| Betta Lemme | |
| Birth Name: | Elizabeth Tonya Lemme[1] |
| Birth Date: | 30 April 1993 |
| Birth Place: | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Genre: | Pop, dance-pop |
| Instrument: | Vocals, piano, guitar, ukulele |
| Years Active: | 2016–present |
Betta Lemme (born April 30, 1993) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, director and multi-instrumentalist.
Lemme is born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[2] She is Italian-Canadian, with her second-generation Canadian parents[3] being both of Italian descent (from Calabria and Abruzzo).[4] Her first language growing up was Italian; once in Quebec's francophone school system, she began speaking primarily French at home.[3]
At the age of 2, she first became drawn to music when trying to learn the Addams Family theme song on her grandmother's piano.[5]
Betta Lemme attended post-secondary school majoring in photography and film.
Before pursuing a career in music, she worked multiple jobs related to fashion and photography including being a model, working as an independent booking agent and as a social media consultant.[3]
She had been writing and playing music in Montreal, but after being told by a college music professor that she wouldn't be able to study music due to not being able to read music notes and being rejected from music school, she eventually decided to move to New York in 2016[6] as an attempt to pursue a career in music and find collaborators on her own.[7] While living in New York, Betta happened to rent from Tucker Halpern of the American DJ duo Sofi Tukker. Their friendship lead to music collaboration.[3]
On July 8, 2016, Betta Lemme was featured on a single titled Awoo which she co-wrote with American DJ duo Sofi Tukker.[8] It was released on the duo's self-published debut EP Soft Animals.[9] On October 17 of the same year, a music video for Awo was released by Ultra Music. The music video with Betta includes dance choreography by her which is also performed live during shows with Sofi Tukker.[3] [10]
Lemme's debut single Bambola was released officially on 10 November 2017.[11] The official video released on the same day has reached over 82 million views on YouTube. On 29 January 2018, Lemme made her first-televised debut performing her single, Bambola on RAI 1's Che tempo che fa.[12] She appeared as a guest performer on The Voice of Italy 2018, singing "Bambola" with the three finalists.[13] On August 10, 2018, she released Bambola EP.
On June 25, 2021, Betta Lemme released the LGBT-themed song "Girls" coming out about her sexuality.[14]
Betta Lemme released the song and music video for Dance Til Forever, premiering on Rolling Stones Italia on March 8, 2024. After facing years of challenges with releasing her music while preserving creative autonomy under the terms of her record label contract with Ultra Music, this release marked a new chapter for the singer as an independent artist. The song Dance Til Forever explores themes of freedom after a break-up and the music video includes imagery of paperwork and contracts, alluding to Lemme's freedom from bad contracts with her former label.[15] The second song Getaway was released on June 7, 2024. On July 2, 2024, she confirmed that her next release will be followed by an EP.
Betta Lemme is fluent in French, English and speaks Italian.[16] She identifies as sexually fluid.[17]
"Kick the Door" was featured in the episode "Rite of Thunder" of Marvel's Runaways in 2019.[18] "Give It" was featured in the closing credit for The Craft: Legacy. The single "Bambola" was featured in the bowling alley date scene in .[19] The single "Kick The Door" was featured in trailers of the game Riders Republic by Ubisoft.[20] In 2022, the Merk & Kremont Remix of "Bambola" was featured in the scene of Ava and Beatrice dancing in season 2 of Warrior Nun.[21]
| Details | ||
| Bambola EP |
| |
|---|---|---|
| Ready for the Weekend |
|
| Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [24] [25] | ITA [26] [27] | |||||
| "Bambola"[28] | 2017 | 36 | 31 |
| Bambola EP | |
| "Give It"[30] | 2018 | — | — | rowspan="5" | ||
| "Kick the Door"[31] | 2019 | — | — | |||
| "Play"[32] | — | — | ||||
| "I'm Bored"[33] | 2020 | — | — | |||
| "Mommy"[34] | — | — | ||||
| "Cry"[35] | 2021 | — | — | Ready for the Weekend | ||
| "Ce Soir"[36] | — | — | ||||
| "Girls"[37] | — | — | ||||
| "I'm Good"[38] | — | — | ||||
| "Dance Til Forever" | 2024 | — | — | Upcoming EP | ||
| "Getaway" | 2024 | – | – | Upcoming EP | ||