Billboard Women in Music 2026 Innovator honoree Laufey shares why collaboration and innovation are central to her artistry. She explains how performing with artists from different genres, like Benson Boone, Hozier and KATSEYE, gives her the chance to hear her voice in a new light and show that she can’t be boxed into one style. She also reflects on her journey starting from posting videos from her bedroom, answering emails from labels herself, and building a team while remaining independent through her first three albums.
Laufey:
I definitely was a little bit at first. I think the first concert I played, I was like, “Whoa. Who do I think I am to be playing here?” But then it became quite natural after that, and I got over the impostor syndrome of it pretty, pretty fast. And, you know, especially when I’m in the middle of the room, it’s like a theater in every direction. I get to be surrounded by the fans, and they get to experience, like, kind of every side of me. And I’ve kind of felt like that experience actually really lended itself to my music and my world because it’s a whole lot more immersive. But I still love playing theaters, and I will for the rest of my life. So I think it’s good to have both, ‘cause both give me opportunities to show different sides of myself. There were a couple of ways, I think, you know, knowing when to make things big and knowing when to make things small is really important. When you have a big number with dancers and a big orchestration—or with strings and the band and big visuals—you know, you want to make those as fantastical as possible. And we drew a lot of inspiration from opera, from ballet, from musical theater, to make those moments feel really big. And then, in contrast, the moments that are small, you make them feel really, really intimate, and they feel so small because you’ve just offered up something so big. And those moments, I think, taking the time to speak directly to the audience, you know, explain what songs are about, how you came to that lyric or something like that, or even just talking about the day, kind of humanizing the experience of coming. Arenas are quite big and can feel very vast and daunting—not only for the artist but also for the audience.
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