Early this month, when the top 5 of the Hot 100 was occupied entirely by country artists for the first time in its history, most of the names were familiar: There was Taylor Swift, there was Ella Langley, there was Morgan Wallen, there was Morgan Wallen with Ella Langley… and at No. 5, 23-year-old newcomer Stella Lefty. If the Chicago-area native’s name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s a safe bet the song in question, “Boston,” does. Recently included in Variety’s Power of Young Hollywood “Up Next” class, Lefty is in the midst of a whirlwind year and has seen a sharp rise in streaming numbers following several viral songs on TikTok.
Last week, she took a trip home to play Lollapalooza, announced her debut album “Long Way Home” (which comes out on Friday), and shared just how much life has changed for her, seemingly overnight. It’s also just so refreshing for me because I feel like I was getting so bogged down by where I was at before. I feel like I’ve circled around in terms of the sound and where everything is at, to a place that I feel really good about.” She began publicly sharing her songs in 2020 as the pandemic set in.
Her goal was less of a marketing strategy and more of a need for an outlet. But as the songs began to gain an audience, word spread that her father, Eric Lefkofsky, is a co-founder of Groupon and later founded Tempus AI, where he currently sits as CEO. Inevitably, the term “nepo baby” was thrown around.
Rather than address it, Lefty has opted to keep her head down and focus on her music. She does, however, bring up the juxtaposition between the start of her career and now. I was just in my room, so who was going to tell me that they thought my song was bad?
But when I moved to L.A., so many new opinions started coming in.” True to the album title, her motivation throughout the creative process was “trying to get back to a place where it all began, where I was writing in my room, whatever it was going to be and not overthinking it.” Still, the success of “Boston” means her options have expanded far beyond her bedroom. Asked about her dream collaborations, “Every day this changes for me,” she says with a laugh. Obviously Taylor [Swift] and Miley [Cyrus] — I would probably die and never be able to speak again.
Chris Stapleton, Gracie Abrams…” she concludes, “I’m a fan, you know?”
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