Leveling Up With R&B Up-And-Comer of the Month Baby Rose: ‘I Love This Whole Freaky Journey I’m On’
Categoria: Musica
Between a Grammy win, new album Yearnalism & opening for Olivia Dean, it’s been a whirlwind year for the rising artist.
Por Billboard | 12/11/2026
It’s two days after the one-night-only concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of Amy Winehouse’s seminal album Back to Black at The Roundhouse in London (Oct. 23) — and Baby Rose is still pinching herself. “It was amazing,” says a reverent Rose during a Zoom interview with Billboard . “The way they put it together was just insane … everything from the original band to the original album producers [Mark Ronson, Salaam Remi]. And the venue was the last place Amy performed at before she passed. It was just beautiful to be on one accord with all the women [who performed]. We may be from all over, but the one thing we have in common is how much Amy affected us.” Baby Rose was among a handpicked group of singers — including Corinne Bailey Rae, Jessie Reyez, FLO and Jorja Smith — paired with a track from the album to perform. Working with Paul Duffy, another producer on the Winehouse album, Rose was asked to sing the devastating ballad “Wake Up Alone.” This was just one in a series of breakout moments in what’s been a whirlwind year of leveling up for Baby Rose. Raised between Washington D.C. and Fayetteville, North Carolina, the rising star won her first Grammy for her collaboration on the track “I Used To.” It was her contribution to Leon Thomas’ album MUTT that won the 2026 award for best R&B album. From there, the July release of third studio album Yearnalism (via Secretly Canadian) found the singer-songwriter zeroing in on honesty, freedom, self-love and other desires after moving beyond a low period. Aiding in that transformation: the 12-track album’s alternative mélange of R&B/soul, jazz, gospel and rock and other genres, a contemporary homage described in press materials as “infused with the spirits of Muscle Shoals.” Leading the charge for the project was a reunion with Thomas on first single “Friends Again.” With the critically acclaimed album’s release came the invitation to open for Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving arena tour this summer. Since then, Rose has logged two-night stints at both Blue Note clubs in Los Angeles and New York. And she’s already booked next year to support Harry Styles for two nights (Aug. 18 & 20) in Dublin on his Together Together tour. These career milestones are part of a steady climb that began in 2019 with the release of her debut album To Myself. After a couple of EPs, sophomore set Through and Through followed in 2023. Rose’s 2024 collaborative EP Slow Burn with Canadian band BADBADNOTGOOD further fostered co-signs from the likes of SZA, Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar and Kehlani. Taking a minute to reflect on the nearly 10 years since releasing her first album, an exuberant Baby Rose says, “I love this whole freaking journey that I’m on. There’s this trope about wanting something when you want it. But that something happens when God wants it for you because then it will be tailored to exactly all the things you need to see and experience.” See Baby Rose take Billboard further through that journey be