Mackenzie Ziegler Biography

Mackenzie Ziegler (born June 4, 2004) is an American dancer, singer, actress and model. She is the younger sister of dancer and actress Maddie Ziegler and is best known for appearing for six years on Lifetime's reality dance show Dance Moms. She has also appeared on other television programs, including the sitcom Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, has modeled for Polo Ralph Lauren, and her social media penetration includes more than 7 million Instagram followers. Her 2014 album, Mack Z, and its lead single both reached the top of the iTunes charts. In 2017, Ziegler toured in Australia with her sister and then toured in North America and the UK with Johnny Orlando.

Early life

Ziegler was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her parents, Melissa Ziegler-Gisoni and Kurt Ziegler, divorced when she was 6 years old after a 2009 bankruptcy. Her mother remarried in 2013. Ziegler has an older sister, Maddie, who is also a dancer and actress, 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 at the age of two. With that company, she won titles in dance competitions.

Ziegler is homeschooled and resides in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.

Career

Dancing and acting

Ziegler first appeared on television in 2011 on Lifetime's reality dance show Dance Moms, alongside her mother and sister. In 2016, the Zieglers left the show after six seasons in order to pursue other projects. Ziegler also appeared on Dance Moms' sister shows Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition and Abby's Studio Rescue. Ziegler and her sister conducted a dance workshop tour of Australia in January 2017. Ziegler is featured in a 2017 dance advertisement for General Electric.

In 2015, Ziegler made her acting debut on Nickelodeon's sitcom Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn and appeared in a WowWee commercial alongside her sister. She has also appeared on such talk shows as The Today Show, The View and Good Day New York. She returned to Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn in January 2017 in the episode "Keeping Up with the Quadashians".

Singing

In 2014, Ziegler released her debut album Mack Z, which she also uses as a stage name for singing appearances. The album peaked at #1 on the iTunes pop charts, as well as #7 on iTunes' albums sales chart across all genres. The music video for the album's lead single, "Girl Party", also reached #1 on the iTunes pop chart. The video of the single has been viewed more than 40 million times. Later that year, her videos for "Shine" and "Christmas All Year Long" premiered, each eventually attracting more that 6 million views. She continued to release singles and videos as Mack Z in 2015 and 2016.

In November 2016, Ziegler released her first single under her full name, a duet with singer Johnny Orlando, titled "Day & Night". The duet's music video was released on December 21, 2016, and has been viewed more than 10 million times. In April 2017, she released another single, "Monsters (AKA Haters)". Ziegler and Orlando are giving their Day & Night Tour, beginning with three concerts in North America in April, then four dates in the UK in May and June, and followed by six dates in the US in July and August 2017.

Modeling and other activities

In 2015, Ziegler walked the Polo Ralph Lauren Runway in New York City. That same year she appeared in a campaign video for Glamour Magazine. In 2016, she and her sister Maddie were the faces of Clean & Clear's fall back-to-school campaign. Ziegler was the face of Polo Ralph Lauren's children's spring 2016 collection and was named a brand ambassador for girls' fashion line Emily West in 2017.

In 2014, Ziegler and her sister released a limited edition fashion line, The Maddie & Mackenzie Collection, through Mod Angel. In fall 2016, Ziegler released a tee-shirt line called Tee4Too. In 2016, Ziegler collaborated with TurnBoard to release the Kenzie Ziegler TurnBoard. Ziegler plans to release a self-help book in 2018, titled Mackenzie's Rules for Life: How to be Happy, Healthy, and Dance to Your Own Beat.

Ziegler's Instagram account has more than 7 million followers, she has more than 2 million followers on Musical.ly, her two YouTube channels have received a total of more than 100 million views with more than one million subscribers on her main channel, and she has more than 700,000 Twitter followers. Ziegler was nominated at the 2016 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Muser.

Philanthropy

In 2012, Ziegler, along with her mother and sister, partnered with Starlight Children's Foundation to help raise awareness for chronically ill youth. Ziegler has also partnered with foundations such as Love Your Melon and Dancers Against Cancer to raise awareness and funding for childhood cancer. In 2016, Ziegler and her sister made a public service announcement for DoSomething.org's Birthday Mail campaign, which enables people to send homemade birthday cards to children living in homeless shelters. The same organization placed the Ziegler sisters on their 2016 list of charitable young celebrities.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011-2016	Dance Moms	Herself	Lead
2011	Dance Moms: Most Outrageous Moments	Herself	TV Movie Documentary
2011	The Today Show	Herself/Performer
2012	Nightline	Performer
2013	Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition	Herself/Performer	Episode: Gods and Mortals
2013	Dance Moms Christmas Special	Herself/Performer	TV Movie
2014	The Today Show	Herself/Singer	Performed her single "Girl Party"
2014	Abby's Studio Rescue	Herself/Performer	Episode: Delusions of Dance Grandeur
2014	Good Day New York	Herself/Performer	Performed her single "Girl Party"
2015	Dance Moms Slumber Party	Herself	TV Movie
2015	The Today Show	Herself/Performer
2015	Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn	Lilly	Episode: "Unhappy Campers"
2015	The View	Herself/Performer
2016	Dance Moms: The Girls' Guide to Life	Herself	TV-mini series
2016	So You Think You Can Dance	Herself
2016	Teens Wanna Know	Herself	Episode: JoJo Siwa 13th Birthday Party Bash
2017	Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn	Lilly	Episode: "Keeping Up with the Quadashians"

Music videos

Year	Title	Lead performer	Notes
2011	"It's Like Summer"	LUX	Supporting
2012	"Summer Love Song"	Brooke Hyland	Supporting
2014	"Girl Party"	Mack Z	Lead
2014	"Freaks Like Me"	Todrick Hall	Supporting, vocals
2014	"Shine"	Mack Z	Lead
2014	"Christmas All Year Long"	Mack Z	Lead
2015	"I Gotta Dance"	Mack Z	Episode: "The Girl with the Curl"
2015	"Dance Moms: Masterpiece"	Jessie J	Supporting
2016	"I Gotta Dance (Dave Aude Remix)"	Mack Z	Lead
2016	"Day & Night"	Johnny Orlando and Mackenzie Ziegler	Lead; first song released as "Mackenzie Ziegler"
2017	"Monsters (aka Haters)"	Mackenzie Ziegler	Lead
2017	"Riding Free"	Maisy Stella	Supporting

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result
2016	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Muser