Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, and Thomas Doherty grace the cover of Variety magazine for the Power Of Young Hollywood issue.
Credit: Variety
Olivia Rodrigo spoke to Variety about her musical journey and how she’s taking in all the success, she’s been receiving. The Drivers License singer discussed how she’s been receiving criticism since her first album, Sour, dropped back in May.
“I love criticism. I think I can grow so much from people being like, ‘Oh, I wish it was more like this,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh cool, this is my first album; I’m learning,” she says.
Ever since Rodrigo’s popular single-shot her to fame, she reflects how she’s taking in all the success. “Oh, my gosh, that was the craziest time of my life. I was sitting in a grocery store parking lot, and I called my A&R guy. It had just gone No. 1 on Apple Music, which is hard for a pop act to do. We were looking at each other on FaceTime, speechless, and just stared at each other for a minute. ‘What do we do?’ ‘I don’t know.’ That was the moment that I knew that it was going to be something bigger than I expected.”
Credit: Variety
Lil Nas X sat down with Variety to talk about how he is revolutionizing hip-hop and trying to be his true authentic self as a gay artist.
“I wanted to be even more authentic in my music and let people into my life. I’m much more confident now — in my music, myself, my sexuality, the things that I believe that I stand for.”
The Montero singer recently released Industry Baby, and the music video received some criticism. The singer responded to the criticism and said, “Y’all be silent as hell when n—-s dedicate their entire music catalog to rapping about sleeping with multiple women.” He continued, “But when I do anything remotely sexual, I’m ‘being sexually irresponsible.’ Y’all hate gay ppl and don’t hide it.”
Jack Harlow, who collaborated with Lil Nas X on Industry Baby, shared how the rapper has become a voice for the LGBTQ+ community. “I think he’s giving a voice to a lot of people and kids who could use one. I think the community he represents could use someone who’s succeeding on a mainstream level — where it can feel like, ‘Yo, you can be No. 1. You can be the greatest.’ I really recognize what he’s doing, and I admire him. I admired him long before we met.”
Credit: Variety
Gossip Girl star, Thomas Doherty, shared with Variety how his role in the popular reboot has made him a pansexual heartthrob and his future projects.
The reboot follows a more ‘with-the-times’ approach and follows a new set of Manhattan private school teenagers as they fall under the surveillance of Gossip Girl.
“I have always seen sexuality as a spectrum. But playing Max, a pansexual character, was incredibly liberating. It was very educational, and it definitely made me challenge my own preconceived notions, my indoctrination, of ‘This is who you love, this is what you do, everything else is wrong.”
As far as his future endeavors, Doherty hopes to hit the Broadway stage one day. “I’m hoping to build some singing muscles and dancing muscles back up. There’s nothing better than the stage. It’s just so open, and it’s free — and the energy.” What would be his dream musical? “I’d love to do ‘Next to Normal’ or ‘Spring Awakening’ before I get too old. And ‘Ragtime’ would be so cool.”
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