
Born: 17 September 1996
Age:
Years Active: 2018–present
Genre/s: Pop, electropop, synth-pop, dance-pop, hyperpop, electropunk
Label/s: Columbia, Fader
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. Her third studio album, Worst Girl in America, was released in March 2026 on Columbia Records. In addition to three solo tours, she has also toured with artists such as Charli XCX, Kesha, and Tove Lo.
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. Slayyyter’s mother is a devout Catholic Polish American, 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. 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. Slayyyter’s maternal grandfather also gave her her first turntable, on which she first listened to her mother's records.
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. 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.
Slayyyter later attended Kirkwood High School, where she was "offered great music classes for the first time." 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. 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. Slayyyter's favorite classes were English, film studies, and art, but she struggled with other subjects. Having grown up without money, she often felt insecure around her wealthy classmates. Slayyyter first became involved in stoner culture in high school, and smoked regularly with her friends. 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.