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.
Ignore Me
Betty Who Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
like it's last year
We're here and you're still getting it all
When you broke it off
You don't get to know
about my life, my right, my highs, even the lows
you wanted to go
You don't get to be with my friends
You wanted to leave
You don't get to pry
about my day, no way
Boy, just give me some time
The best you thing you can do is just to ignore me
Forget I was born
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You can ignore me
like we never met before
Baby, ignore me
since you don't need me anymore
You don't get to say
that you know me, claim we're homies
All of that changed
when you walked away
You don't get to go
to my parties, I throw parties
for people I know
and you wanted to be alone
Don't forget that you're the one
who walked out of my life, my life
The best you thing you can do is just to ignore me
Forget I was born
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You can ignore me
like we never met before
Baby, ignore me
since you don't need me anymore
Oh yeah yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah
Oh yeah yeah yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah
Oh yeah yeah yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah
Oh yeah yeah yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah
Oh yeah yeah yeah, oh yeah
You don't get to call
like it's last year
We're here and you're still getting it all
The best you thing you can do is just to ignore me
Forget I was born
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You can ignore me
like we never met before
Baby, ignore me
since you don't need me anymore
Just ignore me
Forget I was born
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You can ignore me
Baby, ignore me
Just ignore me, just ignore
Just ignore me, just ignore
The lyrics to Betty Who's "Ignore Me" speak to the aftermath of a break-up and the desire to move on from a past relationship. The singer asserts her boundaries and makes it clear that her ex-partner does not have the right to pry into her life or hang around her friends after ending the relationship. She tells him to forget about her and ignore her, declaring that she doesn't need him anymore. Despite the hurt and frustration she feels, the singer ultimately takes control by stating what she will and will not tolerate from her former partner, and confidently asserting her independence.
The repeated refrain of "ignore me" serves as a strong statement of self-worth and pushback against an ex-partner's attempts to call the shots in a situation where they are no longer wanted. The straightforward and assertive lyrics combined with the upbeat, poppy melody make for a catchy and empowering breakup anthem.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't get to call
like it's last year
You cannot contact me like before and pretend everything is the same
We're here and you're still getting it all
You are still trying to get my attention and know everything despite breaking up
When you broke it off
The relationship ended because of your decision
You don't get to know
about my life, my right, my highs, even the lows
You have no right to access my personal information or know about my life anymore
you wanted to go
You chose to end things, so you cannot expect to be a part of my life anymore
You don't get to be with my friends
They're not your friends, they're coming with me
My friends are not yours, and you cannot hang out with them anymore
You wanted to leave
You made the choice to exit the relationship, so now you have to let me move on
You don't get to pry
about my day, no way
You do not have permission to ask about my day or what I'm doing. It is none of your business anymore
Boy, just give me some time
I need space and time away from you after the breakup
The best you thing you can do is just to ignore me
Forget I was born
The best thing you can do is to move on and pretend I never existed
Since you don't need me anymore
Since you chose to end things, you have no use for me anymore
like we never met before
Pretend that we never crossed paths or had a relationship
You don't get to say
that you know me, claim we're homies
You cannot claim to know me or call us friends after what happened
All of that changed
when you walked away
Everything in our relationship changed when you ended it and left
You don't get to go
to my parties, I throw parties
for people I know
You have no place at my events or parties anymore. They are only for my close friends
and you wanted to be alone
You wanted to be alone and not be with me, so you cannot expect to come back now
Don't forget that you're the one
who walked out of my life, my life
You chose to leave my life, and now you must accept that things have changed because of your decision
Just ignore me
It's better if you just avoid me and not try to be a part of my life anymore
just ignore
Please respect my space and ignore me
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Brett McLaughlin, Jessica Newham, Peter Thomas
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@hochasumnyan9944
"Ignore Me"
You don't get to call
Like it's last year
We're here and you're still getting it all
When you broke it off
You don't get to know
About my life, my right, my highs
Even the lows
You wanted to go
You don't get to be
With my friends
They're not yours, they're coming with me
You wanted to leave
You don't get to pry
About my day
No way
Boy just give me some time
The best you thing you can do
Is just to ignore me
Forget I was born
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You can ignore me
Like we never met before
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You don't get to say
That you know me
Claim we're homies
All of that changed
When you walked away
You don't get to go my parties
I throw parties for people I know
You wanted to be alone
Don't forget you're the one
Who walked out of my life (my life)
The best you thing you can do
Is just to ignore me
Forget I was born
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You can ignore me
Like we never met before
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You don't get to call
Like it's last year
We're here and you're still getting it all
The best you thing you can do
Is just to ignore me
Forget I was born
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You can ignore me
Like we never met before
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
Just to ignore me
Forget I was born
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
You can ignore me
Like we never met before
Baby, ignore me
Since you don't need me anymore
Just ignore me, just ignore
Just ignore me, just ignore
@jacobford7831
Anybody else think that their dance chemistry was absolutely incredible?
@vickenator
They looked like they were having so much fun dancing alongside each other. Huge smiles.
@GarageStudio7
It's so frustrating that she's so underrated... She deserves better!
@grantsmithofficial
GarageStudio I agree
@kruparthrajput
It's a good thing, you know! So much better when some songs don't get famous! ;)
@haytherefriend1553
dont be so sure. i was listening to her when she only had a few thousand views. shes doing great!
@sitakobayashi6101
Keep sharing,so the word will know who she is.😊😊😊😊😊
@tatendaastridchinyenye2309
I agree she is so great her music somehow gives me a reason to live she is awesome
@Emotionallygay89
I'm so obsessed with the dancing she does I've watched this so many times
@fyrTV
YES! One Take Wonder! So creative, so simple, so perfect.