Becky Hill displayed a wide range of vocal prowess on her first visit to the Windy City at the Riviera Theatre on Nov. 19. Tickets sold so well that her concert was moved from the Park West to the larger venue in the historic Uptown theater district.
This special night was a chance to not only see the English singer’s inaugural performance in Chicago but also to witness what a dance act can do live with a supportive band and backup singers.
After appearing on The Voice UK and reaching the semifinals, she began delivering hit singles such as “True Colours” and taking trophies, including some Brit Awards, home. She worked with well-known music makers like Tiesto and Galantis, among many others. Recently, she teamed up with Andy C for “Indestructible” released on Astralwerks.
Hill embraces her queer identity on her album Believe Me Now? and mixes in emotional stories backed by empowering beats. This has generated six UK Top 10 and seven US Dance Radio #1 hits. She talked backstage following her memorable performance at the Riv about her uphill climb to making it in the music business.
Windy City Times: Thanks for taking time out to talk backstage, Becky. Your loyal queer following showed up tonight at the Riv!
Becky Hill: The whole tour has been like that and it’s been lovely.
WCT: You were born on Valentine’s Day?
BH: I was!
WCT: How cool is that?
BH: It’s cool if you have someone to get laid with, but it’s not so great if people can’t hang out because they are having dates with their girlfriends and boyfriends though.
I got in a relationship when I was 22, we split up when I was 25 over a birthday incident, then we got back together and he has never let me down on a birthday since. He learned his lesson!
WCT: Let’s talk about your career after The Voice UK. How has it been bringing the following you have from the UK to the United States?
BH: It has been not easy all the way around. I have been in the industry since I was 11 years old and went on The Voice when I was 17 and turned 18 on the show. When I came off The Voice, I didn’t have a record deal, a manager or a lawyer. I applied to be on The Voice myself. I wasn’t poached by anyone and was a complete unknown at the time. I came off the show not knowing where to go and what to do.
Breaking in the UK was a slow situation, and I feel I am further ahead in America than I am in Europe.
WCT: What helped you move forward?
BH: I found a manager who told me that if I wrote good music money would follow. That is what I did and I wrote “Afterglow,” which became a big hit in the UK. I had a number one with “Gecko (Overdrive) with Oliver Heldens.” That started building a foundation to have a successful global career.
WCT: You have collaborated well over the years.
BH: It was really working with David Guetta on a few tracks and Meduza for “Lose Control” that helped me become more well-known. It’s been a long slog, and I have had to prove my worth as a singer and songwriter by doing these records.
It’s nice to see people buying my music and turning up to these headline shows. I’m glad people are listening to my new album!
WCT: How do you take care of your voice while out on the road?
BH: I am quite rigid with my warmups and my cooldowns. I allow myself only one cigarette after my show and I try to get as much sleep as possible. I sleep in buses, planes and cars to take care of myself the best way possible, or else it can go downhill very quickly.
WCT: Your vocal gymnastics out there were so good. This venue improved its sound system recently, so the audience could hear your voice in the best way possible.
BH: Amazing. That’s good to know!
WCT: Isn’t this your first time to visit Chicago?
BH: Yes, and I have heard so much about this area of the country. It’s the birthplace of house music and it was the Black queer community that created it. I feel honored to be here as a dance act and really take in the culture here. I feel very lucky.
WCT: It was nice to hear you acknowledge that fact onstage out there, because locals are very proud of the history of dance music in the Windy City.
BH: Didn’t homophobes burn records here a long time ago?
WCT: Yes, they set fire to disco records which led to a riot. How was the stage dive experience for “Believe Me Now?”
BH: I worked with a very good friend of mine, Sam Neill. He’s an incredible photographer and he’s been involved with my music’s artwork for years. I came to him with an idea of what I wanted the album to sound like. He suggested a modern Renaissance feel to it and I love the idea. He had already shot Mike Skinner from The Streets doing a stage dive.
Michael invites women to do stage dives at his shows with him and he prefixes it by telling people not to touch women inappropriately. It’s sad he has to say that. I have always wanted to stage dive, and haven’t for that reason. It was nice to be able to recreate it and see a woman in that position on an album cover.
WCT: It’s startling that people still have to be told not to grope someone when the goal is to lift them in the air or catch them.
BH: There’s a video that put me off, and it was Katy Perry when she was working with 3OH!3. If you type in both their names with “stage dive” on YouTube, you will see her thrown around like a rag doll and that made me never want to do that.
WCT: What was your first concert?
BH: I went to see a singer called James Morrison. He’s English and makes soulful acoustic pop music. I remember pissing everyone off around me back then—I was singing louder than James was at the time.
I was 14 and my big sister took me for my birthday. We saw him at Birmingham Academy and seven years later I was in a session writing for his projects. It was quite a full-circle moment.
WCT: I interviewed out artist MNEK in the past and you have worked with him on a few tracks. How was that experience?
BH: He is my best friend and the first real friend I made in London. When I moved to London I had no family or friends there. I was from a small town and I met him at my first writing session. We wrote a song called “Losing” and it was my first single. This got me my first record deal.
We wrote “Overdrive” together which was my first number one, so career-wise he’s my kindred spirit and in terms of friendship, he’s my twin flame. We couldn’t be further apart, he’s a big Nigerian boy and I’m a small white woman! [laughs] We somehow got on like a house on fire and still my best friend to this day.
WCT: Talk about working with RuPaul Drag Race UK’s Rileasa Slaves on the song “One Track Mind.”
BH: I have a really good story about Rileasa. I went to an event with Magnum Ice Cream Bars. I hate events but I went to this one because I love ice cream. When I went for a cigarette, there were two queens that came out and one of them was Rileasa Slaves. She was one of the only queens to give me any attention that night and came over to say hello. I was hypnotized by the way that she spoke with a full island accent and she was a beautiful girl. She looked like Rihanna, very tall and stunning. She was the sexiest thing I had ever seen and I loved her. She went back inside after our short conversation.
During lockdown, my fiancé, who is a music manager, was looking for some spoken word stuff for an artist he was representing named Charlie Boon. I told him that I had met a drag queen who might be good for that task, so I messaged Rileasa on Instagram. She thought she was being scammed, but eventually believed it was me. She told me that she’s a lip-syncher and not a singer, but I got her to trust me. What came back with the song “Too Fly” and they did another song called “We Back.”
My partner started managing her and she was one of my dancers on tour. I then had her on my album and she’s now on Drag Race UK season six doing incredibly well. She’s going to be an absolute superstar and I can’t wait for the world to see who she is becoming. It’s really beautiful to see and right now is an exciting time for her. She is everything I knew she could be when she didn’t believe in herself early on.
WCT: Rilease needs to come to Chicago.
BH: I will bring her with me on my next tour I promise!
WCT: Is there someone you would like to collaborate with but haven’t yet?
BH: I think next on the list is Alesso, as far as another male DJ that I should work with, then Fred Again and Calvin Harris. As far as women, Charli XCX would be great. I don’t think she would touch me with a barge pole yet, as I’ve got more work to do before a feature happens. It is just so nice to see women in dance music really flying right now.
WCT: The fashion in the video for “Never Be Alone” is epic. Do you have a stylist to help you with your various looks?
BH: Weirdly, I have been through a few this year and we are working on my branding. It was at the end of last year that I said, “No more glitter, feathers or sequence!”
I wanted to change it up and we went for the main character, sci-fi energy with that video. I was thinking of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill and wanted to step into this new phase of my life. My music was becoming more grown up and different. I turned 30 this year and that part of me was ready for a change. That went from the bottom to the top including artwork, music, my own styling, the stage and my personal life all the way to the music videos.
That shoot was so much fun. I wore a full catsuit with silver eyelets then a latex dress around the fire in the desert. I had the best time!
WCT: Are you planning on making more podcast episodes?
BH: I am going to try and we have started the new season. It has taken a bit of a backseat in all honesty mainly because I got really busy. I wanted to interview Jamie Principle, a Chicago-born and bred musician. He was part of the Frankie Knuckles era of house music and Black, queer culture. He is out of town at the moment and I would have loved to have seen him. I have some others in mind to interview and it’s a matter of finding the time to do it.
WCT: Where are you heading next on the tour?
BH: I am going to Australia and New Zealand in January. My partner turns 40 next year in January so I will take some time off to celebrate, then I will release more music and write a new album. I am ready to go!
Follow Hill’s journey on her headline tour and future music updates by visiting beckyhill.com.