After lighting up the world with her debut single, ‘If We Ever Broke Up’ – the biggest debut single globally so far this year –breakout star Mae Stephens returns with an equally infectious, sun kissed anthem entitled, ‘Mr Right’.
‘My Right’ serves up a slice of effortlessly cool, glittery disco – pop made for dancing summer nights away. On it, the 19-year-old rising star from Kettering swipes unsatisfactory men out of her life with what is quickly becoming her trademark sass as she continues her quest to find the right one for her.
The new single finds her joining forces with one of her childhood idols, Meghan Trainor, with the global superstar lending her inimitable vocals to the new track, “I am beyond honored that Mae asked me to be a part of this song!!” Meghan said. “I have been a big fan of hers from afar on social media and was so excited when her team reached out. I am convinced that she is my long-lost little sister, and I am so excited that we now get to have a song together. Mae is a young legend, and I cannot wait for more and more people to discover her and to hear her incredible song writing and vocal skills. She is the sweetest and most talented girl and deserves all the success in the world! ”
“Meghan is an artist I have idolized for years!” Mae added. “She is the artist I aspire to be, so working with her has been an absolute dream come true! Especially working with a huge artist for the first time she just makes me feel so heard and comfortable! She is the ideal artist, the kindest person I have ever met and the most amazing MOTHER! Both to her kids and also as a role model music mother for me 🙂 Thank you Meghan!!! ”
Since unveiling a snippet of her debut single, ‘If We Ever Broke Up’, on TikTok at the start of this year, Mae Stephens has become the hottest new pop star in the game. That single has racked up more than 350 million streams worldwide, with over 132 million Spotify Streams and 3.3 million YouTube views on the video. Mae now has over 10 million monthly listeners on her Spotify, and the track is now certified Silver in the UK and on course to be certified Gold in the US very soon. On the live front, having played shows from a very young age she recently played the Great Escape, supported PINK in London, and then at the world-renowned Glastonbury festival, followed by a support slot for K-pop juggernauts BLACKPINK, and has many more festival slots over the summer to come.
The track’s impact isn’t just limited to the West, either. It has gained huge momentum in Asia, peaking at #1 on the Western Chart in China and accumulating over 27 million streams in China per week. It has also seen huge traction in Japan and South Korea, going viral on TikTok as fans and artists in the countries – including K-pop icons ITZY, ENHYPEN, and more – jump on a new dance trend tied to the song. NME said about the song, “With tongue-in-cheek lyrics that see Stephens repeat a brilliant kiss-off – “If we ever broke up, I’d never be sad” – over a distinctive synth riff and a slinky bassline that recalls Blu DeTiger’s fluorescent pop, the track was a smash in waiting: only Stephens didn’t have to wait long.”
Before Mae woke up on New Year’s Day to find her song blowing up globally online, Mae was finding solace and sanctuary in her music-making between working shifts at her local Asda. A songwriter since the age of 12, she’d used music to guide her through the hardships of teenage life, pouring her heart out in emotional, impactful songs penned on her nan’s old piano,
“I used to be quite angry as a kid and I had a lot of pent-up tension, especially coming home from school,” she explains. “I tried so much to find what was going to help me release all of that – stuff like judo, skiing, biking. I tried so many things until it came to song writing. Just being able to sit, close the door, not have anyone around me and just have some space to think and let my emotions out into something creative was probably the one thing that really got me through school, other than my brother.”
The target of cruel bullying, Mae’s school years were far from easy, with her being picked on for being the “loud, quirky kid”. When her classmates found the YouTube channel, she uploaded her original songs and covers on, every video she shared would prompt more hate and spitefulness to be sent her way. Pushing through the nastiness with the help of her music and her brother, she was “determined to push forward and prove a lot of people wrong”.
Now, in Mae Stephens, Gen Z has found a new champion – an artist ready to use her voice to help others and provide the same kind of sanctuary in her music that it gave her while making it, “A lot of kids are probably going through stuff that’s a lot worse than what I went through and it’s not highlighted as much as it should be,” she says. “To watch kids go through that and not have someone to look up to is something I really hope I can help with. I want to be the champion of the underdogs – Mae’s misfits.”
