Lizzo at Global Citizen Live on Sept. 25, 2021 in New York City.
NDZ/Star Max/GC ImagesLizzo is definitely not done. The 33-year-old hitmaker confirmed to Variety in an interview published Wednesday (Feb. 23) that her new album is due out sometime before the end of this year, and made it clear that her series of successes with “Truth Hurts” (the single that propelled her to celebrity status), Cuz I Love You (her 2019 album, which was on the Billboard 200 for 127 weeks, peaking at No. 4), and her three Grammy wins are only the beginning.
“I am not done,” Lizzo — who recently teased on social media that she’s back in the studio — told the magazine. “I’m still pushing out the hits, baby.”
Lizzo shared that the upcoming album has been in the works since 2018, with it now taking shape as something the “Rumors” singer is proud of. “It’s one of the most musically bada–, daring and sophisticated bodies of work I’ve done to date,” she told the magazine. “And I hope that it is some of the most useful pieces of music to ever exist. All I want to do is help people through my music.”
And though she isn’t ready right now to share the current status of her love life — “I ain’t talking about this” — she did reveal that the album’s central theme is love, which surprises even her. “I think that I will never be the kind of artist that’s like, ‘This album is about a story I wrote; it’s not real,'” she said of her unreleased music. “I’m always just a very personal, like I’m-talking-to-my-friend-on- the-phone-with-really-good-music-behind-me b—-h. It is a love album. I’m shocked.”
When Lizzo said she isn’t done, though, she didn’t just mean music. Currently promoting her new reality series with Amazon titled Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, which follows her on her inclusive search for tour backup dancers, the vocalist and flute extraordinaire said she’s also setting her sights on acting and producing. She opened up about her “terrible” audition for Disney’s upcoming live action The Little Mermaid, and touched on her first-look deal with Amazon, for which she’ll create and produce original content.
“I’ve been producing for a long time, and I didn’t even know that was what it was called,” she admitted. “I’m finally getting paid and credited doing this. I’m a very hands-on person. Anything that I’ve put out, I’ve touched so many f–king times.”
Smashing Pumpkins are hoping to bring their A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness production to the Las Vegas Sphere for a one of a kind performance centered around the legendary 1995 album.
Billy Corgan is stepping away from traditional rock venues and leaning into the world of opera with his large scale A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness tour, which transforms the band’s iconic record into a full orchestral and operatic experience.
Even though the group has not officially been invited to perform at the cutting edge venue in Las Vegas, Corgan admitted he would immediately embrace the opportunity.
Speaking with KROQ, he explained: “It’s a no-doubter for us. We just haven’t been asked yet.
“See, if the Sphere came to us and said, ‘We’d love you to do all of Mellon Collie with that production.’ Now, that makes sense to me to do something like that, to build the show around the album.
"Then you have a chance to recast the songs and the music in a different dynamic.”
The performance sees Corgan joined by acclaimed solo vocalists and complete orchestras, reshaping some of Smashing Pumpkins’ most beloved songs into expansive classical arrangements.
The project first premiered in Chicago and received overwhelming praise, with audiences and reviewers applauding the powerful reinterpretations of songs such as 1979 and Tonight, Tonight.
Corgan shared that the experience has become one of the most meaningful achievements of his artistic journey.
He said: “The success of translating Mellon Collie into operatic and classical form has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. Where on each of the 7 sold out nights in Chicago, we’d finish within the raucous wave of a standing ovation. So to now take it on the road, and to Europe, too says this magical dream doesn’t have to end.”
The production was developed by Corgan alongside Grammy nominated conductor James Lowe, who added: "It has been so gratifying to discover how the nuances and layers of Mellon Collie reveal themselves in fresh new ways in these symphonic, choral and operatic settings. To now have the opportunity to perform this work in Europe with world class musicians in such important venues is nothing short of thrilling."
The lineup features vocalists Ed Parks, Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdes Chenes and Dean Murphy. The wardrobe for the production was created by House of Gilles designers Gilles Mendel and Chloé Mendel Corgan.
The upcoming run will include several September performances throughout the UK, Belgium, France and Spain, highlighted by two special evenings at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
