Betty Who

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Betty Who
2014-06-08 15-23-45bettywho.JPG
Who performing at Capital Pride in Washington D.C.
Background information
Birth name Jessica Anne Newham
Born (1991-10-05) 5 October 1991 (age 32)
Sydney, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboard
  • guitar
  • cello
Years active 2010–present
Labels RCA
Website www.bettywhomusic.com

Jessica Anne Newham (born 5 October 1991), better known by her stage name Betty Who, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician based in New York City. She is signed to RCA Records.[1]

Early life

Jessica Anne Newham was born in Sydney, Australia, where she lived until her mid-teens.[1] Trained since the age of four as a cellist, she moved to the United States in 2007 to attend Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.

Newham is also self-taught on piano and guitar, and wrote her first songs at age 14, and began performing as a singer-songwriter at age 16.[2]

After high school at Frensham in the Southern Highlands, NSW, Newham attended Berklee College of Music in Boston.[2] During her first semester, she met producer Peter Thomas who was also attending Berklee. Thomas suggested pairing Newham's songwriting with a more dreamy, anthemic production style. The two began writing new material together and developed Newham's sound over the next two years.[1]

Career

As Betty Who, Newham's debut single "Somebody Loves You" was initially released independently as a free download, and was premiered by pop music blogger and at-the-time official Grammy blogger Arjan Writes on 30 November 2012.[3] Co-written by Newham and Thomas, and produced by Thomas, the song garnered immediate praise, spreading quickly online and being featured by other well-known outlets including Socialite Life,[4] Pop on And On,[5] and Popservations.[6] A music video, directed by Evan Savitt, was released on 22 January 2013, and an official remix by acclaimed indie pop producer FM Attack was released on 11 March 2013.[7] On 8 March 2014, "Somebody Loves You" reached number one on Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs chart.[8] On 13 February 2015, "Somebody Loves You" was covered by Darren Criss and Chris Colfer's characters in the 7th episode of Glee's sixth season called Transitioning.[9][10][11]

The Movement

Newham's debut EP, The Movement, was released on 16 April 2013.[12] An independent, free-download release initially, the EP's huge success online helped lead to a large amount of major label interest, before she ultimately signed with RCA Records.[13] It premiered on Billboard on 9 April 2013, one week prior to its official release date[14] and continually received rave reviews from countless major blogs and magazines throughout 2013. Upon release, Idolator described the EP as "A spine-tinglingly euphoric 80's pop nugget,"[15] indie pop blog All Things Go claimed she was "charting new musical territory,"[16] and the famous UK outlet Popjustice called it "the best proper EP so far of 2013."[17] Press continued to organically build throughout the year, with Elle Magazine calling her "Your Next Pop Obsession" on 5 August 2013[18] and TIME hand-picking Newham as one of 14 Musical Acts To Watch in 2014.[19]

On 11 September 2013, Spencer Stout uploaded a YouTube video[20] of him proposing to his boyfriend Dustin in a flash mob dance routine at a Salt Lake City, Utah Home Depot. The video, which featured "Somebody Loves You" became a viral hit online, and as of April 2014 garnered over 11 million views. The attention of the video coupled with the track's official iTunes release, led to the song debuting at number 44 on the overall iTunes Charts, as well as debuting as the number 4 most viral song on Spotify.[21]

Who has described her sound as, "taking influences from [past] music and mixing it in with the emotions I'm actually living through. We're all secretly wrecks and we're all in love and all being heartbroken. Combining those things for me has been a huge tool to get the sound I want." So far, her music has been crafted in collaboration with producer Peter Thomas.

Who signed to RCA Records on 15 September 2013.[22]

Slow Dancing and Take Me When You Go

Who released her second EP, Slow Dancing, on 8 April 2014, which made it to number one on the iTunes pop music charts. The first single from that album, titled "Heartbreak Dream", was released on iTunes and Google Play on 18 February 2014.[23] The song is used over the end credits of the 2015 film Pitch Perfect 2.

Who has praised Katy Perry, Robyn and Miley Cyrus as influences. She told Variance Magazine in 2014 that they "make pop that's generational. They're making the pop music of our generation that's going to stick around. People are going to look back and be like, 'Oh my God, it's Robyn's Body Talk album. That's one of the best pop albums of the last 10 years.'"[24] Who supported Katy Perry and Kylie Minogue on part of the Australia leg of The Prismatic World Tour and Kiss Me Once Tour respectively. In 2014, Who made her American television debut when she performed "Somebody Loves You" on Watch What Happens: Live.[25]

In late August 2014, Who made the announcement that her full-length debut album, Take Me When You Go, will be released on 7 October 2014. She also released the track list with the announcement. Thirteen songs, four of them being taken from her previous EPs, appeared on the album. From the album, the track, "All of You", was her second number one on the US Dance chart, peaking at number one on 21 February 2015.[26]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales Certifications
AUS
[27]		 CAN
[28]		 US
[29]
Take Me When You Go —[A] — 68
  • US: 5000+
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
Notes
  • A. ^ Take Me When You Go did not chart in the top 100 of the Australian albums chart, but reached number 4 on the Hitseekers albums chart.

Extended plays

  • The Movement (2013)
  • Slow Dancing (2014)
  • Worlds Apart (2014)

Featured artist

Awards

Year Association Category Nominated work Result
2014 NewNowNext Awards Best New Musician Herself Won

Tours

Headlining

  • The Convertible Nights Tour (2015)

Co-headlining

  • Kiesza - Sound of a Woman Tour (2015)

Opening act

See also

References

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