Alexandra Ashley Hughes (born 31 July 1985), known by her stage name Allie X, is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is signed to Sleepless Records. Hughes began her career by performing in televised talent shows in her native Canada. After moving to the United States, she released the song "Catch", which reached number 55 on the Canadian Billboard Hot 100.
Hughes studied classical piano and voice at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and graduated from Sheridan College's Musical Theater Performance program, and also studied musical theater.
Hughes started her career under the name Allie Hughes in Toronto around 2006, performing indie, melodramatic pop and pop music. In 2008, she was in the Canadian How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, and was eliminated after two episodes. Her acting credits include Triple Sensation, The Boys in the Photograph, King, Being Erica, and Instant Star, and her songs have been in Rookie Blue, Saving Hope, and Love Me. She was one of four musicians to receive the Canadian Film Centre Slaight Music Residency Showcase in 2013. In July 2013, she moved to Los Angeles, and began working with producers Cirkut and Billboard. She had not been satisfied with her sound and spent time learning about sound design and production. In February 2014, she released the song "Catch" under the name Allie X. Katy Perry made a comment about the song on her Twitter page calling it a "spring jam". Her single reached No. 55 on the Canadian Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Her EP CollXtion I was released on 7 April 2015 in Canada. The Toronto Star described her as a private person who created a different persona for her performances.
In 2014 and 2015, Hughes contributed to singer Troye Sivan's album Blue Neighbourhood, co-writing a total of seven tracks, including two of the album's three singles, "Talk Me Down" and "Youth".
In the second half of 2015, Hughes began to tour around North America, while she supported Troye Sivan in February 2016.
In early 2017, Hughes received production credits for the track "Moonlight" of Seohyun's debut solo EP Don't Say No.
Hughes is set to release her debut studio album CollXtion II in June 2017.
Hughes cites her influences as Mariah Carey, Mark Mothersbaugh, Tom Petty, and author Haruki Murakami. Placed as having a soprano Fach, Hughes describes her melodies as being "soaring pop, borderline theatrical Disney", while her lyrics, "always seem to be darker." She compares songwriting to a science experiment in which you put two people's brains together for a few hours and see what they can come up with. In explaining the X in her name, she stated that it represents the unknown variable in algebra.