"I'm most proud of not giving up," Rexha tells PEOPLE in this week's issue as she releases a new album, 'Dirty Blonde,' as an independent artist
Credit: Nate Guenther
NEED TO KNOW
- Bebe Rexha left her record label in 2025 to become an independent artist and reclaim creative control
- Her new album Dirty Blonde marks a return to her dance-pop roots while exploring vulnerable and personal themes
- Rexha tells PEOPLE about facing industry rejection and embracing her relatability and resilience as a pop star who tells her truth
Bebe Rexha has always kept it real. Unfiltered as ever, the pop star is gesticulating with foil-covered fingertips as she passionately discusses her recent career reset over a Zoom from her L.A. home.
Since leaving her longtime record label in 2025 to become an independent artist, Rexha has been reclaiming her voice. “After years of feeling like I had no power, it was very hard for me to tap into the real feelings. I kind of numbed myself out,” Rexha, 36, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. She felt she was creatively smothered and had lost “some of the best years of my life” because of her last record deal. “I think the most expensive currency in life is time,” she notes. “But you’ve got to move forward.”
The Grammy-nominated star is doing just that with her fourth album, Dirty Blonde (which came out on Friday, June 12), an electrifying return to her dance-pop roots that showcases her vulnerable lyricism. “I felt free,” she says of making music on her terms for the 13-track visual album. “I don’t like being stuck in a box.”
A prolific songwriter, Rexha got her start crafting hits for A-listers, like Eminem and Rihanna’s “The Monster.” Since her solo debut in 2014, she has found success across genres, from her record-breaking country ballad “Meant to Be” with Florida Georgia Line to the high-octane EDM banger “I’m Good (Blue)” with David Guetta.
“I always felt kind of insecure about the fact that I did have songs like ‘Meant to Be’ or dance songs with Guetta, a song [‘Me, Myself & I’] with G-Eazy, a song [‘Seasons’] with Dolly [Parton]. There were so many different sounds,” says Rexha. “With [Dirty Blonde], I'm finally like, "You know what? I'm literally writing these songs. I love writing with different people and collaborating. I'm going to just do what I want."
Credit: EMPIRE
Raised by Albanian parents on Staten Island, Rexha was exposed to many types of music as a kid and has never stuck to a singular sonic palate. “Growing up with a certain type of pop star, which I loved, I always felt like I didn’t fit the mold,” she says.
Dirty Blonde finds Rexha following her own unique path. The album began as a dance-focused project with songs like “Tokyo” and “New Religion,” as she “wanted to party” and “be in the culture,” but she later added more acoustic-leaning and country-tinged sounds, like the ballad “Drink and a Little Love.” Other tracks feature vulnerable lyrics reflecting on her journey “with the major label system” (“Time”) or past romantic relationships (“The Way I Want You” and “Required Love”). “Throughout this process of finding the right team, I was like, ‘I think I'm ready to go in a little bit deeper,’ and I started to feel again,” she says.
While many pop divas present a flawless facade, the “I’m a Mess” singer has never shied away from airing her insecurities in both her music or social media feed, and she’s been especially open about body image and mental health issues. “I’ve had ups, I’ve had downs; I’ve been skinnier, I’ve been fatter, I’ve been in between,” she says. “The most important thing for me is not only just looking hotter but feeling hotter.” These days, she declares, “I’m way happier."
Credit: Nate Guenther
A perfectly polished celebrity persona may not be part of Rexha’s DNA, and she’s made peace with that. “There’s different kinds of pop stars — untouchable and relatable,” she says. “As much as I would’ve loved to be that untouchable pop star, I just feel like I have to be relatable and just always tell the truth and speak my story.”
For now Rexha is embracing this era as an independent woman and artist — a testament to her resilience. Before deciding to call the shots herself, she met with major record labels that rejected her for the “craziest reasons,” deeming her “too old,” she says, but she was undeterred: “I could have easily just stopped. I’m most proud of not giving up.”
For more on Bebe Rexha, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere now.
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