How Bella Kay learned to listen to the universe

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Set us as preferred When Bella Kay finally went back to in-person school after the COVID-19 pandemic — she’d gone remote starting at the end of eighth grade, which is maybe as bad as it gets? — she tried finding an activity in high school that might approximate the songwriting she’d started doing on her own at home.“I was like, I guess I’ll do theater,” she recalls.“I wanted to get better at being onstage and having a stage presence.

And, honestly, it was really fun — I got really into movement, and I had a great group of friends.”Looking back, she reckons the best show she performed in was “Legally Blonde,” which Vista Ridge High School near Austin, Texas, presented in January 2022.Did Kay play the iconic lead role originated in the movie by Reese Witherspoon? She erupts in laughter at the thought.“Bro, I was a sophomore,” she answers.

“I was Ensemble Member No.4.”Just a few years later, the idea of Kay in the spotlight isn’t so far-fetched: In April, her song “Iloveitiloveiloveit” — a jittery pop-rock jam about falling (and re-falling) for a guy she knows is bad news — broke into the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100.

Grammy prognosticators have tipped Kay as a potential best new artist nominee when nods are announced Nov.16.

And in the months ahead she’s set to tour as an opening act for both Noah Kahan and Gracie Abrams.Before that, the 20-year-old will headline a show of her own Tuesday night at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, where she moved from Texas to pursue music after giving college a brief whirl.“I thought being a lawyer sounded reliable, but then school beat my a—,” she says now.“I decided the universe was telling me that wasn’t right for me.” Music The singer and songwriter needed inspiration after winning best new artist at the Grammy Awards.

She foun...