You probably know Sia as the unmistakable voice behind songs like “Chandelier,” “Elastic Heart,” “Cheap Thrills,” and “Unstoppable.” You probably also know her for one of the more unusual visual trademarks in modern pop music: giant wigs, bows, hats, and other elaborate headpieces designed to obscure some or all of her face.
The face-covering wigs are not just a gimmick. They’re somewhat indicative of Sia’s intense desire to preserve her privacy despite achieving an extreme level of fame.
Late last year, we received a fascinating reminder of just how intensely private Sia is thanks to a very unlikely source: her divorce.
Court documents filed in October 2025 connected to Sia’s split from Dan Bernad revealed several details about her life that had somehow remained almost completely out of public view.
For starters, a lot of people didn’t know Sia was married. Even more remarkably, the divorce revealed that Sia and Bernad had welcomed a baby in March 2024. In other words, one of the most famous singers on the planet had managed to get married, have a child, and keep the news almost entirely secret.
And then there was the money.
As we detailed back in October 2025, divorce filings at the time revealed that Dan was asking Sia to pay him $250,000 per year in spousal support.
Oh wait. I misspoke.
He was asking for $250,000 PER MONTH.
More precisely, Dan requested $250,856 every month in temporary spousal support. He also wanted Sia to pay $300,000 toward his legal bills and another $200,000 for forensic accounting expenses.
How does someone justify asking an estranged spouse for more than $3 million per year in support? Well, according to Dan, that was simply the kind of money required to maintain something resembling the lifestyle they enjoyed during their marriage.
In his court filing, Bernad claimed he and Sia had been spending between $400,000 and $500,000 PER MONTH while they were together. They lived in a roughly 9,500-square-foot mansion on 1.4 acres in Toluca Lake that Sia bought for $5.15 million in 2015, and Bernad described a lifestyle that included private jets, expensive restaurants and a household staff of 10 to 12 people.
That staff allegedly included personal chefs, a butler, stylists, massage therapists, housekeepers and even an in-house IT technician. Bernad argued that this was the standard of living established during the marriage and claimed that after Sia filed for divorce, he had:
“No income, no real property, no retirement and very little funds.”
Those filings already provided a pretty astonishing glimpse into Sia’s financial life. But, as it turns out, they were just the appetizer.
Fast-forward almost a year, and we now have another update in the divorce of Sia Furler and Dan Bernad. The divorce appears to be moving closer to a resolution, and the former couple has already reached agreements on custody and child support, with Sia agreeing to pay Bernad $42,500 per month in child support. That’s a lot less than the $250,000 he had been seeking, but there are a few consolation prizes for Dan.
A new batch of divorce documents revealed that, in addition to the monthly support, Sia will be paying Dan a $1 million lump sum. That’s not all. In addition, $15 MILLION is being put in escrow, covering the value of songs she created during the marriage, some of which could eventually trickle down to Dan.
Speaking of Sia’s song catalog… The latest divorce filings also revealed an astonishing little financial nugget. As it turns out, Sia recently sold her music catalog. The amount?
$180 million
And actually, I mispoke a moment ago. Sia did not sell her full catalog. SHE SOLD HALF! For $180 MILLION. As in, the full 100% valuation for the catalog is…
$360 MILLION
The buyer was Pophouse, a Swedish music and entertainment investment company that has become one of the major players in the booming market for valuable music catalogs. And because these numbers were revealed through divorce filings, we also know how almost every dollar of that $180 million is being treated in the breakup.
(Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic)
$165 Million Was Earned Before The Marriage
Sia and Bernad married in December 2022. Fortunately for Sia, the overwhelming majority of her ultra-valuable songwriting career happened before that date.
According to the divorce documents, $165 million of the $180 million Pophouse purchase price is attributable to songs Sia created before she married Bernad. That group includes rights connected to songs such as “Chandelier,” “Titanium,” and “Cheap Thrills,” along with much of the body of work Sia created during the years when she became one of the most successful songwriters and recording artists in pop music.
Bernad apparently could have attempted to make some kind of claim involving those assets or proceeds. Instead, the settlement documents call for him to waive his rights to that $165 million. His price for walking away? That’s the $1 million.
That still leaves $15 million from the post-marriage catalog transaction. The fate of that money has apparently not been completely resolved. The $15 million will be placed in escrow while Sia and Bernad determine how it should be divided.
An Exceptionally Valuable Catalog
Allow me to just beat this dead horse one more time. Sia sold HALF her catalog for $180 million, meaning the full catalog is worht $360 million. How is that possible? Because Sia’s catalog includes some of the defining pop recordings of the last 15 years. Not just her own songs, but – most importantly – songs she has written for other people.
As we mentioned earlier, Sia’s own hits include “Chandelier,” “Cheap Thrills,” “Elastic Heart,” “Unstoppable,” “The Greatest,” and “Snowman.” But her songwriting career also produced major songs for other performers, including:
- Christina Aguilera — “You Lost Me”
- Christina Aguilera — “Bound to You”
- Christina Aguilera — “Blank Page”
- David Guetta — “Titanium”
- Flo Rida — “Wild Ones”
- David Guetta — “She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)”
- Rihanna — “Diamonds”
- Ne-Yo — “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)”
- Rita Ora — “Radioactive”
- Celine Dion — “Loved Me Back to Life”
- Katy Perry — “Double Rainbow”
- Britney Spears — “Perfume”
- Eminem — “Beautiful Pain”
- Beyoncé — “Pretty Hurts”
- Beyoncé — “Standing on the Sun”
- Lea Michele — “Cannonball”
- Shakira — “Chasing Shadows”
- Pitbull featuring Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte — “We Are One (Ole Ola)”
- Jennifer Lopez — “Expertease (Ready Set Go)”
- Eminem — “Guts Over Fear”
- Maroon 5 featuring Gwen Stefani — “My Heart Is Open”
- David Guetta — “Bang My Head”
- Kelly Clarkson — “Invincible”
- Jessie J — “Flashlight”
- Carly Rae Jepsen — “Boy Problems”
- Carly Rae Jepsen — “Making the Most of the Night”
- Shakira — “Try Everything”
- Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley — “Chained to the Rhythm”
- Cashmere Cat featuring Ariana Grande — “Quit”
- Camila Cabello — “Crying in the Club”
- Zayn — “Dusk Till Dawn”
- Jennifer Lopez — “Limitless”
- P!nk — “Courage”
- Celine Dion — “Lying Down”
- Miley Cyrus — “Muddy Feet”
Those songs generate money from streaming, radio, television, movies, advertising, covers and other licensing uses. A great song can continue producing royalties decades after it was written, which is exactly why investors have spent billions of dollars buying music catalogs in recent years.
Sia just turned half of hers into $180 million in cash while keeping the other half.
