Get to Know the Music Industry Disruptors Taking Stardom on Their Own Terms

Mar. 15, 2025

Betty Who collects ties. The Australian-born pop star reveals this particular sartorial preference shortly after she enters the photo studio atPeople’s downtown Manhattan headquarters for her shoot and interview. “I love yours,” she whispers, referencing this reporter’s brown-and blue-striped tie. She’s not wearing her favorite accessory herself just yet (she’ll confab with her stylist and glam team imminently), but as she introduces herself to the crew on-set, she remains deep in conversation withPeopleabout how her affinity for ties runs so deep that her friends have begun purchasing them on her behalf.

Together, the five musicians are taking on the music industry on their own terms, with their bright eyes and fresh faces. Literally, as everything from their eyeshadow down to their blush is from cosmetics brand e.l.f., which is putting its own spin on the “Get Ready With Me” trend withGet Ready With Music, The Album, out Oct. 15. It features tracks fromthese five artists and seven more,all chosen for their diverse musical styles and talents to create a playlist designed to amp up your night out.

“The music is so good,” says Betty, who, despite her taste for ties, is never one to be creatively tied down. “I think that it’s a perfect combination between these incredibly talented and wonderful people who are expressing themselves and e.l.f., which is a company that I think really prioritizesbeingyourself.”

Betty Who

Essentiel Antwerp jacket. Wrangler pants. Vaincourt belt. Hanes socks. Stylist’s own shoes. Goshwara earrings. Talent’s own rings.Victoria Stevens

Victoria Stevens

Betty Who has a bucket list, and in 2022 the singer, born Jessica Anne Newham, was able to cross one of her lifelong dreams off of it when she was featured in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Betty, 33, was born in Australia, where she spent the first part of her life, and where, she notes, they do not, in fact, celebrate Thanksgiving. From the moment she arrived in the U.S. in 2007, however, the parade had her completely captivated.

Betty had a literal place on a pedestal that day in November two years ago, and she also maintains a spot on a figurative pedestal, as the other artists featured on e.l.f.’’sGRWMalbum look up to her (and not just because she’s 6’2”). Betty—who identifies as queer and uses she/they pronouns—boasts more than a decade of experience in the music industry with plenty of infectious hits to her name, perhaps none more famous than “Somebody Loves You” and “I Love You Always Forever.”

“I’m actually about to go play a show that’s the 10-year anniversary show of my first album. So I’m in a very full-circle part of my life right now. It’s really interesting to be having all these feels come up again,” she says.

Betty’s talents extend beyond just the world of music: In September 2023 she madeher Broadway debut as Persephone inHadestown. “When I went into my first day of rehearsal, I told the dance captain and director that the last time I was in a show, I was 11 years old at my all-girls school inOliver!And I played the Undertaker, and I still remember the entire number,” she says, breaking into song. “So it felt kind of insane to go from 11 years old inOliver!to being on Broadway. I felt like I skipped a couple of steps!”

Still, the natural-born performer says the theater experience taught her more about herself than she could have imagined. For instance, it helped her realize that her love of people lends itself to this different expression of artistry. “Sometimes I actually prefer being a part of a cast as opposed to just me in the middle, on my own out there. I am a big team-sport person!” says Betty, adding that she’s eager to write a musical of her own one day.

In the end, she muses, one of the best pieces of life advice she’s been given wasn’t actually about life at all, but a lesson she learned during that pivotal Thanksgiving Day parade: “When you’re on the float, make sure you look up.”

Charlotte Rose Benjamin

LARUICCI skirt & jacket. Larroudé boots. Von Dutch hat. Goshwara earrings. LARUICCI ring. Alice Pierre ring. Ray Griffiths ring.Victoria Stevens

The year may be 2024, but the ’90s are calling to Charlotte Rose Benjamin. The indie rocker—think Sheryl Crow meets Avril Lavigne —is here to write proudly about what she knows: “I guess the theme of my songs is being a girl,” the 28 year-old quips. The “Hairpin” singer, whose sophomore album,Moth Mouth,dropped in September, grew up in a creative household with a father who was a singer and guitar player and a mother who was a modern dancer. “I just was always watching my dad play out at bar gigs, and I was always singing,” she says.

Still, confidence doesn’t come easy, and “feeling empowered and feeling strong and brave isn’t so natural for me,” Benjamin confesses. “I don’t know how to channel bravery or empowerment. It’s really hard. I don’t think a lot of people feel that way all the time. I definitely don’t.”

Instead, Benjamin acknowledges her self-doubt, singing about how she finds solace and strength in knowing she’s far from perfect. “Feeling confident and feeling empowered for me comes from knowing that I’m going to make a mistake,” the singer says. “I think being really honest is a way to be disruptive.”

Mariangela

Adrienne Landau faux fur coat. Giuseppe Zanotti boots. Goshwara rings. Stylist’s own top, pants & earrings.Victoria Stevens

She may have more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, but 23-year-old Mariangela has one thing in common with practically every other girl in the world: She loves to spill the tea.

“My dad is from Veracruz, which is a completely different side of Mexico than Monterrey, and then being in Texas and getting to know the culture there too, it’s been enlightening,” she says. “I think that’s fueled my creativity as well. I’m filled with so much love and colors and history.”

Brooks Brothers jacket, vest & pants. The Tie Bar pin. Aldo shoes. Goshwara earrings. Talent’s own hat.Victoria Stevens

Olivia Reyes

Christian Cowan jacket, skirt & bra. Stylist’s own shoes. Alexis Bittar earrings. Nickho Rey Rings.Talent’s own necklace & bracelets.Victoria Stevens

Olivia Reyes grew up during the era ofHannah Montanaon the Disney Channel, and now she’s living her own version of the best of both worlds. By day the 23-year-old works as a people development coordinator for e.l.f., but she’s also pursuing a singing career. When Reyes was just 19, she auditioned forThe Voice, landing a spot on John Legend’s team.

“The way that he spoke, the way that he interacted with people, it was very personable, it was very intentional, and I definitely think that changed my perspective,” she says. “He knew what he was saying. He didn’t speak just to speak, especially when it came to giving any advice.”

Reyes had another on-the-spot moment when, in the span of a split second, she had to summon the courage to sing onstage in front of her e.l.f. colleagues during a corporate retreat. That was how the brand discovered her not-so-hidden talent.

“I just blacked out and started singing. And apparently it was good!” Reyes says. “I was just very overwhelmed, but that’s when everybody found out.”

Her career may be just beginning, but she already knows where she’d like to end up: “Being able to combine my passion for entertainment and singing and music with my passion for beauty and fashion? That would be my dream job, in whatever capacity that looks like,” she says. It’s no surprise then, that her contribution to theGRWMalbum is a song aptly titled “Dream” —and Reyes is ready to realize her own. “I strongly believe if you have confidence in yourself,” she says, “then everyone else will too.”

CreditsPhotographerVictoria StevensCinematographerJosh HerzogHairSky KimMakeupNicole Faulkner,Alana Schober, &Alexandra CardosoBetty Who Hair + MakeupMia VarroneStylistAndrew Gelwicks

Credits

PhotographerVictoria StevensCinematographerJosh HerzogHairSky KimMakeupNicole Faulkner,Alana Schober, &Alexandra CardosoBetty Who Hair + MakeupMia VarroneStylistAndrew Gelwicks

PhotographerVictoria Stevens

CinematographerJosh Herzog

HairSky Kim

MakeupNicole Faulkner,Alana Schober, &Alexandra Cardoso

Betty Who Hair + MakeupMia Varrone

StylistAndrew Gelwicks

source: people.com