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.
Taste
Betty Who Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But it's twenty to two and you know that I want some
(I) Should be drinking 'em down
But he poisoned my mind any time that I'm on one
Every tomorrow I wake up and pray it's the day
That I won't miss it or want it or need him to stay
(I) but he's already on his way
All my cravings come at me
This ain't love, it's sacrifice
Oh my God, I can't behave
The worse they are, the better they taste
(I) got a big appetite
If I look then I touch then it's already over
I wish I could just take a bite
So I do, I don't think I can sink any lower
Every tomorrow, I wake up and pray I won't be
'Caught in the sugar, your sour, your salty, your sweet
(I) I'm starving, so give it to me
You know the worse they are, the better they'll be
All my cravings come at me
This ain't love, it's sacrifice
Oh my God, I can't behave
The worse they are, the better they taste
One little bite couldn't hurt, right?
I'ma get what I deserve, right?
I'm done with playing it safe
You know the worse they are, the better they taste
All my cravings come at me
This ain't love, it's sacrifice
Oh my God, I can't behave
The worse they are the better they taste
One little bite couldn't hurt, right?
I'ma get what I deserve, right?
I'm done with playing it safe
The worse they are, the better they taste
In Betty Who's song "Taste," the lyrics describe a person who is struggling with their cravings for someone or something that they know is not good for them. They acknowledge that they should know better than to indulge in these cravings, but they continue to do so anyways. The person describes feeling poisoned by the object of their desire, and they have to constantly pray that they won't miss or want that person or thing. Despite their reservations, however, the person cannot resist their cravings because the worse they are, the better they taste. The song ends on a note of defiance, with the person deciding that they are done with playing it safe and that they will get what they deserve, even if it means indulging in something that is not good for them.
Line by Line Meaning
I should know better by now
I have enough experience to make better choices
But it's twenty to two and you know that I want some
I want something that I probably shouldn't
(I) Should be drinking 'em down
I know I should be avoiding this situation
But he poisoned my mind any time that I'm on one
He has a negative influence on me when I'm around him
Every tomorrow I wake up and pray it's the day
I hope that I will eventually be able to resist this temptation
That I won't miss it or want it or need him to stay
I want to be free from my addiction to him and his lifestyle
(I) but he's already on his way
He's already leaving, and I still feel attached to him
You know the worse they are, the better they taste
I am attracted to things that are unhealthy for me
All my cravings come at me
I have a lot of desires that I struggle to resist
This ain't love, it's sacrifice
My actions are driven by the desire to fulfill my cravings, not love
Oh my God, I can't behave
I struggle to control myself around this person
I got a big appetite
I have a strong desire for things that are bad for me
If I look then I touch then it's already over
Once I engage with my desires, it is hard to stop myself
I wish I could just take a bite
I want to indulge in these bad habits
So I do, I don't think I can sink any lower
I give into temptation, even though I know it's bad for me
Every tomorrow, I wake up and pray I won't be
I wake up each day hoping that I won't give in to my cravings
'Caught in the sugar, your sour, your salty, your sweet
I am trapped by my desire for unhealthy things
(I) I'm starving, so give it to me
I feel like I need these unhealthy things to survive
You know the worse they are, the better they'll be
I know that bad things are bad for me, but I still crave them
One little bite couldn't hurt, right?
I justify indulging in my cravings
I'ma get what I deserve, right?
I feel like I deserve to indulge in my cravings despite the consequences
I'm done with playing it safe
I am willing to take risks, even if they are bad for me
The worse they are, the better they taste
I am drawn to things that are unhealthy for me
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: James John Jr. Abrahart, Jessica Anne Newham, Sivert Hjeltnes Hagtvet, Viljar Losnegard, Zak Stucci
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@joshuabailey2486
It's been THREE YEARS, and this song is STILL better than anything on the radio right now 🥵🔥
@ruth5460
The feminine and masculine Betty is validating my bisexuality
@michellene5244
im inlove
@abpeterson4217
forever remember jonghyun BIGGEST MOOD
@NeptuneChildASMR
Sameeeee😩😍👌🏻
@alihayman3834
omg fucking same
@PrezSketches
100%
@moukhu
Find you somebody that looks at you like Betty Who looks at Betty Who
@wickedrocketelvispel
I want to look at myself that way honestly 😂
@anhslondon
Idk why this talented human being is so underrated :(