Bella Kay: 'I know everything I did wrong, and that is what I like to talk about'

What do you think would happen if your teenage diary was made public? Social suicide, most likely. Not for 20-year-old Bella Kay, whose crop of confessional pop songs — some of which were written when she was just 17 — has won her a legion of fans, scored her a Top 10 single in the UK (within just six months of releasing music, no less) and led to her being tipped for a Best New Artist nomination at the 2027 Grammys.She has been compared to the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams, the latter of whom she is set to support on tour later this year. “I think [confessional pop] makes people feel seen. I feel like it’s such an honest way of putting yourself out there,” Kay muses of the subgenre’s recent rise.But there’s something different about Kay’s diaristic melodrama, and it’s not just the raw charisma of her syrupy southern drawl. It’s there from the first gut-punch lyric of The Sick, her debut single. “I hope your daddy’s done hatin’ you,” she intones, scorned and serious, strumming the guitar she learned to play via YouTube tutorials.“I know everything I did wrong, and every single moment that I f***ed up, and that is what I like to talk about most of the time”While most confessional pop is populated with heroines who veer on the right side of relatable, Kay is not afraid to make herself look bad. “I don’t know if I’ll regret this in five years, but when I’m writing and putting out songs, I’m kind of like, ‘Well…’” She throws up her hands and rolls her eyes skyward, a picture of youthful abandon. “I also really like to blame myself. I’m very hard on myself. And I know everything I did wrong, and every single moment that I f***ed up, and that is what I like to talk about most of the time.”Bella Kay.Reckless is a word Kay proudly identifies with. It’s pride of place in the title and themes of her debut album, My Reckless Abandon (released last month). She sings frankly about her sexual appetite, body image issues and predilection for making bad decisions. “I have always been an extrovert,” Kay says. “When I was little I was even worse. I was a monster,” she laughs. The other casualty of this diaristic candour can come when people find out things you would never say to their face. But people rarely take issue, says Kay. “I think sometimes people don’t want to be like, ‘Is this [song] about me?’” she laughs. “It’s a big thing to ask; you have to be positive.”Kay’s music has particularly resonated in the UK. Her second single, iloveitiloveitiloveit, peaked at No 2. “I don’t understand the logistics of one place liking you better than another,” she admits. “I’m obviously grateful.”Still living with her parents in Orlando while not working in LA, Kay came to London as part of her first tour earlier this year and hopes to return as soon as she can. “Every show I’ve done in London has been so sick. I feel like a lot of my fans are from London, so it’s like the show’” she beams. “My whole perspective of London is just a big heart.”