You might recognize Summer Walker for her smooth and seductive vocals, but the R&B star is not someone who speaks a lot. In truth, the Atlanta artist is pretty reserved. And while many people struggle to draw the 29-year-old out of her quiet nature, Paris Hilton, who sat down with Summer before she dropped her third album, Finally Over It, connected with her over an unexpected shared love of farm animals, especially turtles, goats, and Silkie chickens. But life is far from simple for Summer. As she explains to her fellow mom and musician, trying to manage her home life while keeping up with the demands of her music career is a constant challenge.

SUMMER WALKER: You know what? I might have fucked up. She said talk for 40 minutes but I’m such a bad talker.

PARIS HILTON: [Laughs] 

WALKER: How are you?

HILTON: Good. I just got back to town. It’s so good to be home with the baby and the puppies. Where are you?

WALKER: I’m in Atlanta. You have a brand new baby?

HILTON: My daughter, London, just turned two on 11/11, and then my son, Phoenix, is going to be three in January. And you have three?

WALKER: Yeah. Two boys. They are about to be three. And then I have a 4-year-old daughter.

HILTON: So cute having them around the same age.

WALKER: Yeah. How’s motherhood been for you?

HILTON: I love it. I just feel like my life is finally complete. It’s definitely a lot to balance with everything, but I always put my babies first. I try to bring them with me everywhere.

WALKER: I feel you. I think my life would suck without them. I used to try to bring them everywhere, but trying to bring them on tour was really hard.

HILTON: I bet. Especially with twin boys.

WALKER: So what’s your favorite color?

HILTON: [Laughs] Pink. You?

WALKER: I should have known that. Um, pink. My bathroom and my whole room looks like a young girl’s princess party.

HILTON: Same. [Laughs] I love it. What sign are you?

WALKER: Aries.

HILTON: Nice. I’m an Aquarius.

WALKER: Oh, I love Aquarius. They’re really tactical and smart and calm and intuitive. So what do you do for fun?

HILTON: I work all the time, but if I’m not working, my favorite thing is just to be at home with babies and my pets and cook and do art and chill and write music and just play in the backyard. I love being outdoors. What about you?

WALKER: Literally the same thing. I just don’t have as much time, but I would really, really like to do more staying home, cooking, just being with the kids, painting, decorating the house, shopping, and building stuff outside. I just built a chicken coop.

HILTON: Like, for eggs?

WALKER: Yes. I’m excited to just have chickens for eggs and just chickens that are just cute—like, you know the Silkie chickens?

HILTON: Yes! That’s what my husband and I want. Are they sweet?

WALKER: I mean, I chilled with one for five seconds. We called him Teriyaki and he was nice.

HILTON: [Laughs] The way their little feathers look is so funny. I wanted to get a couple of them because I heard it’s so much healthier to grow your own eggs.

WALKER: Absolutely. I want the whole thing, the goats and all the animals.

HILTON: I used to have a goat, I got it in Vegas. I named it Billy.

WALKER: How was that?

HILTON: It was a little miniature one. It was so cute and sweet but then it got older and grew horns and udders. Then it was trying to butt everyone in the head, like, chasing people.

WALKER: Not so cute anymore.

HILTON: [Laughs] Yeah. We sent it to my ranch. It got a little crazy living in Beverly Hills. I should have got a girl.

WALKER: Yeah, I’m going to look into that. I just got my little greenhouse so I can start gardening. All of this requires me to stay home, so I don’t know what the hell I think I’m about to do.

HILTON: [Laughs] Hopefully you’ll have someone to help you with that because with the amount we both have to travel, it’s hard to keep all of that up.

WALKER: Absolutely. Do you have any fish?

HILTON: I used to have an aquarium but then I moved houses. Do you?

WALKER: No, I think I want a turtle though.

HILTON: They’re cute. I used to have the little ones. I love animals.

WALKER: I heard.

HILTON: I just got a new dog named Iconic Princess Hilton. She’s like a little mini teacup chihuahua. 

WALKER: Iconic Princess Hilton. Period. 

HILTON: [Laughs] Yes.

WALKER: She’s a diva.

HILTON: She’s a little baby icon. By the way, you looked so beautiful at the VMAs in New York.

WALKER: Thank you. So did you. I was like, “Wow, did I just talk to Paris Hilton?”

HILTON: I loved when you came up and said hello. I loved your hat. I loved your outfit. It looked so gorgeous.

WALKER: Thank you. Yeah, it was a fun little time. I love dressing up.

HILTON: Me too. 

WALKER: Speaking of cooking, I was in the store a while ago and I seen your cookware.

HILTON: Were you at Walmart?

WALKER: Maybe. It had the crystals on it. I was like, “Oh my god, I got to get this.”

HILTON: I’ll send you a whole package of stuff. All the new products are so cute.

WALKER: Really? I don’t mind buying it.

HILTON: I would love just to send it to you as a present to say congratulations on the new album.

WALKER: Thank you. It’s Christmas.

HILTON: I know. I cannot believe it’s the end of the year already. It’s so crazy how time has flown so fast.

WALKER: I mean, I think NASA actually said that time did speed up, you can really feel it though.

HILTON: Life is so precious. We have to enjoy every moment.

WALKER: Definitely. So how is your mom?

HILTON: My mom is amazing. She just called me last night. She’s in Vegas for BravoCon with all the other housewives and my sister, and they were just having a time. I love her so much.

WALKER: I love when people are really close with their parents even when they’re grown as hell.

HILTON: Yeah, family is everything. What was your day to day before getting into music and releasing albums? 

WALKER: Honestly, painting and just playing the guitar. Just doing art, basically.

HILTON: When did you start singing?

WALKER: I was maybe 13. I was in the church choir—I have a question for you.

HILTON: Yes.

WALKER: What was the first business you opened?

HILTON: When I lived in the Malibu colony, my sister and I would have a lemonade stand, so I was an entrepreneur at a young age. [Laughs] And then I did my first perfume in 2004 when The Simple Life came out. I just released my 30th fragrance.

WALKER: Congratulations. 30 is crazy.

HILTON: Thank you. It’s called Iconic, I’ll send you that as well—

WALKER: Love. Okay, so we have the dog name, Iconic, and we have a perfume named Iconic. Is anyone else named Iconic?

HILTON: If I have another daughter, I’ll name her Iconic.

WALKER: Period. 

HILTON: [Laughs] Oh, yeah, my new music documentary is called Infinite Icon. So that’s iconic too.

WALKER: Dope. So what’s your favorite type of genre?

HILTON: I love dance, EDM, and pop. 

WALKER: So you want to put me on? Give me your favorite EDM artist.

HILTON: I love Martin Garrix, David Guetta, like when he does remixes, they’re so sick. He’s so talented. Kygo is amazing, and Avicii was incredible. I always loved his music.

WALKER: Is that what inspired you to DJ?

HILTON: I just have loved going to raves and music festivals since I was a teenager and then 15 years ago, I got offered to do this huge music festival in Brazil and close out for JLo, even though I’d never DJed before. My team was like, “It’s a huge offer. Will you do it?” So I was like, “Okay, fine.” So I did it and I loved it so much. And then from there I just started getting offered DJ residencies in Ibiza and Las Vegas and all around the world. 

WALKER: Yeah, why not make money off doing what you love?

HILTON: Yeah, exactly. I was the first one who invented getting paid to party in Vegas, doing club appearances. But then I noticed around that time when I started DJing, that it was more about the DJs, so I hired the best people in the business to come to my house and train me, because it’s very technical. It took a minute to learn everything. Being a girl in that business, you really have to prove yourself. So I just wanted everything to be perfect.

WALKER: I love that. I think when I finally learn how to DJ, I will officially stop singing.

HILTON: Do you ever get nervous when you go on stage?

WALKER: A little. It’s not as bad as it used to be.

HILTON: Same. I used to get so nervous, but I spoke to other artists like Sia and Miley [Cyrus] about it, and they’re like, “It’s normal. You’re only nervous because you care so much.”

WALKER: I feel like that’s something Miley definitely agrees with because she gets on stage and be doing anything. It’s hilarious. 

HILTON: She slays. I love her. Soafter this trilogy, what’s next?

WALKER: Probably funk. I like old school stuff, disco.

HILTON: I love disco. Who are some of the artists that you were inspired by when you were a little girl?

WALKER: Erykah Badu. What about you?

HILTON: I always loved Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney  [Spears], Alanis Morissette—who else? Paula Abdul. 

WALKER: The pop legends.

HILTON: Yeah. Do you come to L.A. a lot?

WALKER: Yeah, unfortunately.

HILTON: Why?

WALKER: I don’t know. I’m a down South girl, so L.A. is just so different. I always have trouble adapting.

HILTON: Why?

WALKER: Why? You really want me to get into it? [Laughs] I can’t ever seem to find really good food without going to a five star restaurant and spending $500 to $1000 just to eat a meal. And then the traffic is so bad, it’s so crazy. It’s kind of a little bit bougie, but maybe I’m going to the wrong places. And the air has a lot of smog, and I just be like–

HILTON: “Take me home.” [Laughs]

WALKER: Yeah. And I think it’s like that southern hospitality, like people open doors, and they say, “Yes ma’am,” or “No, ma’am.” I think in New York and LA everything’s just moving so fast that people just be like, “Get the fuck out the way.” 

HILTON: [Laughs] Yeah. I love Southern food. 

WALKER: What is your favorite type?

HILTON: Biscuits and gravy–everything just feels so cozy and yummy. I love anything that’s fried. I’m not really a healthy eater. 

WALKER: Life is short. Enjoy yourself.

HILTON: I love Taco Bell.

WALKER: Period. Yeah, I think Atlanta needs to chill with the lemon pepper though. You can’t have lemon pepper with everything.

HILTON: [Laughs] What do you like to do when you relax?

WALKER: When I like to relax, I like to get a massage. I don’t even know how many times I get a massage in a month. That’s my shit. Hopefully one day I can open up a spa because that is my passion and then I can just sit there all day.

HILTON: Do you like facials?

WALKER: Yes, I love any type of red light therapy, any type of healing things you can do.

HILTON: Yeah, I’m obsessed with all that. I’m building a crazy spa at my house right now that has all of the most insane medical devices and facial things that you would see in a real spa or a doctor’s office because I’m obsessed with longevity and wellness and looking hot forever.

WALKER: Speaking of looking hot forever, there’s this machine and it’s super cold, and they put it on your face and do that lymphatic drainage, but it snatches your face and you look like Michael Jackson after. You know what I’m talking about?

HILTON: I have a couple different ones. I have an actual cryotherapy machine called CryoBuilt that you walk in. Four people can fit in it.

WALKER: Oh, wow.

HILTON: But then I also have the face ones. This other new thing they just came out with as well, it’s called the Sherpa CryoBuilt and it’s like a cryo facial that blasts this freezing air on you. And then there’s another one that’s like a metal thing, and it’s like a circle, and it just gets so cold, and it makes your face look snatched. I love it.

WALKER: Yes. I need to learn about some more machines. My facial lady is crazy. It looks like a mad scientist room in there. It’s like 50 machines.

HILTON: Yeah, that’s how I am too. I get three facials a week for three hours each time, and I feel like I’m working because she hooks up all these little sticky things on my body with the electric EMS, so it’s kind of toning the body while doing the facial.

WALKER: You have the thing that does the crunches for you?

HILTON: Yes. The NeurotriS machine. It’s so sick. 

WALKER: See, I do them, but I don’t know what they’re called. 

HILTON: [Laughs] So what was the inspiration for your album cover?

WALKER: Anna Nicole Smith.

HILTON: Yes. I remember when I saw that when you posted on Instagram, I was like, “This is iconic.”

WALKER: Thank you. We love the girls. We love Pamela [Anderson], we love Anna.

HILTON: So amazing that you recreated that.

WALKER: Thank you. Well, don’t be a stranger because I’m trying to come to one of them DJ sets.

HILTON: Oh yes, definitely. And I’ll let you know my next house party is in real Slivington Manor. It’s so much fun.

WALKER: Oh, I love house parties. That’s actually my favorite thing. Particularly ones with no air.

HILTON: No air?

WALKER: Yeah. Like a Jamaican party.

HILTON: What is that?

WALKER: We’ll get into it. [Laughs] But I’m so over the clubs. Everybody wants to stand around and stare at each other.

HILTON: Yeah, it’s not fun. But my house parties are lit.

WALKER: Okay, I’ll be there.

HILTON: Hell yes. I’ll find out when the next one is and I’ll send it to you. Wait, what’s your favorite song on the new album?

WALKER: “Don’t Make Me Do It.”

HILTON: What’s it about?

WALKER: It’s just like, don’t make me break up with you, because I don’t want to, but I’ll do it if I have to.

HILTON: Loves it. Congratulations on everything, honey. And I look forward to seeing you soon. I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’ll send you over the prezzies.

WALKER: Thank you. Blessings to you and the family.

HILTON: You too, honey.

As Belle & Sebastian share their buoyant 2026 Scotland World Cup anthem ‘It Only Takes One Lion’, frontman Stuart Murdoch has spoken to NME about capturing the feeling back home and his hopes for the team since childhood.

Released today (Tuesday June 2), the Scottish indie heroes’ bid for their nation’s tournament anthem was written after the team’s surprise 4-2 qualifying win against Denmark.

“I felt like we were watching history in the moment, like the hand of God from the old National Lottery adverts was pointing at us,” Murdoch told NME about that game-changing victory. “It was meant to be. Scotland aren’t a terrific team and Denmark are better, but it just felt that day that Scotland were destined to win. Three out of the four goals were things of beauty.”

Produced by and co-written with Pete Ferguson and premiered at the band’s recent London Royal Albert Hall show as part of the anniversary tour for their classic first two albums ‘Tigermilk’ and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’, the soaring song is intrinsically Belle & Sebastian as it morphs from a hymn to a an orchestral disco jam as Murdoch sings of a nation’s hopes and his own boyhood dreams.

NME spoke to Murdoch from the band’s North American tour, where we found him in a graveyard in Texas. “I was just looking for a park because Austin is a pretty scary place downtown now, so I’ve ended up in the Texas Cemetery,” he shared via Zoom.

Was there anyone famous buried there?

“I was looking around and I found the founder of Austin City Limits, which is pretty cool as that’s where we’re playing tonight. I’m looking at one now and it just says, ‘Martin: he loved the law’. Then underneath it says, ‘Billie Louise: she loved the lawyer’.”

We joke that there’s the opening to a Belle & Sebastian song if there ever there was one. “It’s great! It’s given me inspiration.”

For now, read the rest of interview with Murdoch below as he tells us about Scotland’s chances, 30 years of hurt, if fans will be singing it at the top of their lungs in Canada, the US and Mexico this summer, and what’s next for the band.

NME: Hello Stuart. Here we are with ‘It Only Takes One Lion’ Who needs three? 

Stuart Murdoch: “Who needs three? Good question. I wouldn’t know!”

What’s the mood been like in Scotland since you qualified? 

“It’s funny. I’ve noticed this everywhere: with the World Cup there’s a mixture of cynicism and anticipation. When the actual tournament starts, everyone will get excited about it. Because of FIFA, the peace prize, the ticket prices, people seem quite down about it. I found that in Mexico. They were quite fed up with the general hype about it. I’m in the States just now and you shouldn’t believe all the hype: people are people. The States are just as ‘great’ as ever. We love coming here, we love the cities. The general sense of North American optimism will make for a good tournament.”

“With Scotland though, people will definitely be excited about it. You have to understand, it’s been 30 years since Scotland qualified so I think everybody and their dog has written a song for the team.”

Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian live at The 3Olympia Theatre Dublin on April 4, 2026 (Photo by Debbie Hickey/Getty Images)
Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian live at The 3Olympia Theatre Dublin on April 4, 2026 (Photo by Debbie Hickey/Getty Images)

How do you meet the challenge of penning a World Cup anthem, when there have been so many legendary bangers and absolutely shite duds? 

“I never planned it. I woke up with a tune in my head and a feeling. That’s the way it should always be for songs. I couldn’t control myself and it was quite straight-forward. I wrote this initial bit about how I felt about the current World Cup team and the qualifying game. It was more introspective.

“When it starts off with, ‘The days are dark and long…’, it’s just my general feeling about football. I’ve been going to see my own team quite a lot recently. It’s my little anthem for how I feel about football and following Scotland for the last 50 years, just the ups and downs. It’s quite a heartfelt thing. When I was eight or nine, the Scottish team meant so much to me, it the thing I was most invested in. There’s a line in there about how I used to memorise the whole squad before ‘78 and 82.”

Tell us about lyric: “This is Scotland, where everyone knows you start with nothing… where you can join an army for peace”… 

“My wife made the video for it and she said, ‘I’m not sure I like that line about everyone starting with nothing’. Our first game is against Haiti and they really have nothing. Their country is pretty poor and they’re going through hard times. It was almost a throwaway line and I’m not sure what I meant by it, but in a footballing sense every game starts with nothing. Even if it’s against Brazil, you’ve always got a chance!

“The army refers to The Tartan Army, which has really been quite a remarkable institution for the past 30 years. We changed from drunken buffoons that used to wreck things to this excellent supporting brigade.”

Players of Scotland pose for a team photograph during the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Scotland and Denmark at Hampden Park on November 18, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ben Roberts - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Players of Scotland pose for a team photograph during the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Scotland and Denmark at Hampden Park on November 18, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ben Roberts – Danehouse/Getty Images)

It’s not your standard football sing-along. Can you see it being sung in the terraces? 

“I’m not sure, I didn’t cynically design it for that. Many people have said to me in the past, ‘None of your songs have a chorus, you need to write one’. ‘This is Scotland’ is a chorus! They things need to happen organically. I’m sure the fans will still be singing ‘Yes sir, I can boogie’ for years to come.”

What do you actually think of Scotland’s chances right now? 

“With the last Euros, they maybe got stage fright or didn’t have that tournament experience. I think Andy Robertson [captain] will be telling them, ‘We really need to produce our best stuff’. If they do and we see them actually playing football, then I don’t really care about the results that much. I just want to see Scotland exceeding our expectations of them. That Denmark game was so crazy that everything after just feels like a bonus.”

If miracles do happen and Scotland make it to the final, how will you celebrate? A free gig in Glasgow? 

“Of course, yes! Free everything. If we even got close, I think the whole country would shut down for a year and the GDP would drop. We’d go into a massive recession but no one would care.

“We were playing a gig in Mexico City and I told the crowd, ‘It’s you and us, Mexico and Scotland in the final’. Mexico have never really got close either. I told them it would be five goals a piece, even after everyone takes a penalty and we have to share the trophy. I would settle for that.”

Belle & Sebastian live at the Admiralspalast on June 7, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Frank Hoensch/Redferns)
Belle & Sebastian live at the Admiralspalast on June 7, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Frank Hoensch/Redferns)

You released two albums in quick succession with  2022’s ‘A Bit of Previous’, 2023’s ‘Late Developers’ and then your debut novel Nobody’s Empire in 2024. You’ve been busy! Is there any progress on new material? 

“We went through a period where we recorded a lot and we said, ‘Let’s not record for a while and give ourselves a couple of cycles off’. We’re doing these 30th anniversary shows so we’re just going to lean on the back catalogue and cruise for a while. We’re doing a year on and a year off so everyone can focus on different things.

We’re not looking at new Belles stuff for a while. I’m meant to be developing Nobody’s Empire into a film, so that’s my next task. It’s a long way off from being made but I’m going to write the script for that.”

Scotland’s first World Cup tournament match is against Haiti on Sunday June 14, before they go on to play Morocco on Friday June 19 and Brazil on Wednesday June 24.

The band’s ‘Tigermilk’ and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ anniversary tour continues throughout the summer, performing the iconic albums in full during across the UK, Europe, North America, Mexico, Australia, Singapore and Japan. Visit here for tickets and more information.

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