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Who is Chlöe Bailey, Beyoncé’s protégé who even seduced Michelle Obama?
If the sisters Chlöe and Halle Bailey became known in 2013 thanks to their covers on YouTube, seducing Beyoncé in the process, the singing duo then made a place for themselves in the industry thanks to their precocious talent and exceptional voices. Today, after several musical projects together, Chlöe, then twenty-two years old, is taking off and embarking on a solo career. We met with a young artist adored on social networks, and a protégé of Queen B herself, who released her very first single, Have Mercy, on September 10.
When we meet Chlöe, the young woman keeps emphasizing how grateful she is for everything that happens to her. She does so in a soft and calm tone, appearing almost vulnerable, the opposite of the strong and confident image she projects on social networks and during her performances. Because despite his almost four million followers on Instagram, his special relationship with Beyoncé and her flourishing music career with her sister Halle, Chlöe remains a great lover of music, which saw her life turned upside down eight years ago. On July 1, 1998, Chlöe Bailey was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up with her sister Halle, born two years later, in a loving family and a warm home, where music is king. “Our parents made us listen to music incessantly at home. We grew up with this love for music. We listened to Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Nina Simone or Toni Braxton… Only artists who also made me want to make it my profession”Chlöe says.
From a very young age, the two sisters, who were very close , understood that they could sing and very quickly had the idea of exhibiting their talent. They then posted cover videos on Youtube, under the name Chloe x Halle and covered songs by their idols: Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Rihanna or John Legend. At the end of 2013, when the two were respectively fifteen and thirteen years old, they released a cover of the single Pretty Hurts by Queen B, which went viral and accumulated more than twelve million views, so much so that Beyoncé herself published the video on her social networks. A first consecration for the duo, who will then be signed to Parkwood Entertainment, the label created by Queen B, in 2015. “Beyoncé gave us a lot of advice about the music industry. She told us not to listen to what people say, whether it’s positive or negative, because it can affect us deeply. She also told us to stay true to who we really are.”
Very quickly, everything came together, Chlöe and Halle unveiled their first EP, Sugar Symphony, in 2016, then opened for Beyoncé during the European leg of her “The Formation World Tour”, and even participated in a project launched by Michelle Obama: This Is for My Girls, a song created as part of the “Let Girls Learn” project – aimed at promoting the education of young girls in difficulty – initiated by the first lady of the time. Then Chloe x Halle unveiled a new EP in 2017, The Two of Us, a mixtape in 2018, The Kids Are Alright, and even an album last year, entitled Ungodly Hour. Thanks to all these musical projects, the group of singers has truly stood out and seduced millions of people, especially on social networks, and has even received a total of five Grammy nominations. Today, although Chlöe “loves to make music with her sister”, whom she even considers her “best friend”, the young artist has decided to go solo. “Despite our career as a duo, I’ve always made music on my own. I already have a lot of songs ready that no one has ever heard.”
On September 10, the American unveiled her very first solo single, Have Mercy, a hard-hitting and vibrant track, which now has a total of twenty-three million streams. By the way, Chlöe didn’t do things by halves, since she also released the video of the track a few days later, a video that caused a lot of reaction. While some fans of the duo still saw her as a child devoid of any sex appeal or even a formed body, the singer showed herself as the woman she is today, twerking in an ultra sexy outfit in the video, which drew sometimes derogatory, even disgusting comments. “What the haters were able to say touched me a lot and it still touches me. People don’t have the right to tell a woman how to behave or how to dress. I am happy to be able to help other women to love themselves and be confident. People don’t have the right to sexualize you and comment on your body. It’s a real problem for women’s confidence”. A response to these “haters” that she published on her social networks, like a real cry from the heart against this omnipresent sexualization of female artists, as soon as one of them would dare to show a piece of skin.
Two days after releasing her first single, Chlöe also sang it for the very first time solo at the VMAs, providing an explosive performance worthy of the greatest artists. “The VMAs were insane. I was filled with emotions, and especially very nervous at the idea of the audience seeing me perform like this for the first time, even though it has always been my dream. Performing and dancing is what I prefer. It’s the best feeling in the world.” While she is preparing her first album without her sister Halle, who is working on the live-action of The Little Mermaid, Chlöe does not intend to part with her, and says that their band will continue despite the new lonely part of her professional life. At only twenty-two years old, Chlöe can still boast of having a musical career like very few at her age, even being supported by one of the greatest artists of her time. But the young woman, who concludes our meeting with an air as nostalgic as it is amused, reminds us that her goal as an artist “would simply be to make people happy and inspired, as other artists have done for her. And why not of course win a few Grammys!”
Single Have Mercy (2021), by Chlöe, available.
