Emilia Vaughn is a 19-year-old American alternative pop singer-songwriter from San Diego, California. In the Spring of 2023, her single “Sunflower” debuted on the Mediabase Activator Chart, peaking at #62 the week of May 9, 2023, peaked at #75 on the iTunes charts, and hit #4 on Amazon Music Movers & Shakers on May 6, 2023. Emilia’s music videos have been featured on MTV Live, MTV’s Spankin New, Loop TV, AXS TV’s Music High Five, and Nickelodeon. In 2022, Emilia launched a humanitarian aid campaign to support Ukrainian refugees by donating streaming proceeds from her single “Sunflower” to two non-profit organizations, “Friends of Moldova” and “World Central Kitchen.” Emilia’s music has been heard in overhead speakers throughout the country, and her singles “Sunflower” and “French Film” have charted on the All Access “What’s In-Store” charts. Her latest 2023 release, “Dead Bouquets,” is quickly becoming another fan and playlist curator favorite. Emilia hopes to bring a message of hope, peace, and unity with her music. She is driven to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and wellness by creating a community of confident, loving, and open-minded individuals.
Background
Emilia Vaughn was born on February 6th, 2004, in San Diego, CA, to her parents, Ted and Licia Vaughn. In the fall of 2021, Emilia launched her independent record label, Emilia Vaughn Entertainment and Media Group, with the support of her family and artist development partners Thomas Barsoe of OC Hit and Dani N Thompson of DNT Entertainment.
Educational background
Emilia attended Canyon Crest Academy in Carmel Valley, California, for high school, graduating with honors, and started at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, in January of 2023, having earned a partial scholarship.
Family, interests, and hobbies
Emilia Vaughn grew up in San Diego, California, with her mom Licia, her dad Ted, and her half-sister, Bethany. Both of her parents are artistically creative. Licia comes from a family of artists and writers and enjoys drawing, painting, reading, and writing; Ted is a talented musician and vocalist, who now runs an agency focused on helping non-profits build their brand and culture. Bethany plays flute and enjoys drawing, writing, listening to music, and creating family playlists. This led to a creative upbringing for Emilia, who loves creating art, writing poetry and lyrics, and writing and producing music. Emilia also loves fashion and art, and her drawings have been showcased in her album artwork and merchandise. Aside from her hobbies, Emilia loves her two dogs (Newman – a Vizsla – and Spencer – a Golden Doodle) and her guinea pig (Boba), and is a passionate advocate for mental health awareness, protection for women and children globally, global humanitarian aid, and supporting loving homes for domesticated animals.
Her inspiration for arts
Emilia began singing songs before she could fully speak. Her parents encouraged Emilia’s creativity by beginning music and art lessons when she was two years old, and more formal piano lessons beginning at age 5. Playing piano developed Emilia’s love of music, and she quickly translated the melodies in her head onto paper and created lyrics with the chords she was playing. She started writing songs with Garage Band at age 10, and at 12, asked for Logic for Christmas, further developing her writing and production skills.
Emilia’s music is an expression of her feelings and experiences. She has found inspiration from different cities she has visited, weather, dreams, friendships, and pet peeves. She writes about how she feels to tell her audience the story of her emotions, and to help her cope with difficult things she may be wrestling with in life. Her hope is that this will in turn help others cope with similar experiences and find healing through her music. Emilia’s biggest musical inspirations currently are Raveena, Holly Humberstone, Lizzy McAlpine, Beabadoobee, and Saba.
Her journey to the music industry
Emilia Vaughn’s love for music began when she was a young girl and took on legs when she formally learned to play piano at five. Soon after, she found her passion for songwriting because of the endless possibilities of feelings, emotions, and ideas she could express through her music. As her love for songwriting grew, she expanded her musical repertoire. Emilia taught herself to play the guitar and ukulele to incorporate a new sound into her music. When she was 12, Emilia asked for the music production software Logic X Pro. This program strengthened Emilia’s music and production capabilities as she could now compose, engineer, and master her music at home.
As she grew older, Emilia wanted to share her music with her community and on a larger platform. She started producing her catalog of original music with her production team at OC Hit. In November of 2021, Emilia brought on Dani N Thompson and DNT Entertainment to help her publicly introduce her music and brand to the world. With the support of her family and team, Emilia independently released seven original songs under her independent label Emilia Vaughn Entertainment and Media Group, including: “Pieces and Pages,” “Sunflower,” a five-song EP titled “eighteen,” “French Film,” and “Dead Bouquets” between January 2022 and February 2023. Emilia has played live shows at venues such as the NOLA Conference at the House of Blues in New Orleans and the iconic Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. In the Spring of 2023, Emilia opened for Stefan Benz at the AmeriCheer Hershey Open Nationals at Prosscored Virtual Arena. Emilia is scheduled to perform at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in San Diego on October 26, 2023 as the headline entertainment for the non-profit Athena’s signature anniversary event supporting women in STEM.
Releases and accomplishments
In 2022, Emilia Vaughn released her first single, “Pieces and Pages,” followed by “Sunflower” in the spring of 2022, and then her debut EP titled “eighteen,” and “French Film” in the fall. Emilia was featured in an interview with Mario Lopez, where she discussed her passion for mental health awareness, her 2022 releases, and her future plans for her music career. In February 2023, Emilia Vaughn released “Dead Bouquets” and shortly after started to impact at radio with her single “Sunflower” a year after its original release.
Emilia Vaughn has been featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune, The Del Mar Times, and multiple entertainment publications. The music video for her single “Sunflower” was broadcasted on MTV’s “Spankin’ New,” Pluto TV, AXS TV, and Nickelodeon, and the music video for her single “French Film,” Directed by Dani N Thompson, was added to video lineups with the MTV networks (MTV Latin America, MTV Mexico, MTV SUR, MTV Live, MTV Spankin’ New), LA-TV, Clear TV, Deck TV, California Music Channel, Time Warner Cable’s Video Hits, Woven Media, Gloss Media, and Video Jams. “Sunflower” and “French Film” hit the All Access What’s In-Store retail play charts and have played in overhead speakers nationwide.
At the beginning of 2022, during the start of the war in Ukraine and after learning that the sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine, Emilia felt called to help those in need and pledged to donate the streaming proceeds for her single “Sunflower” to two non-profit organizations that were on the frontline of helping those impacted by the war in Ukraine – World Central Kitchen #ChefsforUkraine and Friends of Moldova. She received support for humanitarian efforts from her fans, TikTok influencers, local media, music video networks, and national radio program directors, leading to her climbing Mediabase chart positions in the spring of 2023. Through her music and her donations, Emiila hopes the sunflower will become even more broadly adopted as a symbol of peace, hope, and solidarity.
Conclusion
Emilia Vaughn is an artist to watch in 2023. She advocates for mental health awareness and has spent her professional career using her music to support those in need. Emilia Vaughn’s music will connect with audiences everywhere, and of all ages, through her vulnerable and relatable lyrics, dynamic melodies, and emotional, heartfelt vocals. Make sure to check out her growing catalog on her Spotify, and listen to her latest release, “Dead Bouquets” and “Sunflower,” which is now impacting at US radio.