From tiktok to sold-outs: how eli’s 'stage girl' is rewriting the rules of pop
Twenty-five-year-old Eli is having a moment. Just weeks after considering quitting Music altogether, she’s gearing up for the deluxe release of her debut album, Stage Girl, and riding a wave of sold-out shows fueled by a fiercely loyal fanbase – including Olivia Rodrigo, Addison Rae, and Troye Sivan – who’ve flocked to her concerts.
A reluctant rockstar’s reckoning
It wasn’t a sudden ascent. Eli started posting snippets of her Music online from a small town outside Boston, building a following on TikTok under the handle @JournalOfADoll. But a rigid Music program in New York City quickly led to disillusionment, prompting her to drop out and embrace a more DIY approach. Suddenly, her early 2000s pop-R&B tracks – laced with emotionally raw lyrics – began to go viral, mirroring the spectacle of the singing competitions she’d grown up watching.
“I felt like other people were gripping onto it,” she admitted during a recent Zoom call from her Los Angeles home, a streak of Y2K-core platinum blonde highlighting her hair. “I’d forgotten about the things that I was doing it for—loving writing songs and truly believing in the power of pop Music.” The surge in attention, and the pressure it brought, nearly overwhelmed her.
The crowd’s the cure
But the joy of performing, the visceral connection with her audience, proved to be the antidote. “It was fully reminding me that the biggest part of doing this, and why I’ve been dreaming of doing this—and why I wrote an album called Stage Girl—is to be on a stage, in front of people,” she explained, twirling a strand of hair. “It re-instilled my faith in pop and in Music and in my songwriting abilities.”
The deluxe edition of Stage Girl, slated for release on May 22nd, amps up the maximalist aesthetic, exemplified by the lead single, “Glitter.” The track is a deliciously barbed kiss-off to an ex, asserting that “true love should make you feel like glitter,” layered with a subtle innuendo about his role. Alongside “Feel Your Rain,” a power ballad brimming with twinkling synths and heartfelt pleas, Eli is leaning into a whole spectrum of sonic explorations—from gospel-inspired harmonies to a driving, club-ready beat. “Some of my favorite songs are an R&B girl singing over an acoustic guitar,” she confided, “I want to make Christian music, to sing to the woman in Walmart who thinks that trans people don’t deserve to be alive. And then I’ll bring her backstage, and we’ll have such a ki.”
What’s truly remarkable is Eli’s journey, from an unknown online creator to a mainstream phenomenon. She’s not afraid to embrace her identity as a trans woman, a shift that coincided with her artistic breakthrough in 2024. “It really was aligned with my opening the floodgates for my ability to express myself after 20 years of pushing it all down and living in a state of dissociation and repression,” she stated. “I feel very fortunate that, as terrifying as it was, I said, I’m going to just go full-throttle in trusting my truth and showing up in the world.”
Despite her newfound success, Eli remains anchored by her commitment to her community and her unwavering belief in the transformative potential of pop music. She’s a commercial-ass bitch, she admits with a laugh, recalling her teenage obsession with Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. And she’s got a killer instinct for worldbuilding, meticulously crafting visuals that evoke the nostalgic charm of early internet culture—a kaleidoscopic blend of glitter, sequined fedoras, and Y2K-era fashion.
The deluxe edition of Stage Girl promises to solidify Eli’s position as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry, cementing her legacy as a songwriter who’s not afraid to push boundaries and unapologetically embrace her own unique voice. The music is undeniably captivating, but it’s Eli’s honesty—her willingness to delve into her experiences with vulnerability and humor—that truly sets her apart. And frankly, there’s no doubt that her journey is just getting started.