Colleen Ballinger

Comedian, singer, internet personality

What is Colleen Ballinger known for?

Colleen Mae Ballinger, born on November 21, 1986, in Santa Barbara, California, is a renowned American comedian, YouTuber, actress, singer, and writer. She is globally recognized for her creation and portrayal of the internet character, Miranda Sings. The comically talentless, egotistical, and eccentric character was designed by Ballinger to satirize the countless YouTube videos featuring people singing badly, hoping to break into show business, but who seem oblivious of their lack of talent.

Ballinger also shares a variety of comedy and lifestyle videos on her personal YouTube channel, in addition to a vlog channel, Colleen Vlogs. Her YouTube channels collectively have triumphed over 5 billion total views. The Miranda Sings channel alone has accumulated more than 10 million subscribers, and the character has gained over 13 million TikTok followers and 6 million Instagram followers.

Throughout her career, Ballinger has won several awards. Some of these include the Teen Choice Award for "Web Star: Comedy" and a Streamy Award as Best Actress. Additionally, Ballinger has made appearances as an actress and singer in theatre, television, recordings, and web series. Notably, she has starred in the Netflix original series titled 'Haters Back Off' (2016–2017), appeared in the web series 'Escape the Night' (2018–2019), and played Dawn in the Broadway musical 'Waitress' (2019).

Ballinger was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, and completed her schooling at San Marcos High School. She later graduated in 2008 from Azusa Pacific University, where she majored in vocal performance.

Her early career included performances at Disneyland in California, private coaching for children in voice, movement, and piano, and performances at parties and cabaret spaces. In 2009, she played Kelsi Nielsen in 'High School Musical' at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre in Claremont, California. She also gave a talk at the Boston Children's Theatre about using social media to promote oneself as a performer.

However, in July 2023, following accusations of inappropriate conduct against Ballinger, she cancelled her forthcoming live shows.