Between her time as the frontwoman for 4 Non Blondes, her legendary songwriting catalog (for Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys and more), her own solo career, and her outspoken activism, Linda Perry has already lived countless lives in the public eye. But the new documentary Linda Perry: Let It Die Here peels back brand-new layers to the musical firebrand, from being a mom to 9-year-old Rhodes to losing her own mother just after the singer/songwriter was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy.
In addition to the film — which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and is now in select theaters — Perry also released the album Let It Die Here on Friday, her first solo album in more than a decade. When Perry sat down with the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast in March, she explained that the film and album were both a bit unexpected, with the documentary emerging from director Dan Hardy asking if he could shadow her in the studio and the album sort of pouring out from there.
“I didn’t know an album was coming. I didn’t know I was there yet,” she tells Katie & Keith on the podcast, surprising herself when songs started organically flowing. “I was like, ‘Holy sh–. I guess I’ve got something to say after all.’”
Listen to Perry’s full conversation now:
In addition to the new film and album, we also spoke with Perry about reuniting with her 4 Non Blondes bandmates for new performances and a new album, set for this year, and what she thought of their 1993 hit “What’s Up?” having a viral resurgence late last year. Find highlights from our conversation with Perry below:
On following her instincts on her Let It Die solo album:
“My process has always been to let things happen organically. And if you listen to that record, I mean, there’s so many different characters. I don’t know what the f— is going on, it’s kind of funny. I have my Neil Diamond moment … and it’s like, ‘What the hell? Where is this coming from?’ But it’s what the song is asking. I didn’t write the song to sound like Neil Diamond. The song wrote itself and asked me to sing it in a certain way.”
On covering Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” for the album, which Perry wrote for the pop star in 2002:
“I can go and redo this song and make it sound completely different, so I’m not copying, but it’s my song. This is the way I wanted it back then, so I’m just gonna do the version I would have done for myself, you know? And so that’s what I did. … I think it was my radio guy, Todd Sievers, who said, ‘Have you ever thought about doing a cover of “Beautiful”?’ And I was like, ‘No.’ He planted it in my head. And I was sitting here at the studio, I’m like, ‘Let me just try, you know? Let me see what happens.’ And that’s what happened.”
On making a sophomore album with 4 Non Blondes, more than 30 years later:
“It is so opposite of my album — thank you, Jesus. I think my album is great, but this is, like, fun and dumb. … If we’re gonna f—ing do this after 30 years, I’m gonna make this album the best it can be. But it is like a ’90s record. It’s like I wrote this in ’93, it’s so f—ing good. I’m not even tooting my own horn; I’m just giving you a fact right now. It is a f—ing great album filled with such great hooks, and it’s fun, it’s dumb. There’s a couple songs, maybe a little thoughtful, but, you know, I didn’t go there. I just wanted to just do an album that you’re rocking and you’re jumping.”
On “What’s Up?” going viral through a TikTok mash-up with Nicki Minaj’s “Beez in the Trap” in 2025:
“You can’t buy that kind of marketing or social media presence. I mean, people try to, but it doesn’t work exactly, and it happened organically. And we [4 Non Blondes] were already together — the band already had played a few festivals before that happened. So it was like, ‘Hello, thank you, universe.’”
On Minaj facing backlash following the viral mash-up because of her vocal support for President Trump:
“I think everybody has a lapse of judgment. … In Nicki’s case, it seems that she wanted something from the [president’s] office and was trying to maybe help herself, a friend, a boyfriend — whatever — and was promised something and felt that it was worth the risk to take. You know, if my best friend or Sara [Gilbert, Perry’s former spouse and co-parent of Rhodes] or someone in my family needed something and I had to go begging and groveling to somebody to get it to happen, I probably would have made a bad judgment as well, because sometimes when we’re thinking about loved ones or trying to get out of a situation, we’re not thinking clearly. So I’m not judging Nicki for what happened, what she did. I think she’s judging herself enough, and she’s suffering by her own decision. I don’t think we need to go ahead and make her feel worse than she probably already does.”
In addition to the Pop Shop interview with Perry, we’ve got chart news on how Noah Kahan holds atop the Billboard 200 albums chart for a second week with The Great Divide, and how uncommon that is for a rock set; how Tame Impala gets its first top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Dracula,” alongside BLACKPINK’s JENNIE (her first top 10, too!); and how Madonna is back on the Hot 100 with her Sabrina Carpenter duet “Bring Your Love.”
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
