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Jillian Rose Banks (born June 16, 1988), known mononymously as Banks (often stylized in all caps), is an American singer and songwriter. Following the release of two extended plays—Fall Over and London—in 2013, she signed with Harvest Records to release her debut studio album, Goddess (2014). It was met with positive critical reception and peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200, while its single, "Beggin for Thread" received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her second and third studio albums, The Altar (2016) and III (2019) were met with similar success, peaking at numbers 17 and 21 respectively on the chart; the latter saw her furthest critical acclaim. After departing Harvest Records, she released her fourth studio album Serpentina independently in 2022. Exploring a more experimental sound than her previous work, it achieved modest commercial success but received favorable reviews from music critics. It was followed by her fifth studio album Off with Her Head in 2025.

Early life and education

Jillian Rose Banks was born on June 16, 1988, in Orange County, California. Banks moved to Los Angeles when she was one or two years old and lived in Tarzana, an affluent neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. She started writing songs at the age of 15 and taught herself piano when she received a keyboard from a friend to help her through her parents' divorce. She says she "felt very alone and helpless. I didn't know how to express what I was feeling or who to talk to." She later enrolled to study psychology at the University of Southern California (USC), where she wrote a thesis on the children of divorced parents, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Career

2013–2014: Breakthrough and Goddess

During Banks' time at USC she was put in contact with DJ Yung Skeeter, who offered to manage her and brought her to British label Good Years Recordings. After posting a track called "Before I Ever Met You" on a private SoundCloud page in February 2013, the song ended up being played by DJ Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1. Banks released her debut extended play (EP), Fall Over, internationally in March 2013 by Good Years Recordings. Billboard called her a "magnetic writer with songs to obsess over." Her second EP, London, was released in September 2013 by Harvest Records and Good Years Recordings to positive reviews from music critics. In an interview after the debut of her first album she posted her phone number on her social media accounts to be closer to her fans and have a more intimate connection to all of them. Her song "Waiting Game" from the EP was featured in the 2013 Victoria's Secret holiday commercial.

In late 2013, she received nominations for awards from both the BBC and MTV. She was nominated for a Sound of... award by the BBC and a Brand New Nominee by MTV. She was included on Shazam's list of "2014 Acts to Watch", as well as on iTunes' list of "New Artists for 2014". Banks was artist of the week for Vogue in August 2013 where they wrote that her songs "perfectly capture a feeling of being lost and powerless in the world." Banks has been tipped by several media outlets as the artist to watch in 2014, including Spin listing London as one of the "50 Albums You Gotta Hear in 2014" and being named as one of the artists under Spotify's Spotlight for 2014. Additional accolades came from The Boston Globe, Fuse, and The Huffington Post.

Banks was the opening act for Canadian singer the Weeknd during his fall 2013 tour, supporting him in both the United States and the United Kingdom. After finishing the tour with The Weeknd, she announced her own tour which began in the United Kingdom during March 2014. Banks was also a featured performer at the Coachella festival, taking place in April 2014, Bonnaroo and Open'er Festival in July 2014. In January 2015, Banks was part of the lineup for the 2015 St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, which toured Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Detroit, Fremantle, Melbourne, Singapore and Sydney. On August 7, 2014, Banks made her television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing "Beggin for Thread" and "Waiting Game".

Her debut album, Goddess, was released on September 5, 2014, and charted within the top 20 of several countries, including the UK, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Sweden. In the US, the album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, selling 25,000 copies in its first week of release. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised her sonic ambition and the album's raw sound. It holds a score of 74 out of 100 on Metacritic. The album was supported by the release of four singles: "Brain", "Goddess", "Drowning", and "Beggin for Thread". "Drowning" peaked at number 48 on Billboard's Rock Digital Songs chart, while "Beggin for Thread" reached number 11 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, and numbers 80 and 64 in Australia and Germany, respectively.