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, 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.
Betty Who'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 November 30, 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 January 22, 2013, and an official remix by acclaimed indie pop producer FM Attack was released on March 11, 2013.
Betty Who’s debut EP The Movement was released on April 16, 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 April 9, 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 calling her "Your Next Pop Obsession" on August 5, 2013 and TIME hand-picking Betty as one of 14 Musical Acts To Watch In 2014.
She’s 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.”
Betty Who signed to RCA Records on September 15, 2013.
On 8 March 2014, "Somebody Loves You" reached number one on Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs chart.[15]
In April 2014, Who released her second EP, Slow Dancing, which made it to number one on the iTunes pop music charts. The first single from that EP, 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, would 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.
On 3 June 2016, Who released a cover of Donna Lewis' "I Love You Always Forever". It became her third number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, and proved to be her breakthrough hit in Australia, reaching number 6 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
On 24 March 2017, Who's second album, The Valley was released.
On 19 January 2018, Who released "Ignore Me", which is Who's first single as an independent artist, after parting in 2017 with RCA Records. On 16 February 2018, the singer released a cover of Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World" for Made in Australia compilation by Amazon Music. In 2018, Who released a remixed version of Widelife's "All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)" to be used as the theme song for season two of the Netflix reboot Queer Eye. A music video was released featuring the cast of Queer Eye and Who.
On 15 June 2018, Betty, Pt. 1, Betty Who's third EP, was released containing the singles "Ignore Me", "Look Back" and "Taste" as well as two other previously unreleased songs: "Just Thought You Should Know" and "Friend Like Me".
On 14 November 2018, "Between You & Me" was released as another new single. It was the first single from the new album Betty that had not been previously released on the Betty, Pt 1 EP. With the release of this single, Betty Who used different shades of blue and photos of herself on her social media profiles to release lyrics to the song. The lyrics that were revealed were "You've got one hand on the wheel", "Sitting at the red light, tensions are high, vibe you could cut with a knife", and "just between you & me, I can feel something here, wondering if you do too". An Instagram post by Betty Who on the day after the release showed that the single already had 22,310 streams on Spotify, and had risen to 31,000 streams two hours later. By 12 December 2018, streams had surpassed 500,000. The music video for this song dropped on 28 November 2018, in which Betty Who plays herself as well as her own love interest. On 10 January 2019, "I Remember" was released as the fifth single from the album, with the music video for the song being released on 24 January.
In June 2020, Who launched a Patreon to fund new music and give fans access to exclusive content.
Betty Who describes herself as a "queer, bisexual woman". In 2014, Who began dating photographer Zak Cassar, son of director and producer Jon Cassar. The couple announced their engagement on 21 November 2017. They were married in 2020. Betty Who is a dual citizen of Australia and the United States.
Heartbreak Dream
Betty Who Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's slow dancing to anything playing
It's us colliding
It's never finding when we should say when
I-I-I can feel it
When I look in your eyes so clearly
I-I can see that you need me
I-I can taste it
All the days that you've been wastin'
I-I know that you can't face them
And all that we were
In a moment
You were everything to me
In this moment
We're living in a heartbreak dream
We're living in a heartbreak dream
It's holding hands
It's makin' plans that we're never keeping
It's silent drivin'
It's always finding reasons to sleep in
Ah, ah, when you're near me
I'm yelling and you can't hear me
Can you feel me, and all that we were?
I-I can taste it
All the days that we've been wastin'
I know that you can't face them
And all that we were
In a moment
You were everything to me
In this moment
We're living in a heartbreak dream
In a moment
You were everything to me
In this moment
We're living in a heartbreak dream
We're living in a heartbreak dream
When you hold me, it feels like you don't know me
We are worlds apart
When you kiss me, I know you haven't missed me
You keep breaking my heart
You keep breaking my heart
You keep breaking my heart
In a moment
You were everything to me
In this moment
We're living in a heartbreak dream
We're living in a heartbreak dream
We're living in a heartbreak dream
We're living in a heartbreak dream
The song "Heartbreak Dream" by Betty Who is a heart-wrenching ballad about a relationship that is falling apart but the two people involved are still holding on. The lyrics paint a haunting picture of a couple who are trying hard to make things work but it's just not happening. The first verse signifies the slow dancing, the collision and the inability to say when probably indicates that they might not know when to stop trying to fix what is broken.
The chorus, on the other hand, really emphasizes the point of the song. The line "In a moment, you were everything to me" really speaks to how fast love can grow and how intensely one can fall for someone. However, the following line "We're living in a heartbreak dream" contradicts the first one, indicating that they are now living in a world that is far from what they expected, full of pain and disappointment.
Lastly, the bridge is particularly interesting because it speaks to how the relationship is no longer what it used to be. The line "When you hold me, it feels like you don't know me" shows that the deep connection and intimacy that once existed in the relationship is now gone. Moreover, the line "You keep breaking my heart" shows how the singer is heartbroken and hurt by what is happening in the relationship, but still unable to let go.
Line by Line Meaning
It's you and me
It's just the two of us.
It's slow dancing to anything playing
We can dance at any tempo.
It's us colliding
We clash a lot.
It's never finding when we should say when
We don't know when to stop.
I-I-I can feel it
I have a strong sensation.
When I look in your eyes so clearly
I see what you're thinking.
I-I can see that you need me
You want me.
And all that we were
Remember the past.
I-I can taste it
I can remember.
All the days that you've been wastin'
The time you wasted.
I-I know that you can't face them
You can't handle it.
In a moment
A short period of time.
You were everything to me
You meant everything to me.
We're living in a heartbreak dream
Our current situation is like a bad dream.
It's holding hands
We are physically connected.
It's makin' plans that we're never keeping
We never follow through with our plans.
It's silent drivin'
We don't talk when we drive.
It's always finding reasons to sleep in
We like to stay in bed longer.
Ah, ah, when you're near me
I get excited when you're close.
I'm yelling and you can't hear me
You're not listening to me.
And all that we were?
Remember the past?
You keep breaking my heart
You hurt me over and over.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: BETTY WHO, PETER THOMAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Hollie Shinn
How is this not the happiest song you've ever heard? I just want to dance and jump around
Cynderella N
I just watched Pitch Perfect 2 and heard the song playing during the end credits ... great song. Betty Who reminds me of a younger Pink. Never heard of her before today. She's quite good.
Rita Wells
I was just telling my son the same thing about
her reminding me of PINK. She is real good.
Jason Crape II
Cynthia Nzeh I totally agree she reminds me of pink and Betty who is amazing
Midoriblitz
What a very catchy tune. Can't believe this song doesn't have millions of views.
Ariola Shahinaj ｯ
This song brings the good mood back
Ben J. Pierce
YES! This is my everything and more. Excuse me while I go booty pop for 30 years to this.
Jessica Rao
haha! this should be pinned
Diogo Xavier
Simplesmente linda e talentosa ❤️ Betty who
Melissa Duffy
Betty's voice is special, complex, fascinating and unique. What comes from her lips is lighthearted, refreshing, uninhibited, & playful. Betty's voice and body speak a refreshing aliveness of presence, a wealthy fullness that encompasses depth and breadth. Her voice and being bursts with enthusiasm that is infectious.
A person's voice communicates the quality of their character. This woman is vital, venturing beyond social norms to give herself fully and freely to life. Her voice expresses this and holds such exuberance, joy and polarities of vulnerability, delicacy and strength.
Her voice has also glistens with lightness as well, communicating 'don't take life so seriously!: Her voice and presence have a bold-angel like quality, soaring expansively to fill vast space, with a purity and clarity of a crystal mountain stream.
She has perfected her pitch,singing with confidence and smoothness as an accomplished musician.