Slayyyter
American singer and songwriter (born 1996)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Catherine Grace Garner (born September 17, 1996), known professionally as Slayyyter, is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and rapper. She started her career independently releasing songs through SoundCloud. Her eponymous debut mixtape, Slayyyter, was independently released in 2019. Her debut studio album, Troubled Paradise, was released in June 2021, and her second studio album, Starfucker, in September 2023.[2] Her third studio album, Worst Girl in America, was released in March 2026 on Columbia Records.[3] In addition to three solo tours, she has also toured with artists such as Charli XCX, Kesha, and Tove Lo.
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September 17, 1996
- Singer
- songwriter
- producer
- rapper
Slayyyter | |
|---|---|
Slayyyter performing in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Catherine Grace Garner[1] September 17, 1996 Kirkwood, Missouri, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | slayyyter |
Early life and career
Early life
Slayyyter is from Kirkwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, where she has "kind of lived [her] whole life". She has gone by her middle name "Grace” since childhood.[4] Slayyyter’s mother is a devout Catholic Polish American,[5] however she was not a strict parent. Her parents had a "toxic" relationship while she was growing up, and Slayyyter has been estranged from her father since childhood.[6] Her mother introduced her to The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Dennis Wilson, Michael Jackson, and Elton John, the latter of whom would inspire her future costumes.[7] Slayyyter’s maternal grandfather also gave her her first turntable, on which she first listened to her mother's records.[8]
Slayyyter aspired to be a movie star, a singer, or a comedian on Saturday Night Live as a child. She took ballet and hip-hop dance lessons until high school, when her family could no longer afford them.[5][9][10] She went to a small Catholic grade school in St. Louis. In middle school, Slayyyter and her friends performed "Push it to the Limit" by Corbin Bleu for a talent show, marking her first public performance. At age 14, Slayyyter jokingly performed a ritual she found online, attempting to sell her soul to the Devil for fame.[9][11]
Slayyyter later attended Kirkwood High School, where she was "offered great music classes for the first time."[12][13] As a student, she was in an a capella choir, took voice lessons, performed concert solos, and was a member of the Kirkwood swim team.[9][10] Slayyyter said that her involvement in the arts helped her avoid using hard drugs like heroin, which many of her classmates took and frequently overdosed on, sometimes resulting in students' deaths.[6] Slayyyter's favorite classes were English, film studies, and art, but she struggled with other subjects.[7][8] Having grown up without money, she often felt insecure around her wealthy classmates.[5] Slayyyter first became involved in stoner culture in high school, and smoked regularly with her friends.[13] She would listen to pop artists and see their concerts regularly, including Marina and the Diamonds, Lana Del Rey, and Charli XCX, and found community through Tumblr.[9][11]
2016–2017: Early approaches to music
Slayyyter spent a year in college, studying at the University of Missouri. Her time in college was an "expensive experiment" in which she started her career as a musician, writing "'80s lo-fi pop" that she produced and edited herself, but never published. At this time, Slayyyter was making music in her bedroom closet in her mother's house.[14][15] She dropped out of college in 2016 and began making music seriously, while working as a hair salon receptionist in Des Peres,[16] camming, and doing findomme work to make money. She would later describe this as her e-girl "hustler" phase.[7][10]
2018–2019: Singles, The Mini Tour, and Slayyyter
Garner began going by the moniker "Slayyyter" as a spin on the last name of Ron Slater, a character from Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused.[13] Slayyyter also chose the name so that she could have the same username on all social media platforms.[15][17] Slayyyter later said that most of her early fans were Charli XCX stan accounts.[18] Retroactively, she likened this iteration of her persona to a Britney Spears impersonation.[13][19]
Her most frequent early collaborator, Ayesha Erotica, is from Southern California. Slayyyter contacted Erotica through Twitter, where they both developed a following. Slayyyter credits Stan Twitter users for introducing her to Erotica, discovering the latter's music after a fan said they looked similar.[20][8] Erotica sent Slayyyter a music demo which would become Slayyyter’s debut single "BFF". The song was then released on SoundCloud in 2018, featuring Erotica as a collaborator.[18] Slayyyter also met collaborator That Kid through Twitter during the same period.[11] While acknowledging the impact which Stan Twitter had on her early career in June 2021, Slayyyter also said she felt that, during this period, many of her fans exhibited misogynistic scrutiny towards her when analyzing her body and commercial success.[10]
In early 2019, a 14-second snippet of Slayyyter's song "Mine" gathered attention on Twitter with over 200,000 views.[21][22] The single was then released on Valentine's Day,[23] and in less than 24 hours reached number 38 on the U.S. iTunes pop chart.[24] The Stan Twitter success[15] of "Mine" and the later single "Daddy AF" allowed her to leave her job as a hair salon receptionist and pursue music full time. Slayyyter stated that, as she began recording music, men in the industry would treat her "weirdly" and "inappropriately" because of her songs' sexual content and her history as a sex worker. These workers which she referenced have since been fired by their labels.[7]
In June 2019, Slayyyter embarked on her sold-out debut tour, entitled "The Mini Tour" in support of her first few singles. The tour began on June 24 in New York City, and concluded on July 27 in her hometown of St. Louis.[25]
On September 17, 2019, Slayyyter released her self-titled mixtape, Slayyyter, on iTunes. The mixtape was met with positive reviews and peaked at No. 4 on the US iTunes Pop Chart, and No. 14 on the US iTunes Albums Chart.[24] "Daddy AF", from the mixtape, appeared as the opening track in 2022's black comedy horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies and 2024's romance comedy drama film Anora.[26]
In October, 2019, Slayyyter opened for Charli XCX’s Charli Live Tour, after she was featured on a remix of "Click" with Charli XCX and Kim Petras.[7]
In December 2019, fans revealed that Slayyyter had made a series of tweets which contained racial slurs through a Fifth Harmony stan account in 2012 and 2013.[27] Slayyyter apologized for the tweets, saying that "I have grown and changed so much in the past eight years and the person I am today is not who I was at age 15. Eight years is a lot of time to reflect, grow, mature and better yourself as a human being. And I know that being young or uneducated about the matter also does not excuse any of these things, but please know that people do change."[28][29] As a result, Slayyyter committed funds resulting from her CD and vinyl sales to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Black Trans Travel Fund — two charities benefitting black trans youth.[30]
2020–2021: Troubled Paradise
During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, Slayyyter was on a trip to meet with producers in Los Angeles, California. Unable to leave due to travel bans, she purchased an apartment in Beverly Hills and continued to make music through the quarantine period. These recordings would later make up her debut album, Troubled Paradise.[7][10]
Slayyyter released a remix of Britney Spears' "Gimme More" to her SoundCloud in April 2020.[31] On January 26, 2021 Heidi Montag confirmed via Twitter that she would be featured on a remix of the track.[32] However, in a 2023 interview with VICE, Slayyyter confirmed the collaboration would not be released due to a "sample clearance issue", revealing that the sample was "crazy expensive to clear".[8][33] In May 2024, she again stated that she had tried to clear the sample for release but the song’s original writers would not comply with her team.[7] In 2026, she said that it "wouldn't make sense to put [the song] out now", and that the original sample would still be difficult to clear.[13]
In October and November of 2020, she released the songs "Self Destruct" and "Throatzillaaa", respectively.[34][35]
On January 21, 2021, Slayyyter announced her debut studio album, Troubled Paradise, set to be released on June 11.[36] The third single from the album[a] and title track, "Troubled Paradise", and its music video were released the following day.[37]
From February to May 2021, she released the singles "Clouds",[38] "Cowboys",[39] and "Over This!"[40] ahead of the album.
Troubled Paradise was released on June 11, 2021, through Fader Label.[41] Pitchfork's Ashley Bardhan called the project "vibrant and ridiculous".[42] Slayyyter promoted the album by releasing VEVO Live performances for the tracks 'Letters' and 'Troubled Paradise'.[43][44]
On November 5, 2021, she released the standalone single "Stupid Boy", a dance-pop song featuring Big Freedia.[45] Later that year, she released Inferno Euphoria, an EP of remixes from Troubled Paradise.[46]
2022–2025: Starfucker and tour
In early June 2022 on the Club Paradise tour, Slayyyter teased an unreleased song titled "Hollywood" (later revealed to be "I Love Hollywood!" from her second studio album).[47] On July 24, 2022, Slayyyter tweeted, "album almost done" with a lipstick emoji.[48] On July 29, 2022, she tweeted "one sec im finishing it all!!" with clock and hand heart emojis, replying to a fan asking about her new music.[49]
On October 3, 2022, Swedish singer Tove Lo confirmed via Instagram that Slayyyter would be the opening act on the North American leg of her Dirt Femme Tour.[50]
In April 2023, Slayyyter began playing unreleased songs which would appear on her next album, while touring music festivals in Australia.[51]
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On June 9, 2023, Slayyyter released the synth-pop single "Out of Time",[52] which Nylon described as a "sleek” return after Troubled Paradise.[53] On July 20, she announced her second studio album, Starfucker, "Out of Time" serving as its lead single. The following day, she released the album's second single "Miss Belladonna".[2] On August 14, Slayyyter announced the third single from Starfucker, "Erotic Electronic".[54] The music video for the single was released on August 17,[55] with the single released the following day.[54]
Slayyyter released Starfucker on September 22, 2023, later putting out a deluxe edition of the album on December 1. The more conventional electropop[56] and dance-pop[57] style of the album deviated from the hyperpop sound of her previous releases. It was Slayyyter's first charting album, debuting at number 17 on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and peaking at number 10.[58] The album received positive reviews from critics, with several considering it one of 2023's best.[59][60][61]
In order to promote the album, Slayyyter embarked on the Club Valentine Tour, which consists of 17 shows across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It began on October 25, 2023, in Boston, and concluded on February 17, 2024, in London.[62] As part of Spotify's "Spotify Singles" series, Slayyyter released a cover of Lady Gaga's song "Monster" on October 17, 2023. On a separate but related occasion in early 2024, Gaga later commented that she "loved" a TikTok video of Slayyyter lip-synching to her unreleased song "Brooklyn Nights".[63] Later in April 2026, Slayyyter said that the financial failure of the Club Valentine tour and its corresponding merchandise campaign led her to reconsider her career trajectory and begin making Worst Girl in America, which she intended to be her last studio album.[64]
In July 2024, after performing at the Melt Festival in Germany,[65] Slayyyter took a trip to Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino, Italy, and ingested oysters which contained vibrio bacteria. She then had a seizure, became paralyzed from the waist down, and was transported to the hospital in an ambulance, however she had a quick recovery and continued touring the next day.[66]
On September 20, 2024, Slayyyter released the single "No Comma".[67] According to Slayyyter, "No Comma" was a blueprint for the sound of future album Worst Girl in America, and was inspired by Miami Culture and M.I.A.'s album Maya. The artist also considered releasing "No Comma” as a part of a reloaded version of her 2019 mixtape Slayyyter.[5]
In October 2024, Slayyyter hosted a DJ set in Washington, D.C. for Boiler Room, at which she performed a song which became "Broke Bitch Freestyle", released during the Worst Girl in America album cycle.[68][69]
In July 2025, Slayyyter threw the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals home game.[16][70]
In summer 2025, after releasing the "girl power" single "Attention!" with Kesha and Rose Gray, the three toured together on the Tits Out Tour.
2025–present: Worst Girl in America
In a July interview, Slayyyter revealed that starting in late 2025, she would be based in Brooklyn, New York instead of Los Angeles.[71]
On August 1, 2025, Slayyyter released "Beat Up Chanels", the lead single from her upcoming third studio album, alongside a music video. The same day, Columbia Records announced that she had signed with them.[72] The second single, "Cannibalism!", and its corresponding music video, were released on September 12, 2025.[73] A month later, she released the album's third single and its music video, titled "Crank", on October 24, 2025.[74]
On January 13, 2026, she announced her third studio album, Worst Girl in America, alongside the release date for the album's fourth single, titled "Dance...".[75] After a month, on February 22, 2026, she announced her fifth single and its music video, titled "Old Technology", released on February 24.[76]
Worst Girl in America was released on March 27, 2026, as a visual album; every track was accompanied by its own music video or visualizer.[3] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 200, selling 27,000 equivalent units in its first week, marking the highest achievement of Slayyyter's career to date.[77][78] Worst Girl in America was heavily inspired by 2000s and 2010s-era pop, punk, and hip-hop music, which Slayyyter called "iPod Music."[79] Conceptually, Slayyyter sought to break away from the commercial appeal of Starfucker, instead embracing her own musical aspirations.[15] Sonically, Slayyyter and collaborators used vocal distortion and live instrumentation to make the album.[64] For visuals, the artist embraced DIY aesthetics and film references, inspired by David Lynch's Inland Empire and Harmony Korine's Gummo.[80] The album was met with positive reviews from critics.
In April 2026, Slayyyter made her debut at the 2026 Coachella festival, performing on the Mojave Stage. Her set, which included live performances of songs from the new album like "Crank", "Beat Up Chanels", and "St. Loser", received high critical acclaim and attracted a record-breaking crowd for the afternoon slot, with multiple outlets describing it as a "breakout moment" in her career. For her week 2 performance, Slayyyter officially released her song "Broke Bitch Freestyle", and performed it as the opening to her set. The song was first performed as an intro to her song "Purrr" during her September 2024 Boiler Room Set in Washington, DC. [81][82][69]
Artistry
Music style
Slayyyter is primarily considered a pop artist. Various sources referred to her as a hyperpop musician during her early career,[83][84] but Slayyyter herself has stated the label doesn't accurately reflect her sound and she "want[s] to be seen as a pop vocalist".[85] Her music style has been likened to Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton,[86] as well as sounding somewhat "like Charli XCX on whippets".[18] Slayyyter cites Spears, Fergie, Timbaland, Gwen Stefani,[10] Nelly Furtado, Lady Gaga,[10] Kesha,[11] Ayesha Erotica,[8] Marina and the Diamonds,[13] Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Heidi Montag, Janet Jackson, and Whitney Houston as some of the artists she listened to the most growing up and who ultimately influenced her musical style.[87][86][88][71] She cites Blackout by Spears and The Fame by Gaga as the two pop albums that have "affected [her] most" in her life[5]
During her Starfucker album cycle, Slayyyter shifted dramatically to a more mainstream and cinematic 1980s synthwave and synthpop-driven electropop and dark industrial club sound with nu-disco influences.
She has described her third album, Worst Girl in America, as a punk, electronic, club, and house music album with some influences from her second album, but has also stated that she feels like she's transitioning to an entirely new, more mature sound.[71]
Visual and artistic style
Slayyyter’s visual style has been defined as "distinct MySpace-era".[89] She frequently collaborated with British-based artist Glitchmood for visuals, during her early career.[18] During this era, Slayyyter's style was inspired by Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, and other "polarizing" celebrities in Y2K fashion. She became dressing like these women in rebellion against her mother, who called them "trashy" during her adolescence.[10]
Personal life
Slayyyter resides in Brooklyn, NY.[71]
The artist stated in 2026 that she grew up "super Catholic", and went to a Catholic grade school in St. Louis on a full ride because her family could not pay for tuition. During her education, she felt restricted by the church's rigid definition of Christianity, and began identifying as an atheist. Slayyyter retains a personal connection to God and spirituality to this day.[5] All of her tattoos are of Catholic icons, and she has Jesus's name tattooed on her arm.[13]
Slayyyter has publicly stated that she is bisexual.[88] Slayyyter supports the gay community[7] and has performed at Los Angeles Pride. Slayyyter is also a lover of burlesque performance and drag; her favorite drag queen is Violet Chachki.[5][13][90] A cinephile, Slayyyter has expressed admiration for the work of Richard Linklater, Sean Baker, Brittany Murphy, and Brian De Palma. Uptown Girls,[11] Spun, Eyes Wide Shut, Josie and the Pussycats, Basic Instinct, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Showgirls are among her favorite movies.[13][7] Slayyyter's favorite director is David Lynch, and she was inspired by his hands-on approach to direction when self-directing "Cannibalism!" in 2025.[5]
In November 2023, Slayyyter said that she was a "big advocate" for gun control.[8]
Slayyyter stated that alcoholism and ADHD run in her family, and that she has struggled with alcohol and drug use throughout her career.[13][91]
Slayyyter previously tried to keep her real name private, going by the pseudonym Catherine Slater, which has been referenced in media as her real name,[92] in an attempt to keep fans and press away from her family.[93]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Release details | Peak chart positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [94] |
US Dance [95] |
AUS [96] |
BEL (FL) [97] |
IRE [98] |
NZ [99] |
UK [98] | ||
| Troubled Paradise |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Starfucker |
|
— | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Worst Girl in America |
|
22 | 1 | 28 | 140 | 46 | 23 | 36 |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||
Mixtapes
Extended plays
| Title | Release details |
|---|---|
| Inferno Euphoria |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Dance Pop [104] |
NZ Hot [105] | |||
| "BFF" (featuring Ayesha Erotica) |
2018 | — | — | Slayyyter |
| "Candy" | — | — | ||
| "I'm High" | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Platform Shoes" | — | — | ||
| "Hello Kitty" | — | — | ||
| "Mine" | 2019 | — | — | Slayyyter |
| "Daddy AF" | — | — | ||
| "Crush on U" (with Donatachi) |
— | — | Taste | |
| "Self Destruct" (featuring Wuki) |
2020 | — | — | Troubled Paradise |
| "Troubled Paradise" | 2021 | — | — | |
| "Clouds" | — | — | ||
| "Cowboys" | — | — | ||
| "Over This!" | — | — | ||
| "Stupid Boy" (featuring Big Freedia) |
— | — | Non-album single | |
| "Out of Time" | 2023 | — | — | Starfucker |
| "Miss Belladonna" | — | — | ||
| "Erotic Electronic" | — | — | ||
| "I Love Hollywood!" | — | — | ||
| "Makeup"[b] (featuring Lolo Zouaï) |
— | — | ||
| "No Comma" | 2024 | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Attention!" (with Kesha and Rose Gray) |
2025 | — | — | . (...) |
| "Beat Up Chanels" | — | — | Worst Girl in America | |
| "Cannibalism!" | — | — | ||
| "Crank" | 12 | — | ||
| "Dance..." | 2026 | 15 | — | |
| "Old Technology" | — | — | ||
| "Broke Bitch Freestyle" | — | 30 | Non-album single | |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Faded" (Boy Sim featuring Slayyyter) |
2018 | Pink Noise |
| "Dial Tone" (That Kid featuring Ayesha Erotica and Slayyyter) |
Non-album single | |
| "Final Girl" (Graveyardguy featuring Slayyyter) |
Here Lies Graveyardguy | |
| "Diamond in the Dark" (Liz featuring Slayyyter) |
2019 | Planet Y2K |
| "2003" (Robokid featuring Slayyyter) |
Sportsangel | |
| "Read My Mind" (Rebecca Black featuring Slayyyter) |
2021 | Non-album single |
| "Hatefuck" (Pussy Riot featuring Slayyyter) |
2022 | Matriarchy Now |
| "Honest" (Peking Duk featuring Slayyyter) |
Non-album single | |
| "Never Like Me" (Devault featuring Slayyyter and Tommy Genesis) |
2024 | Sensation |
| "Behind the Wheel" (Devault featuring Slayyyter) | ||
| "Thrill of the Night" (Sébastien Tellier featuring Slayyyter and Nile Rodgers) |
2025 | Kiss the Beast |
| "Fire Away" (Madeon featuring Slayyyter) |
2026 | Victory |
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Ghost" | 2018 | Slayyyter |
| "Alone" | ||
| "All I Want for Xxxmas" (featuring Ayesha Erotica) |
Non-album singles | |
| "Everytime" | 2019 | |
| "Cha Ching" | Slayyyter | |
| "Click" (No Boys Remix) (Charli XCX featuring Kim Petras and Slayyyter) |
Non-album single | |
| "Throatzillaaa" | 2020 | Troubled Paradise |
| "Dog House" | 2021 | |
| "Monster" (Spotify Singles) |
2023 | Non-album single |
Other charted songs
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Dance Pop [107] | |||
| "Yes Goddd" | 2026 | 13 | Worst Girl in America |
Music videos
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Daddy AF" | 2019 | Logan Fields | Slayyyter |
| "Candy" | Revolving Style | ||
| "Mine" | SLEEPxTITE & Revolving Style | ||
| "Self Destruct" | 2020 | Brent McKeever | Troubled Paradise |
| "Troubled Paradise" | 2021 | Munachi Osegbu | |
| "Clouds" | |||
| "Cowboys" | Revolving Style | ||
| "Erotic Electronic" | 2023 | Slayyyter & Kaitlyn Muro | Starfucker |
| "I Love Hollywood!" | |||
| "Beat Up Chanels" | 2025 | Slayyyter & Hannah De Vries | Worst Girl in America |
| "Cannibalism!" | Slayyyter | ||
| "Crank" | |||
| "Dance..." | 2026 | ||
| "Old Technology" | |||
| "Old Flings" |
Tours
Headlining
- The Mini Tour (2019)
- Club Paradise Tour (2022)
- Club Valentine Tour (2023–2024)
- Wor$t Girl In The World Tour (2026)
Supporting
- Charli XCX - Charli Live Tour (2019)
- Tove Lo - Dirt Femme Tour (2023)
- Fletcher - In Search of the Antidote Tour (2024)
- Kesha and Scissor Sisters - The Tits Out Tour (2025)