Zoë Montana Hoetzel, known professionally as Zolita, is a German-American singer-songwriter. She gained viral success with the music video for "Explosion", which has over eight million views on YouTube as of May 2018. Following its success, she released the music videos for the singles "Holy" and "Fight Like a Girl" directed by herself. On October 13, 2015 she released independently her debut extended playImmaculate Conception, and on May 18, 2018 she released her second extended play Sappho.
Early life and career
Zolita was born on September 23, 1994, in New York to Heidi Schwarck and Holger Hoetzel, and was raised in Calabasas, California. Her father is of German descent, and her mother is of Danish descent. Her father inspired her to start making music and she grew up playing bluegrass and flat pick guitar. She has a brother, Max, a basketball player, and a sister, Luna, a YouTuber and ballerina. She and her siblings all share the middle name Montana. She started her career with the music video for "Explosion" which gained viral success, it was also listed on Billboards list of "30 Lesbian Love Songs". She further released the second video for the single "Holy", the concept is exploring themes of female sexuality, spirituality, and feminism. On October 13, 2015 she released her debut extended play Immaculate Conception. In 2017 she released the first single from her second extended play Sappho titled "Fight Like a Girl", which is a protest song with feminist themes inspired by the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. On October 26, 2017 she released "Come Home with Me" as the second single, and on May 4, 2018 she released "New You" as the third single from her second extended play Sappho which was released on May 18 of that year. On December 5, 2018 she released "Truth Tea" along with a music video as the first single for her third upcoming extended play. On March 8, 2019 she released "Black Magic" along with a visual video, and on June 28, 2019 she released "Shut Up And Cry" along with a lyric video. These songs are singles for her upcoming album which is confirmed as her first full-length album. The project is known as "Evil Angel". On February 14, 2020 she released a cover of Usher's song "U Remind Me" with a video. This song won’t be included on "Evil Angel".
Personal life
Zolita is an open lesbian, and she identifies herself as a feminist. She came out at an early age. In a 2017 interview she expressed how lucky she was for growing in a liberal family surrounded by open-minded friends. In her school days, she was afraid to come out to her female friends, saying "I was also worried that my female friends would no longer want to have girls' nights or sleepovers for fear that I might be attracted to them. So, I decided to keep my newfound queerness a secret." She also identifies herself as a witch, she explains this in videos on her YouTube channel, but also in her music videos where witchcraft is incorporated.
