With a viral reach on TikTok and steamy collaboration with Miley Cyrus, the American singer has swiftly become the queen bee of the LGBTQIA+ social media-savvy generation.
Camera IconWith a viral reach on TikTok and steamy collaboration with Miley Cyrus, the American singer has swiftly become the queen bee of the LGBTQIA+ social media-savvy generation. Credit: Supplied

Fletcher in Australia: Singer talks of being a queer icon ahead of first Perth show at Metro City

Headshot of Jessie Stoelwinder
Jessie StoelwinderThe West Australian

Fletcher is still coming to terms with being labelled a queer icon.

But with a viral reach on TikTok, critically acclaimed debut album and steamy collaboration with Miley Cyrus, the American singer has swiftly become the queen bee of the LGBTQIA+ social media-savvy generation.

The buzz kicked off in 2019 when Fletcher’s single Undrunk became the fastest-rising pop song on radio from a new artist in the past five years, then went into overdrive with the release of her debut album, Girl of My Dreams, last year.

The 29-year-old’s raw depiction of same-sex love and heartbreak struck a chord with listeners, who formed a dedicated global fandom in the millions.

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Singer Fletcher.
Camera IconSinger Fletcher. Credit: Supplied

Yet Fletcher admits she grapples with impostor syndrome when confronted with her idol status.

“I never set out to be a queer icon in any way, I just set out to be myself,” she says.

“And it’s true, there’s nobody like you . . . Maybe I am a queer icon, I don’t know, I will take that title — but I think we all have the ability to be f...... iconic in our own way.”

Growing up in a small, conservative town in New Jersey, Fletcher didn’t have any role models to look up to when questioning her own sexuality.

“I spent so much of my life hiding and really confused, and terrified of being different from what people expected of me and hoped for me,” she says.

“I have always been a people pleaser, so the idea of letting someone down or challenging somebody’s belief system in any way was something I could not wrap my brain around. I spent a lot of time not wanting to acknowledge that, and because of that I abandoned myself for a very long time.

“I remember the first time I was going to put out a video that had a same-sex love interest and I was getting a lot of feedback from my family and people in my orbit saying ‘don’t do that, you’re going to alienate people’.

“But it was that very video and very message that brought an audience to me, because people saw themselves in some way — and I needed a video like that.”

Fletcher’s honesty has enamoured her to fans, like when she described “creeping” on her ex’s new girlfriend on Instagram in hit single Becky’s So Hot.

Her popularity further spiked when she joined Miley Cyrus on New Year’s Eve for a charged duet of Midnight Sky, where the two performers “broke the internet” by openly flirting with one another on stage.

Fletcher and Miley Cyrus performed together on New Year’s Eve.
Camera IconFletcher and Miley Cyrus performed together on New Year’s Eve. Credit: Supplied

Sold-out shows have become the norm for Fletcher, who will continue her non-stop tour run with a string of Australian dates later this year, including her Perth debut at Metro City on December 9.

She is pumped to return Down Under after a quick visit to the east coast last year, which she prepared for with the help of Aussie friend and fellow queer singer G Flip.

“G is just the most lighthearted, funny, kind, not-a-bad-bone-in-their-body, happy-all-the-time kind of human,” Fletcher says.

“I was, like, ‘OK, this is exactly what it’s going to be like when I go over there’. Before I went over G was teaching me some Aussie slang, we did a TikTok video of them teaching me some things to say.”

Just hold the shoeys — after a past attempt, Fletcher has a laugh when she says she won’t be attempting the celebratory drink this time around.

Tickets for the Girl of My Dreams tour are on sale via Livenation.


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