Emily Blue (born Emily Caroline Otnes on June 28, 1994; ) is an American singer-songwriter of Norwegian descent. She has both a solo career is the lead singer of Champaign-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Tara Terra. Born and raised in

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. As of the 2010 United States Census, Urbana is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 38th-most pop ...

, she is now lives in Chicago and Nashville. Blue's career is characterized by sharp changes in musical style, and her releases fall into vastly different genre classifications, ranging from

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

and

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

Life and career

Emily Blue was born as Emily Caroline Otnes on June 28, 1994, in

Urbana __NOTOC__ Urbana can refer to: Places Italy *Urbana, Italy United States *Urbana, Illinois **Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois *Urbana, Indiana * Urbana, Iowa *Urbana, Kansas * Urbana, Maryland *Urbana, ...

, Illinois. She wrote her first song when she was 13, and got motivated to become a songwriter. She says her mother was the guiding figure in her home, and that she inspired her by taking a powerful female role in the household. She me Colin Althaus and Joey Buttlar in the early 2010s and they joined Nick Soria and Céline Broussard to form Emily Otnes and the Weekdays, later renamed to Tara Terra. Otnes changed her name to Emily Blue. Tara Terra released their debut album, ''Daughter'', on August 30, 2014.

2016–2017: Solo career and ''Where's Your Light?''

In 2016, Blue went through a mentally difficult time and felt the need to express her thoughts about

womanhood A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

rape culture Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-s ...

, and

trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source *Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic inju ...

. According to her, she packed those emotions that she felt in song form. Blue's first single, "No Pain", was released on August 6, 2016 with lyrics about rape culture. The ''Another Angry Woman'' EP, was released on November 4, 2016 with five music tracks and three one minute interview tracks. Its lyrics are on subjects considered taboo, but conveyed with a mellow

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

sound. According to Blue, the title of the EP "is a title that intends to take a critical stance on our culture's lack of empathy towards survivors". All the income from the album sales and merchandise for Another Angry Woman went to RACES (Rape Advocacy, Counseling, & Education Services) organization. Blue released the two-sided single, "Blackberries // Rico Acid" on April 7, 2017 with an up-tempo pop sound. "Blackberries" became popular on music streaming service Spotify. It was Blue's first collaboration with Max Perenchio. Tara Terra released the ''Where's Your Light?'' album in 2017, preceded by the single "Like the Clothes". Huffington Post praised the track, labeling it as the band " howingoff their rhythmic chemistry underneath Blue's falsettos and

olin Olin may refer to: People Organizations * OLIN, American landscape architecture firm * Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis * Olin College, an undergraduate engineering college in Massachusetts * Olin Corporation, a chemical ...

Althaus's bright guitar riffs." It was described as having a harder sound than their 2014 release and received mostly positive reviews. The band went on indefinite hiatus the same year.

2018: ''*69 EP''

On April 6, 2018, Blue released "Cellophane", an experimental and heavily synthesized pop track. This became the first single from '' *69 EP'', produced by and written with

Bad City Bad City was a five-piece rock band from Chicago, Illinois. They were signed to Atlantic Records in 2010. The band released their debut album '' Welcome to the Wasteland'', produced by Grammy Award nominated producer Johnny K, on August 24, 2010. ...

's Max Perenchio. It was released on August 8, 2018. The second song from this extended play, "Microscope", was released five days before the EP was out. The sound on the EP was described by ''Chicago Reader'' as "a glossy, idea-packed EP whose five tunes burst with pulsing electro beats and walloping

choruses". It was also said that a few listens to Blue's "Microscope" and "Falling in Love", "make it clear that she can translate her razor-sharp hooks into any musical language". On the album's re-release, three songs were added to the tracklist.

2019: Tara Terra reformation and ''ICONIC''

On January 10, 2019, Blue commercially released ''Emily Blue on Audiotree Live'' with the songs from '' *69'', except "Dum Blonde", and three of her earlier singles. On March 8 of the same year, Blue released a pop-rock cover of Blondie's " Call Me", just three weeks before the release of Tara Terra's comeback single "Ithaca", which was revealed on April 1, 2019, premiering on Atwood Magazine. This album added Evan Opitz as official guitarist of Tara Terra. On April 7, 2019. Blue released a five-track extended play: ''Couch Surfer, Lover''. The single "Bad Decisions" was made available on all platforms on June 28, 2019, Blue's 25th birthday. The cover art for the album depicted the singer mooning the camera in front of a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

. On October 11, 2019, the singer released an indie-metal fusion track titled "17" on Spotify. The song was described both by reviewers and fans and by Blue herself as inspired by Lana Del Rey. On October 14, 2019, Blue announced an 18+ LGBT music festival organised by her, titled ''ICONIC''. The festival took place on December 6, at Schuba's Tavern and included performances from Chicago band Flora, artists Carlile,

SuperKnova Ellie Kim, artist name SuperKnova, is a singer, activist, physician and musician. She has released two studio albums, ''American Queers'' and, most recently, ''superuniverse''. As a physician, she is noted for speaking out publicly against non-con ...

, Thair and GirlBoifriend. According to the festival's site, a portion of the proceeds went to nonprofit organization Brave Space Alliance, a pro- trans rights organization. On November 8, 2019, Blue won first place in

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

's year-end Best Pop Artist award.

2020-present: COVID-19, new beginnings, ''The Afterlove''

In 2020, in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Blue launched an initiative entitled "Artists for Global Giving". The concept of the project was that artists in lockdown make tracks from quarantine within 24 hours, with all tracks compiled into a mixtape, the proceeds of which go to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

relief funds. Many artists promoted the concept on social media, with the process being dubbed "#1DaySongChallenge". The first volume of the project, "Artists for Global Giving , Mixtape #1" was released on March 25, 2020. "Social Distance", the fourth track on the album, is performed by Blue herself. Blue released a new single titled "Aperture" on 8 May, which was first teased on 15 April. The song was premiered with a live performance on Good Day Chicago.

The Deli ''The Deli'' was a Brooklyn based independent music magazine, with both print and online editions, as well as a blog (still active) that covers local music scenes and their emerging artists. Magazine In its print version, ''The Deli'' was a quar ...

called the song "ethereal" and said it was "more firmly planted in Dream Pop than Blue's previous singles", while Emma Maliborski of Chicago Haze said it "manages to send listeners to a vibrant landscape through their earbuds". On 7 August 2020, following a live performance for

Jack Daniel's Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown–Forman Corporation since 1956. Packaged in square bottles, Jack Daniel's "Black Label" T ...

via Audiotree, with two previously unreleased tracks "Prophet" and "Glow", Blue released a single titled "Trump.". The song is a protest song against

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

in the genre of

. Blue announced on Twitter on 27 August 2020 that she would soon release an EP. The expected date of the release is unknown as of now. On 9 October, she followed the news up with a cover of

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

and

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

's "Rain on Me", which features vocals from Chicago singer Thair. On 26 November 2020, Emily Blue's long-term songwriting partner Max Perenchio died at the age of 33 in a car crash in Southern California. Perenchio produced the vast majority of her releases up until that point. On 31 January 2021, the singer announced her third album, titled ''The Afterlove''. Emily Blue's first single of 2021, "7 Minutes", was released on 12 February. According to Wiwibloggs, it was sent to the song selection committee for

Melodi Grand Prix 2021 ''Melodi Grand Prix 2021'' was the 59th edition of the Norwegian music competition Melodi Grand Prix (MGP). The contest served as the country's preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The competition was organized by NRK and was held ...

before being released as a single. The song is the first release from Blue's third studio album, which is set to be released Summer 2021. Blue said the song was dedicated to Max Perenchio, who co-wrote the song several weeks before his death. "7 Minutes" was featured on

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

's Top Tracks of February 2021. The second single from the album, "See U in My Dreams", was initially scheduled to be released in June 2021. However, its release was postponed to July 23rd. It was met with positive reception, making it onto two of Spotify's biggest pop playlists. On the week of its release, the song peaked #35 on the Israeli digital charts, marking the singer's Top 40 debut. On 4 August, Blue revealed on an

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

that The Afterlove would come out "soon", announcing that one more single would precede the album release.

Personal life

Blue resides in Chicago, Illinois and Nashville, Tennessee. She is a supporter of LGBT rights and pro-LGBT organizations. Blue is openly pansexual, and non-binary and goes by she/they pronouns.

Discography

Albums

*''Another Angry Woman'' (2016) *'' *69'' (2019) *''The Afterlove'' (2022)

Mixtapes

*''Artists for Global Giving: Salud'' (2020)

Live albums

*''Emily Blue on Audiotree Live'' (2019)

EPs

*''Blackberries//Rico Acid'' (2017) *'' *69 EP'' (2018) *''#1DaySongChallenge'' (2020)

Singles

*"No Pain" (2016) *"Gene" (2016) *"Empower (We Grow)" (2017) * "Cellophane" (2018) * "Microscope" (2018) * "Call Me" (2019) *"Bad Decisions" (2019) *"17" (2019) *"Aperture" (2020) *"Trump." (2020) * "Rain on Me" (2020) *"7 Minutes" (2021) *"See U in My Dreams" (2021)

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue, Emily 1994 births Living people 21st-century American women singers 21st-century Norwegian singers Bisexual musicians Norwegian LGBT musicians American LGBT singers Norwegian pop singers Norwegian singer-songwriters Norwegian sopranos Norwegian heavy metal singers English-language singers from Norway Synth-pop singers Non-binary musicians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people LGBT people from Illinois Bisexual non-binary people Electronic musicians American synth-pop musicians American women pop singers