edited by Joan Allison | photo courtesy of PRESS HERE
International popstar Kim Petras is one of music’s most buzzed-about artists, first breaking out with her 1 Spotify Global Viral 50 bop I Don’t Want It At All and launching into Top 40 radio with her hit Heart to Break. Appearing on Good Morning America to celebrate the release of her full-length project Clarity, which dominated Spotify’s New Music Friday and Apple Music’s Best of The Week playlists for 10 consecutive weeks with its acclaimed singles including glacial hit Icy, Petras followed up with her latest single Malibu which landed her on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for her late-night debut and received a Malibu (At Home Edition) fan video featuring fans alongside some celebrity friends including Demi Lovato, Paris Hilton, Charli XCX, and many more. Reviving and redefining Halloween music with her mixtape Turn Off the Light, Petras’ undeniable voice and imaginative artistry have skyrocketed her to international recognition and earned her major mainstream media acclaim from the likes of NY Times, NPR, Vanity Fair, People, Rolling Stone, MTV, Glamour, Elle, Variety, Harper’s Bazaar, Allure, Billboard, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Paper, V Magazine, Noisey, OUT, Pitchfork, i-D, Refinery29, and more.
Nashville Pride 2021 is about to kick off and some big names are set to perform. One of those headliners is Kim Petras. Petras is an international singer getting major traction who’s also a trans community member. She was born as male in Germany in August 1992, but from the age of two, Petras has said, she knew she was a girl. Her parents were supportive of her identity. She is said to have been (at that time) the youngest person in the world to receive confirmation surgery at age 16. “I was asked if I feel like a woman now – but the truth is I have always felt like a woman – I just ended up in the wrong body.”
In 2019 Petras released a collection of digital singles which would later comprise her unofficial body of work known as Era 1. The singer released her debut album, Clarity, in 2019. Clarity received acclaim from music critics, reached number seven on the Heatseekers Chart, and number 26 on the Independent Albums chart. That same year, Petras released a Halloween-themed album Turn Off the Light. In 2020, she was charting internationally with her singles Malibu and Broken Glass, the latter being a collaboration with Kygo.
Earlier this year, Petras debuted Future Starts Now at Lollapalooza. This latest work is described by Rolling Stone as “ a Daft Punk remix of Dua Lipa” that promises a debut album that will be “slick, bold, and stuck in your head all week.” Future Starts Now was written amidst all the disappointment and anxiety of the pandemic, Petras said, and became a way for her to transcend lockdown and wipe the slate clean after a tough year. It’s meant to capture the euphoria of being in the moment and not stressing about the future, the past, or time lost during lockdown.
Petras recently appeared on the cover of Glamour, and also teamed up with Adam Lambert for a surprise performance at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to kick off Pride month. She’s also appeared in a string of groundbreaking collaborations, recently teaming up with Studio Killers for the remix of their viral hit Jenny (I Wanna Ruin Our Friendship) and ElyOtto for the remix of the hyperpop TikTok phenomenon SugarCrash! Last year, Kim appeared next to Madison Beer to lend her vocals to League of Legends’ virtual global supergroup K/DA for Villain, and featured on Broken Glass, a fan favorite from Kygo’s third studio album
Golden Hour.
Petras will perform Saturday, September 18 on the Equality Stage (artist schedule may change without notice). Other artists include Salt N Pepa and Orville Peck.
For the full entertainment lineup, visit nashvillepride.org/entertainment.
