddie and Sia have performed on many TV shows together, such as ‘The Voice’, ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, ‘Dancing With The Stars’, and ‘Saturday Night Live’.
Writing
In 2017, Maddie released her own memoir titled The Maddie Diaries. The book – which follows her journey to stardom and gives advice that she’s learned along the way – spent a whopping 18 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
She has also wrote a trilogy of books for young readers: ‘The Audition’ (2017), ‘The Callback’ (2018) and ‘The Competition’ (2019). The trilogy revolves around a 12 year old dancer, called Harper, whose family relocates to a different state and explores all of the pre-teen challenges in life.
Are you a fan of Maddie? Let us know on Twitter @Fashion_North!
