Out of the blue and into the daylight

Isabell Tenorio

Standing at the front door, I notice a lot of potted plants, and each pot is in different

bright colors. The house is in a pretty rust shade of red and trimmed with white. The early

afternoon sun shines on the windows that have cute cream-colored curtains. Then Belle Blue

opens the door with a big smile on her face like I am a friend coming over to hang out. She

guides me to her living room as I look at all the decorations. It’s as if we stepped into a portal

that moved us closer to the beach; all the decorations are beach house themed with many

mermaids, fish, pictures of the ocean and more.

“When my parents divorced, my sister, mom, and I moved in with her sisters,” Blue says.

“And as much as we liked living with them, we wanted a place of our own. I don’t know who

came up with the beach house theme, but we just stuck with that. We eventually moved into a

two-bedroom apartment and started collecting some things, but then a year later we moved in

with my ex- stepdad and his two kids. For some reason, my mom didn’t want to continue with

the beach theme because she felt it was too feminine for him?” Blue laughs at that last sentence.

“I don’t know, my mom was really trying to make him feel at home, but she would only do

things to make him happy and not herself.”

While she talks, she moves the pillows from her light grey couch onto a little ottoman off

to the side to make room for the both of us to sit together. There is a tray on the coffee table in

the middle holding a pitcher with iced water and four cups with flowers painted on them. Her

walls are painted a pretty shade of blue. I ask jokingly if that was on purpose or not. “Oh, trust

me, that wasn’t intentional,” she says. “My best friend Jesse suggested it because they wanted to
make sure I didn’t do yellow walls like I wanted.” She goes to get more napkins from her bright

kitchen with pictures of her infamous pet corgi Percy, on the walls. After handing me one and

putting the rest on the tray she sits down, and I understand why everyone has said good things

about her and when they say she is a natural beauty. Even in her Spiderman t-shirt, her denim

shorts, her socks with corgis running on them and her hair in pretty, pink curls, her down-to-

earth side is not superficial.

Blue’s career started as a curious upload to social media one night in her dorm room that

lead to this exciting moment in her life; a month away from releasing her anticipated third

album, “Be Mine.” She announced the album at her own pace, first by posting pictures on her

Instagram, all with a pink and blue gradient filter hinting at a new era in her career but no

confirmation. She then posted a picture of a blue and pink sky with the caption, “Won’t you be

mine on April 26th?” Blue released her upbeat single, “Never Find Another” with Bradley Upp,

lead singer of the pop-rock band Take It Slow, at midnight. Fans expressed their excitement,

ranging from pictures of them crying to videos of them dancing and singing around the room to a

song that had just came out. Things were quiet for a while, except for some performances by the

two to promote the single. Then Blue took to Twitter and posted a video, revealing her new

album name with the cover matching the Instagram post announcing the single drop and release

date.

The story behind this album started when Blue was going through her mentions on

Twitter. “I saw someone had posted her first dance with her husband using [my song] ‘Incredible

Things,’ and as much as I appreciate them using it, the song isn’t really romantic, but more of a

satirical take on Hollywood and their obsession with celebrity relationships,” she says. That next

day she started working on what is now “Be Mine,” an album Blue says shows another side of
her she didn’t think she would have shown to the public. She describes it as a rollercoaster of

being in love as well as a few extra things she’s wanted to get off her chest.

Since her last show for her record-breaking second album, “Never Be the Same,” Blue

had a lot to reflect on in terms with herself, her relationship with the British heartthrob Ben

Howard, and her relationship with the public. “With the title song [Be Mine], I got inspiration

from that wedding video and thought ‘if I were to get married, what would I say?’ and went with

that,” Blue says. The song has lyrics that make anyone feel like they’re in a very strong and

wonderful relationship with their significant other, even if they are single. Blue says that was the

goal for this album: for people to see the softer side of her as well as use the songs in their own

special way.

She released another single that reflects on her “haters” and uses her voice once again to

shed light on the constant bullying that not only she faces, but her friends too. “I wanted to make

fun of those people who are constantly wasting their time putting down others they don’t even

know,” Blue says. “Because yeah, it’s easy to say hurtful things about people you barely know.

But once you see your friend shut themselves away from everyone else because the tweets get

too real and start to get under the skin, that’s when you know you can’t ignore it anymore.” The

music video showcased a museum where she and her famous friends are portraying themselves

as exhibits. Even without knowing the words, the message still comes through strong and it’s

hard not to see it. Throughout the video, we see Blue lead the revolution of fighting back and

taking a stand and telling the audience, “You can say all that you want / But that won't stop me

from doing it all.”

We move to the backyard to let Percy out, who is as sweet and playful as she says he is.

Blue’s backyard has a big, clear pool in the middle and a fence with climbing vines on it. Right
by the back door, there are two tables decorated with blue and white striped umbrellas and white

chairs. There’s also a chest sitting in front of a wall of the house that Blue says has all their pool

toys. “My cousins from my dad’s side come over during the summer, and even though they are

older, they still love to play with the water guns and the diving rings,” Blue says. As we sit at

one of the tables, Blue suggests we sit at the edge of the pool and rest our feet in the water. So

far, this was the most informal interview I have ever done and if you were to tell me I was going

to sit at the edge of a pool with the Belle Blue and have my feet in the water, I would have

laughed.

“Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t upload that song,” Blue says

about her breakout hit, “So Romantic.” As she says this, her eyes go back and forth following

Percy as he runs chasing a bird in the sky and has a peaceful look on her face. “Like, obviously

I’m very grateful for what happened and my success, but sometimes I wonder, ‘Wow, imagine if

you went into the world of journalism and wrote for newspapers?’ You know, actually used my

diploma for something other than a bragging topic?” She chuckles a little at that last part. She

says even though she’s one of the most popular artists in the music industry, she still has

moments where she isn’t sure she can go out in the world. “I have very bad anxiety and it got to

the point I couldn’t go to see people in concert. I would make myself think that something was

going to go wrong even after I told myself everything is fine,” Blue says.

Her mom found these non-addictive and all-natural calming pills called Bach Rescue

Pills that didn’t need a prescription. After taking them when needed, she felt like a normal person

again. “I eventually was able to be prescribed actual medication when I started performing and

doing interviews, because I needed them daily,” Blue says. She forgot all about her anxiety, until

that summer after her first world tour. The tweet that started it all and would make her famous
for the wrong reasons; “Belle Blue is a backstabbing bitch and a liar. And I would know because

I was her friend in college.” The evidence was fake, as Blue proved with screenshots to counter

the ones that were shown in the original tweet. But that wasn’t enough to stop people from

making hate groups just for the young singer.

“I couldn’t move one day. I was laying in my bed and I didn’t even want to get up,” Blue

says. Her story has been told many times that she says this with a calm, collected tone. “It got to

the point that my anxiety and all that people were saying was consuming my thoughts. I couldn’t

even enjoy hanging out with my friends without people commenting, ‘Oh are you going to

backstab them too?’ And what’s crazy is there are still people that believe her story even though

she admitted to faking the screenshots.” I can tell Blue is starting to cut her words short and I tell

her we can move to a different topic, but she was intent on saying one thing before we did. “I

don’t like people that make you feel like you’re stupid and that you don’t know what you’re

doing. But I've come to terms with everything and I can finally let that disappear because, in the

end, I was able to find other people who enjoy my company. She has to come to terms that no

matter how much she makes herself look pretty on the outside, her true nature is very ugly.”

Percy starts to paw at the back door as a figure opens it, letting him inside. Blue looks at

her boyfriend of three years with a smile not only on her face, but in her eyes. Howard comes

closer and says hello to me and goes to sit next to Blue. Her body becomes less tense and she’s

back to the Blue I saw at the door; happy and warm. The three of us talk about the weather, but it

doesn’t feel like small talk. Howard then starts talking about his audition for a movie that I

promised not to reveal the name of, and Blue catches him up on what we’ve talked about.

“Please tell me she offered you a drink, because her mother will be so disappointed if she
hadn’t,” Howard says and is met with a playful splash of pool water. Blue and Howard start a

water fight, which Blue wins, and we agree to go inside.

The three of us sit at the dining table next to the kitchen and I ask Blue to describe this

next album in three words. “Raw, kind and love,” Blue says. “Not to be cliché but that’s really

what this album is. A mix of raw emotion, kindness in its true form and pure love. It’s what my

life is now, and I have never been happier.”