Latest news with #Boy
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fletcher Talks About Her Radically Honest New Album and the ‘Magical Feeling' of New Love
Fletcher has a few revelations to make. In fact, the singer born Cari Elise Fletcher has 11 of them, manifested as tracks on her third studio album, Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me?, out July 18. All 11 songs are secrets spilled in one form or another; some of them might shock even the most fervent of Fletcher fans. Still, they are stories she had to tell. On the album's intro, 'Party,' Fletcher sings about how she's not the chaotic, drama-fueled pop star who taunted her ex's new girlfriend on the viral 2022 hit 'Becky's So Hot.' 'I'd love to let you love me/Cause I'm that kind of whore/Who needed the attention/I don't need anymore/It's not that kind of party,' she sings. More from Rolling Stone Pentagon Will Celebrate Pride Month by Renaming Ship Honoring Gay Rights Icon 'Transphobia Is Not Victimless': Online Queer Communities Remember Charlotte Fosgate Why Jill Sobule "I Kissed a Girl" Remains a Model for Queer Representation So what kind of party is it? 'Maybe the kind of party where I have a chill, more intimate heart-to-heart with close friends,' Fletcher tells Rolling Stone in a new interview. 'And revealing some really vulnerable shit.' In a note to fans announcing her new project, the singer calls Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me? 'both an open wound and an act of liberation.' On the single 'Boy,' released today, she shares something even more personal: 'I kissed a boy,' she sings. 'And I know it's not what you wanted to hear/And it wasn't on your bingo card this year/Well it wasn't on mine/I fell in love.' Fletcher has long emphasized her sexual fluidity, and she has many queer fans; the relationships that she's sung about have, until now, exclusively been with women. 'There will be people that feel disappointed and feel confused and have questions,' Fletcher tells RS. 'Girl, I had questions and I was confused too. It shocked me just as much as anybody else.' Of course, who a person chooses to date and how that person identifies across the gender spectrum doesn't negate anyone's queerness. 'I am so proud to be queer,' Fletcher continues. 'That is not something that has ever wavered or changed. Being queer for me is this lens that I get to view life through.' She knows not everyone will understand what she's sharing, but she's seemingly found peace with that in the name of being unabashedly herself. Fletcher tells Rolling Stone that the flood of emotions that informed her new album happened around late 2024 and early 2025, after her last tour. When asked whether she and the muse behind 'Boy' are still together, she doesn't answer directly, but makes it known that she's in a great place. 'I am getting to experience love again,' she says. 'That is the most magical feeling in the entire world. I met a boy who is somehow way more connected to his feelings and his emotions and his heart than even I am.' Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me? is a candid retrospective of the singer's twenties, navigating love in all its forms, and thinking about fame. On 'Hi, Everyone Leave Please,' Fletcher questions why she's not getting more radio play despite selling out Radio City Music Hall ('Kinda bruises my ego'). She says it's her favorite song on the new project. During our conversation, Fletcher takes a few emotional pauses while chatting about identity, her support system, the new album, and feeling like Cari was getting lost in her larger Fletcher persona. What message did you want to send with 'Boy'?I was in the studio with [songwriters] Jen Decilveo and Shane McAnally. We were all discussing our queer journeys. I really wanted to capture and talk about what was happening in mine. I had met a boy and started feeling romantic and emotional feelings, and we kissed. I was like, 'What the fuck is going on?' My whole world felt flipped upside down. I've always written about my love stories and my heart and very candidly written about what I've been experiencing. 'Boy' is just another love story. 'Boy' is just one revelation of many. It's not an album about a guy. I think I became known for this chaos and this toxicity and bitterness and sapphic drama, and then I started having different experiences in my personal life. I was diagnosed with Lyme disease [in early 2023] and went through a really intense healing journey, which allowed me to pause. I started having so many questions about my career and my purpose. I think through allowing myself to ask those deeper questions about this fixed dream I thought I would always be chasing, my heart opened in a way I wasn't expecting, and I fell in love with a boy. What exactly was that 'fixed dream'?Just the childhood dream of being the biggest pop star in the world. Being an artist that gets to stand up on a stage and share my heart and my feelings with the world…. And I've gotten to achieve that in so many ways. When I started going through all the things I was going through last year, I started to question … if I wasn't singing about creating all this chaos and drama in my life, would anybody want to hear from me? Would anybody still be there, would anybody still love me if they really knew me now? Have the assumptions people made up until this point about you bothered you?I think people have experienced me as what I've shared with them, you know? All of my romantic relationships over the last 10 years have been with women. And it's what I've written my music about. Through this larger-than-life character that Fletcher became, I feel like there wasn't a lot of room for the parts of me that weren't wild and crazy and aching. There were other parts of me that, as I've gone through this healing journey, I've felt haven't been fully brought to life. I'm a queer woman. I've always been queer. I will always be queer. My identity is not shifting and it's not changing. My community is not changing. But I've had these new experiences that I wanted to let people in on and give them a chance to know me now. How gradually did your life change? When we talked early last year, you had already become more measured with certain things. A water between each margarita, that type of thing.I think it's been gradual. I had so many different eras throughout my career. In between all of them, there was love, but there was also my toxic 'Becky's So Hot' era. Then there was [In Search of the Antidote] and going on this deeper health journey and learning so much about myself. I feel like it's been gradual, but…. My last tour was just so hard for me. It was really painful for me. I thought that people didn't know the most current version of me. I thought that Cari was getting lost in this larger persona. Is there any part of you that is scared of how people are going to react to a song like 'Boy'?Oh my gosh, yeah. I'm terrified. It's so scary to share your truth, you know. My career launched with a song called 'Wasted Youth' in my early twenties about falling in love with a girl. Here I am, 10 years later at the start of my thirties, with a song about falling in love with a boy. Through this entire time, all I've expressed…. My deepest desire for people was for them to boldly and unapologetically be themselves. And I have to walk that walk. If that's what I've been preaching to my fans who I love so much this whole time, then I have to give myself that same grace. Otherwise, what the fuck is the point? I understand that my love life is not the most important thing in global news in the world, especially within the queer community. Trans people's existence right now is being threatened, and their rights are being threatened at every angle. There's a lot more important things to put attention and energy and love to. But at the same time, even through the fear that I have, the commitment to being myself no matter what is where my heart will always lay. It's my north star that I have to just run towards. Has your thinking on your identity shifted at all?I'm so proud to be queer. That's not something that's shifted. There's so many other components to me, aside from my queerness. I'm so fortunate to even be lifted up by the community the way that I have been all of these years. I'm a queer woman, that's not changing…. I'm so lucky I've gotten to experience so much magic in this life because of my openness and my curiosity. For me it's always been this living, breathing expression. It doesn't shift or evolve for everyone. But for me, it's always been this living, breathing thing. What kind of support system are you leaning on these days?I have my family and my friends who love me so much, and I have people who love on me through every single season. I know there will be people that feel however they're going to feel. That's OK. I'm OK with that. I could have buried this song somewhere in the soundtrack in the larger context of this album. I chose to lead with it first. That's because I knew that it was something that my fans, and the people who have supported me all these years, would care about. I didn't want there to be any veil between me and my truth. It's something that I'm willing to talk about. I have cycled through every emotion through the making of this album. I have cycled through tears, and grief, and guilt, and shame, and fear, and excitement and joy. It is an embodiment of the human experience. Are there other revelations on this album that you hope fans pay attention to?My biggest hope is for everybody to be free to be themselves and to love themselves and to express themselves. It's scary to share new discoveries about yourself. This album, and 'Boy,' is really a permission slip for me to be myself. And for me to love and express myself. I just want it to be a permission slip, you know. I'm stepping into this bravery even if I'm scared, in hopes that other people are able to do that in their own lives. Whatever evolution in your life, whatever doesn't fill your cup anymore — a relationship, or a job, or some version of you that evolved and wants to come through. Fuck it. Life is way too fucking short. Truly. To do anything else. At the end of the day, even if everybody hated me, I'm still myself. If you knew how everything would play out — who you would meet last year — would you do anything differently?No. There's nothing that I would rewrite. There's nothing that I would change about any of my journey. I love all of the women that I have been and the woman that I am becoming. I would never rewrite history. It all happened exactly the way that it was meant to. I celebrate it all. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fletcher fell in love with a 'Boy,' so why is she so sad about it?
Being bisexual should be celebrated, so why does Fletcher seem so down? Queer singer Cari Fletcher (who performs under her last name, Fletcher) released a new song, "Boy," and announced a new album titled Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me?, set to be released July 18. She's also opened up about falling in love with and being in a relationship with a man. So why does this new era feel more like an apology than a relationship announcement? I'm not bisexual, so I could be wrong. To me, "Boy" doesn't sound like an empowering bi or queer anthem; it sounds like Fletcher feels guilty about her feelings for a man and wants to apologize for them. "I had no choice, I kissed a boy," she sadly sings over even sadder guitars. She seems to be lamenting that she couldn't stop it from happening, and implying that if she did have a choice, she wouldn't have done it. The song evokes sympathy, not celebration. "And it wasn't on your bingo card this year / Well, it wasn't on mine," she adds, even though she's explicitly identified as queer and not a lesbian since at least 2021. That year, when a fan asked her on Instagram if she was lesbian or bi, Fletcher responed, "I would say I identify as queer," and "it's about energy. But I am attracted to strong feminine energy, which just so happens to more likely than not be women." This isn't a JoJo Siwa situation where Fletcher previously identified as a lesbian before falling for a man. Fletcher has always been queer and open that she's attracted to people of all genders. - YouTube What exactly is Fletcher mourning? Is she grieving her loss of community or status? She is still just as queer as she ever was, and in the vast majority of the world, being with a man only raises her status. Of course, there will always be some biphobic members of the queer community, but there aren't as many biphobes are there are bisexuals. Fletcher is far from being alone in being a queer woman attracted to or dating a man. Many other queer singers like Dove Cameron, Demi Lovato, and Miley Cyrus have all proudly declared themselves queer and are currently in committed relationships with men. Those singers' relationships with men didn't evoke the same type of feelings among their queer fans that "Boy" has for Fletcher. But none of them released a whole song and album mournfully declaring that they "had no choice" but to fall for the men they love. Queer singer Kesha just released a song last month titled "Boy Crazy." It's a fun and sexy celebration of her sexuality. There's no hint of sadness that she, as a queer woman, goes crazy for men. And there shouldn't be. In reality, Fletcher's community didn't get smaller. It got bigger. Now, more women can relate to her music than ever before. This is even true among queer women. According to a 2024 Gallup poll, 57 percent of all adults who identify as LGBTQ+ identify as bisexual, versus only 15 percent identifying as lesbians. The Pew Research Center reports that five percent of the overall female population describes themselves as bisexual, versus just two percent describing themselves as lesbians. It also reports that for people of all genders under 30, 11 percent identify as bisexual, versus four percent who identify as gay or lesbian. Some in the lesbian community also see the launch and timing of the song as tone deaf. In the song, Cari sings that she's "hiding out in Northern California / Where nobody knows who I was before / Where they won't judge me in the morning." This sounds like she's been enjoying spending time living a life where no one knew she was into women, where she's seen for who she is now: a woman dating a man. She even deleted all her Instagram posts from before this month, wiping away years of her personal public history of sapphic singing and dykey dancing. To some fans, this sends the message that that was the old Fletcher, and the new Fletcher is all about boys. To some listeners, releasing a song about the fear of being persecuted for being a woman who is in love with a man during Pride month also feels somewhat insulting in a world where attacks on same-sex relationships are growing. This past January, Fletcher might've felt nervous to "come out" about her relationship with a man. Meanwhile, lesbians were rushing to get married and worrying that Donald Trump and other conservative proponents of Project 2025 would soon overturn the Supreme Court case that allows us to marry each other. The problem isn't that Fletcher is in love with a man, or that she's singing about it. Anyone who criticizes Fletcher for "queerbaiting" or says she's "not queer enough" is flat-out wrong and foolish. But why does she have to be so sad about the situation? In an interview with Them, Fletcher said that she was "scared" to come out about her relationship. "I'm cycling through some of the same feelings I felt when I came out 10 years ago of shame and guilt and fear and anxiety and wondering how people are going to react and going to receive me," she said. "For there to be this much fear in a community that I should belong in is a very real feeling that I have. I acknowledge it and I see that that's there." With "Boy," it feels like she's painted herself into a corner with a self-fulfilling prophecy that her fans would be upset she is in love with a man. If she's so sad and scared about it, how can she not expect her fans to be sad and scared as well? The only things her fans know about her relationship is what she is telling them, and she is sending a strong message that being a queer woman who loves a man is a tragedy. By releasing a song that seems to focus on self-pity and fear, it almost feels like Fletcher isn't proud to be herself, and that's not the unapologetic Cari that her fans have come to know and love.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Furious fans call queer pop star Fletcher 'JoJo Siwa 2.0' after she reveals she's dating a 'boy'
Fletcher is facing backlash from her fans after announcing her new album and debuting a song about falling in love with a man after primarily making music about her past queer relationships. The 31-year-old singer - whose full name is Cari Fletcher - rose to fame for her raw break-up anthems about her relationships with other women. However, she recently released a new single called Boy, from her upcoming album Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me? out July 18 where she reveals her latest relationship. While Fletcher says the song reflects a moment of unexpected personal growth, many are upset and claiming she changed her entire image. On social media, listeners called the timing of the song's release during Pride Month 'crazy' and argued she could have waited another month to release the single, where she tells her fans: 'His lips were soft / I had no choice / I kissed a boy.' One user posted a video showcasing the new song and people in the comments were furious. Many people compared Fletcher to JoJo Siwa, 22, who recently shocked her fans when she announced her relationship with former Love Island star Chris Hughes, 32, after previously exclusively dating women and identifying as a lesbian. Commenters wrote, 'It's giving JoJo Siwa,' and said she was 'in her JoJo Siwa era,' with many members of her largely queer audience saying they'd rather she hadn't shared this information during Pride Month. 'She had any other month to release this but doing it during the first week of Pride Month is a grab and a bad one at that,' one angry fan griped of Fletcher's new song. 'I think the issue is timing and delivery… it feels manipulative,' a comment read. The original creator responded: 'I don't care [about] the fact that she's dating a man, I'm happy for her, after making your whole career centered around liking being a lesbian was a phase? In another video, a TikTok content creator discussed the singer's 'rebrand' and how she now signs off as 'Cari,' referring to the letter she posted to her Instagram. Many fans explained they were upset because her discography was based on her past relationships with women. She even went viral for her past relationships, including her song Becky's So Hot about her previous relationship with content creator Shannon Beveridge. Frustrated fans didn't like that her new merch has the word 'boy' written all over it to pay homage to her new single. Despite the pushback, fans on Reddit were quick to jump to her defense, arguing that the singer never said she only dated women. Internet sleuths believe Fletcher is dating Jagwar Twin, or Brandon Roy Wronski, who is allegedly connected to a wellness group, The Modern Mystery School. Miley Cyrus and Shawn Mendes have been linked to the organization in the past, which has previously been referred to as 'cult-like'. Its mission statement reads: 'The Modern Mystery School is in service to all of humanity to assist in the ascension of the human consciousness on this planet. This is a mission the school and its lineage holders have been working towards for over 3,000 years. The statement continues: 'The purpose of the school is to help people achieve their highest spiritual potential in this physical life, while living a life of joy, fulfillment and love.' Fans began to speculate Fletcher was also a member after her name appeared on a list of people who have taken courses with MMS, per Pride. Rumors swirled so heavily that the singer issued a statement in March 2024 denying any involvement. 'I am no longer involved with MMS. I was listed on the website because I took a few introductory classes followed by a one-week course out of curiosity,' she wrote on Twitter. 'Further insight into the organization did not resonate with me in any way. 'I do not support, subscribe or condone any mission or rhetoric that is anti-LGBTQ+ in any form, spiritually, politically or otherwise.'
The Citizen
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Film extraordinary: Bono's Stories of Surrender
The narrative tracks the formation of the band, many of the songs, and what lies beneath. Stories of Surrender is personal and for everyone at the same time. Picture Supplied It's a film that ends on a high. A kind of unexpected high that's heavy and light at the same time, but biographical in its totality of moment. Bono's Stories of Surrender, now on Apple TV, ends with an incredible rendition, in full tenor armour, with Torna A Surriento or Take Me To Sorrento. It was one of his father's favourite songs. A vocal tour de force for the U2 frontman. Stories of Surrender was released at the end of May. It's a monochrome ninety-something minute epic based on Bono's one-man theatre performances after publishing his biography of the same name. If you have read the book, you will appreciate the show immensely. Even if you haven't, it's still a fantastic watch, if for nothing else than the star's showmanship. It's the theatre of the one-man show, brought to life in a style not dissimilar to Rattle and Hum of the late eighties. It's storytelling about the ghosts of life stages past, present and hints of a future. It's about how love and justice drove a man to be loud about his convictions. Father and son, mother and son. Facing the possibility of death when his heart nearly failed in 2016. It's storytelling, it's struggle, it's humble In between, Bono's struggle with God, religion, his need to banish his ego and be one of us, ordinary folk. And then, there was the band. There is the band. Where is the band? Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton and The Edge are not there. His dad is not there. Mom, Iris, is a central character who shaped his adulthood in her absence. A harp and a few other strings accompany Bono's tuneful breaks between conversation with the audience. Empty chairs are arranged and rearranged to illustrate the ghosts, the souls that have and continue to impact his life. The simplicity of it all, in black and white, is engaging to the very end. It's theatre that holds a shotgun of emotion, relevant to all of us. The narrative tracks the formation of the band, many of the songs, and what lies beneath. The singer called himself a 'fucking idiot' in the early days of U2, particularly at the time of writing I Will Follow, the anthemic opening track of their debut Boy. He tells of taking The Edge's guitar and how he started making 'drill-like' sounds. The Edge responded, encouraging him despite not being sure whether he liked it. Bono handed back the guitar, and The Edge turned the riff into what we know today. It's a moment in time that defined a band that can argue, fight, and create, but always together. Bono is one of four Bono called the show a Quarterman performance because he is one of four. And nothing without his comrades. Also Read: U2's 'How to Reassemble an Atomic Bomb' is a satisfying throwback Manager Paul McGuinness, now retired, was credited as the glue that held them all together. Bono tells of their first breakup after Boy and their brushes with fundamentalist Christianity. He credits the love of his life, Alison Hewson, nee Stewart, as the woman who co-wrote his story. Later, the singer, fully shed of his Achtung Baby Macphisto persona, now only a man in reflection, confesses. He places his ego in the dock and asks himself whether his crusade to save the world was simply a child-like desire to be the centre of attention, or real? Surrender, also on the band's debut album, was the first song that Bono wrote at 18. It was the track that entrenched the somewhat angst, somewhat in love, somewhat seeking internal and external justice feel of the band's entire career. Not haunting, exactly, more like loitering in the back of his head, still muttering wisdom wrapped in sarcasm of Bobo's da' Bob Hewson. Like most sons since time began, Bono had a thing about wanting his dad to get him, to understand him and to be proud of him. And when he didn't, he turned up the volume. That need for approval, that ache, became the amplifier for the life he built, said Bono. The influence of Da' The story of Bob Hewson, inside the story, settles into the worn armchairs of Finnegan's Pub in Dublin, the Sorrento lounge to be precise. This was where father and son would share space more than conversation. He shares anecdotes from Pavarotti to his dad meeting Princess Diana and how, when Pride was released, Bob Hewson admitted to 'feeling some'. Stories of Surrender isn't just about a band, a singer, and his story. It's in a way, all our stories. And it's fantastically woven together as a work where one man exposes himself, and we can all hide behind his narrative. It's learning that other people are the giants on whose shoulders we rise and stand. And reach for the stars. It's a film where moments of surrender can resonate loudly, to the point of your own tears. ALSO READ: The Spikes and Bondage that set rock free
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
See Charli XCX Light Herself on Fire (Sort of) in ‘Party 4 U' Video
As promised, Charli XCX has shared the new video for 'Party 4 U' to celebrate the fifth anniversary of her album How I'm Feeling Now, which was released on this day in 2020. The Mitch Ryan-directed video, based on a concept by the singer, concludes with Charli XCX setting a billboard with her own face on it on fire, perhaps a metaphor for her closing out that chapter in her life. More from Rolling Stone Lorde: 'I'm an Intense Bitch' 'Overcompensating': A Closeted Golden Boy Tries to Play It Straight Charli XCX Releasing 'Party 4 U' Video to Celebrate Fifth Anniversary of 'How I'm Feeling Now' A day before the 'Party 4 U' video's arrival, Charli XCX reflected on How I'm Feeling Now, as well as the song's surprise resurgence five years after its release. 'So much has changed since then: me, my life, elements of my music and most definitely the world,' XCX wrote. 'I made the album in just five weeks, from conception to release, entirely publicly in collaboration with all of you. It was so special. I felt like I rediscovered myself, my sanity + my sense of connection with the world, at a time where we were all so alone.' In addition to the 'Party 4 U' video, Charli XCX is also celebrating How I'm Feeling Now's anniversary with a limited-time-only vinyl repress of the LP, which is available now at her online shop. 'Obviously I wanted to do something to celebrate,' Charli hinted in the handwritten letter. 'It was all of us at our most raw, our most stripped, our most vulnerable. I will never forget it, and I really can't believe that 5 years later one of the Angel favorites is having its own special moment.' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
