There are few performers who have maintained as consistent and authentic a relationship with Washington—and its LGBTQ community—as Betty Who.

Betty Who, the Australian-American pop singer originally from Sydney, has spent the last 15 years taking her breathy, synth-driven sound from hole-in-the-wall venues to some of the most iconic stages in the world. She’s been around —and she’s not going anywhere.

The Blade recently sat down with the beloved pop princess to talk about her recent Broadway run in Hadestown, her evolving sound, and why performing at Pride events in the nation’s capital holds such a special place in her heart.

Born Jessica Anne Newham in 1991, Who moved to the U.S. in her teens to pursue a promising music career. A multi-instrumentalist since childhood—she plays the cello, piano, and guitar—she’s collected devoted fans, especially LGBTQ ones, along the way.

“It feels pretty crazy,” Who said, reflecting on her unique connection with D.C. “D.C. is one of those cities that I never really expected to have the relationship with that I have at this stage. I started coming to D.C. in the first year of my career—I was playing a couple East Coast cities because I was based in Boston for school, and then I moved to New York.”

In 2014, Who was one of the headlining performers at Capital Pride and has kept that relationship close ever since.

“I would pack up the rental car with my friends from Berklee and go play these shows. And D.C.— what I remember is playing at the Rock & Roll Hotel. I have a long history of playing shows in D.C., and there are few cities that have shown up for me in the way that D.C. does whenever we come around. It’s always one of the biggest shows of the tour. And there’s something about the energy there that is just undeniable for me.”

That energy, she said, continues to fuel her artistic evolution. Her 2022 album “BIG!” marked a shift for her development.

“’BIG!’ was such a huge turning point for me,” Who said. “I think because I was trying to reinvent, but I think I was stuck in a lot of the same patterns that I had been stuck in for a long time. And through making ‘BIG!,’ I thought that I was breaking a lot of those patterns. And on looking back, I realized that I still had so much work to do, and maybe that’s just being an adult. Being in your life, you think you’ve got it all figured out, and then five years later, you look back and you’re like, ‘You silly little girl!’”

One major change has been her approach to releasing music.

“The interesting thing about this era and phase of music is that I do feel like the urgency has been turned up a lot for me,” she explained. “When I came into the business, the model was like: make a song, submit it to your label, and maybe two and a half years later somebody hears it. And now, I finished ‘Run!’ eight weeks before everybody heard it. That direct-to-consumer pipeline that I’m now exploring feels really exciting. That urgency feels more real and tingly for me. I think I used to lose steam sitting on music for so long. Now, it’s like—I haven’t decided that I love these songs, I just like them enough to put them out. It takes me a long time to decide how I feel about music, and I’m excited about this new era.”

That new era is also one of self-discovery—both musically and personally. Her recent Broadway debut as Persephone in the Tony Award-winning “Hadestown,” a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, was transformative.

“I think having an experience that’s really outside your wheelhouse, that makes you uncomfortable, that’s fresh and new—it’s that beginner’s mindset,” she said. “I’ve put in my 10,000 hours in music and songwriting. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid. I feel quite grown now. So to step away from everything I know and feel comfortable in—and throw myself into both of those experiences—helped me so much. It taught me a lot about leadership and about being part of a grander purpose. Because sometimes with Betty Who music, I’m like, ‘Who’s this for? What do I care about?’”

She continued: “I was like, ‘Wow, all these incredibly talented people have been working their whole lives to be on Broadway, and I got this chance to step into that world without the 5 a.m. auditions at Ripley-Grier.’ I felt very grateful. My imposter syndrome was definitely alive and well, but I tried to tamp it down because I wanted to be present and really experience it. Walking away from that and returning to music, I thought, ‘What if I could give that same energy to my own project? What if I could show up for this with that same beginner’s mindset?’ I learned so much.”

That renewed mindset has carried over into every aspect of her work.

“It feels a little bit more reckless—but in a good way, in a healthy way,” she said. “Where it’s like, great, I like it, put it out. That’s given me a little more freedom and more opportunity to experiment with sound and genre. I’m coming back to music with a lot more purpose and vision.”

That includes dance.

“We’ve been working really hard in the dance studio,” Who said. “Me and my boys—these two dancers I’m bringing on tour—we’ve really worked our asses off on this show. We’re creating shape and feeling and storytelling. It’s big theater ‘Hadestown’ energy. I’m asking, ‘How does this choreography serve the story of these songs?’ So I think if you’re coming to the show for the first or 15th time, you’ll see familiar moments, but also be transported somewhere new. There’s a new layer we’re adding, and I can’t believe it’s happening this weekend.”

She’s also drawing inspiration from artists who challenge traditional boundaries, including Beyoncé.

“I’m really inspired by so many artists right now—particularly my queen, my number one, Beyoncé—who said gender is made up,” Who laughed. “I was saying genre, but now gender and genre are both in my head—Freudian slip! Genre is made up. Her winning Country Album of the Year just showed me how silly it is to think I have to ‘be something.’ I should just make stuff I’m proud of. And that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Her current listening rotation reflects that mindset.

“I’m a huge Kenny Loggins fan—big Ken-ergy in this one,” she said. “His Vox Humana record has this song ‘No Lookin’ Back,’ and that album has been really inspirational to me sonically.”

She paused and pulled up her Spotify library. “I’m going to open my Spotify… Jennie’s record from Blackpink—because I’m a Blink, I’m a Blackpink stan. I love K-pop. Between the girls’ solo records and also XG—that’s a new discovery of mine. I guess I’ve been living under a rock,” she said with a laugh. “Six months ago, I was like, ‘Who’s XG?’ Their music is so good. XG is up there for me right now.”

It’s clear this new chapter for Who is rooted in empowerment, freedom, and connection.

“I think it sounds obvious to say, ‘Who you are is beautiful,’” she said. “But what I’m trying to embody right now is: you can be whoever you want to be, regardless of how other people see you. It’s about your agency, your choice, your ability to show up for yourself—and about creating the life and world you want to live in, in the body you want to be in.”

As she prepares to return to multiple stages during WorldPride, she couldn’t help but reflect on the significance.

“I feel so grateful and excited to be a part of this huge event. Especially now. The fact that WorldPride is happening in D.C.—the irony of it all, a little bit—feels like it’s time for us to show up and show out even bigger and better than we ever have. To be ourselves and celebrate that, especially when so many people don’t want to celebrate us.”

And just in time for Pride season, she has a brand-new single to dance to.

“My new song, ‘Sweat,’ comes out tonight—so it’ll be out by the time this is published. It’s a song I’m really excited about. It makes me want to dance and celebrate. I wrote it about a night I went out with all of my gay friends to a club in New York City and had a little too much fun. I was like, ‘Wow, this is… a lot.’ It’s very applicable for Pride. I’m really proud of it. It feels like a new sound, a big swing—even if other people listen and think, ‘Yep, that sounds like a Betty Who song.’ As an independent artist, I appreciate every single person who streams it. It means something. I look at artists with 100 million streams overnight and I’m like, that’s nice for them. But my world has more DIY, scrappy energy. We’re doing it together.”