Kerli - Early Life

Early Life

Kerli was born in Tartu County, Estonia in the town of Elva on February 7, 1987. At this point, Elva's population was around 5,000, and Estonia was under occupation by the Soviet Union, which ended when she was four years old. Her mother was a social worker and her father was an auto mechanic. Her parents separated when she was 16. Kerli stated when she wrote "Supergirl", a song about domestic violence from Utopia, she "put in mother's body and said things that wished that would've said to her dad when was little". Her younger sister, Eliisa, is also a musician and competed in season three of Eesti otsib superstaari. Her great-great-grandmother (nicknamed "Beautiful May" for her beauty) was a maid to a duke in Germany, with whom she had a baby, indicating possible royalty in Kerli's bloodline.

As a child, she studied ballroom dancing for eight years, practicing five days a week. She was first introduced to music by her kindergarten teacher when she told her mother that Kerli had "nice pitch" and that she was interested in taking her to various singing competitions. At 8 years old, Kerli gained interest in classical music and as there was an absence of music in her early life, she only possessed two cassettes, which were albums of Bonnie Tyler and Phil Collins. She began writing stories, mini books, and poems at the age of 10 to escape from her "abusive" household to an "imaginary world". Despite being discouraged, Kerli dropped out of school at the age of 16 to pursue her musical career.