Jessica Anne Newham, 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. Early life
Jessica Anne Newham was born in Sydney, Australia, where she lived until her
mid-teens. 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, whose
alumni include Norah Jones, Rufus Wainwright, and Josh Groban.
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.
After high school at Frensham in the Southern Highlands, NSW, Newham attended
Berklee College of Music in Boston. 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. 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. 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, Pop on And On, and
Popservations. 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. On 8 March 2014, "Somebody Loves You" reached
number one on Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs chart. 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.
= The Movement = Newham's debut EP, The Movement, was
released on 16 April 2013. 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. It premiered on
Billboard on 9 April 2013, one week prior to its official release date 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," indie pop blog All Things Go claimed she was
"charting new musical territory," and the famous UK outlet Popjustice called
it "the best proper EP so far of 2013." Press continued to organically build
throughout the year, with Elle Magazine calling her "Your Next Pop Obsession" on
5 August 2013 and TIME hand-picking Newham as one of 14 Musical Acts To
Watch in 2014. On 11 September 2013, Spencer Stout
uploaded a YouTube video 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. 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. The pair operate under the motto that "making something
good is easy, the challenge is making it right."
Who signed to RCA Records on 15 September 2013.
= 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. 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.'" 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. 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. Discography
= Studio albums = 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
Slow Dancing Worlds Apart
= Featured artist = Troye Sivan's Blue Neighbourhood
"Heaven" Awards
Tours = Headlining =
The Convertible Nights Tour = Co-headlining =
Kiesza - Sound of a Woman Tour = Opening act =
Katy Perry – Prismatic World Tour Kylie Minogue - Kiss Me Once Tour
See also List of number-one dance hits
List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
References