Mackenzie Ziegler

Background

Ziegler was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Melissa Ziegler-Gisoni and Kurt Ziegler, and she grew up in Murrysville. She is of Polish, Italian, and German descent. Her parents divorced when she was six years old, following their bankruptcy in 2009. In 2013, her mother remarried Greg Gisoni. Ziegler has a dancer and actress older sister, Maddie, as well as two older paternal half-brothers, Ryan and Tyler, and two older step-siblings, Matthew and Michelle. She began dancing at the Abby Lee Dance Company in Pittsburgh when she was two years old, and she won titles in dance competitions with that company.

Ziegler first appeared on Lifetime’s reality dance show “Dance Moms” in 2011, alongside her mother and sister. In 2014, she released her debut album “Mack Z,” under which she also performed as a stage name. The album peaked at number one on the iTunes pop charts and number seven on the iTunes albums sales chart across all genres. The music video for the album’s lead single, ‘Girl Party,’ also debuted at number one on the iTunes pop chart. The single’s video has been viewed over 80 million times. Through Mod Angel, Ziegler and her sister released a limited edition fashion line called The Maddie & Mackenzie Collection in 2014. Ziegler made her acting debut in 2015 on Nickelodeon’s sitcom “Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn,” and she also appeared in a “WowWee” commercial with her sister. She also walked the Polo Ralph Lauren Runway in New York City and appeared in a “Glamour Magazine” ad campaign video.

In November 2016, Ziegler released her first single, ‘Day & Night,’ under her full name — a duet with singer Johnny Orlando. The music video for the duet was released on December 21, 2016, and has been viewed over 24 million times. Ziegler and Orlando took their Day & Night Tour across North America and the United Kingdom between 2017 and 2018. Her 2017 video ‘Breathe’ has received over 45 million views, and her 2018 duet with Orlando, ‘What If,’ has received over 60 million views. Ziegler and her sister appeared on the YouTube channel “The Slow Mo Guys” in February 2018, and she was featured on the cover of “Girls’ Life” magazine’s April/May 2018 issue. In May 2018, Ziegler published a self-help book titled “Kenzie’s Rules for Life: How to Be Happy, Healthy, and Dance to Your Own Beat,” which she describes as “a collection of inspirational, upbeat lessons for kids learning to navigate life.” The book debuted at Number seven on the best-seller list for juvenile nonfiction published by Publishers Weekly. Ziegler also appears as the title character in “Ice Princess Lily,” an animated film released in the United States in November 2019 about an ice princess who befriends a dragon to defeat the evil snowman who rules her land. She collaborated with Sia on her song ‘Exhale,’ which was released in June 2020.