Betty Who Previews Her Liberating New Tour: 'I'm Living My NSYNC Fantasy'

Last week, Betty Who returned from a weeklong getaway to Honolulu, Hawaii, where her singular objective was to "dive off the front of the planet." She succeeded — she has the beach, bikini, and pineapple pics to prove it — nevertheless as an alternative opposed to spiraling into post-vacation blues upon her return residence, she's feeling absolutely energized. The electro-pop singer's third headlining trek, BETTY: The Tour, kicks off its 26-date run on Tuesday night (March 7) in Santa Cruz, California, and while doing so, she'll check off milestones she's long had her eye on.


"I feel like I've played club in each city," Who told MTV News over the phone. "I've worked my ass off to get into these rooms that we're playing right now. I lived in New York for three years and I saw some of my main go to acts play Terminal 5, and every time I went to Terminal 5, I was like, 'I can't fucking wait to play here.' And right now I'm doing it."


It's all of the more meaningful that Who's biggest tour to date is supporting an album rooted in a newfound sense of liberation. Betty — her third album, released in February — is the Australian-born singer's first project as an independent artist right after she split with RCA Records, under which she released 2014's Take Me Whenever you Go and 2017's The Valley. The eponymous album is her most totally realized work to date, and one in which she noticed her own voice.


"A huge segment of what makes me so excited about this tour is I feel like these songs were created in such an inspired way," she explained. "I really imagined in it the complete time. I didn't want anybody to stand in my way or tell me that I didn't know what I wanted, because I did. ... There really are songs on it that I have been dying to write for forever, and I felt I really had the space to talk about what I wanted to talk about."


Not only that, yet she's itching to play fresh material — "we've been playing the same songs for almost three years right now she mentioned — even if that insinuates making tough calls once it comes to the setlist. She plans to play almost all of Betty, nevertheless also wants to revisit her first two albums and pick some throwback favorites that she's missed performing. "There's a lot of songs that we're cramming into a hour-and-a-half show," she conceded.


However as grueling as finalizing that setlist is, it's also made Who besotted with Betty all over again.


"There are songs that you begin performing and you're like, 'I'm obsessed with this song. Wow. Am I the perfect she laughed. "You fall in love with the music that you wrote six, eight, 12 months back. So for me to be performing 'The One,' which I wrote in a Whataburger in the Valley just immediately after I had received out of my deal... It's so random and it also comes to life in a way that I never expected it to."


Of that specific mid-aughts-indebted pop jam, she added, "It is certainly one of the hardest songs to perform. It's very high-energy the full time, although I'm living my Justin Timberlake fantasy. Every night, I imagine myself being a member of NSYNC If I am performing, and that sort of gives me my second wind." The complete tour, case in point, is "very much geared and inspired by the music that inspired me any time If I was a kid," Who continued. "I'm excited to share that and live out my Britney Spears, NSYNC, TRL fantasy along the way."


It's a fantasy fueled by Who's comfort and confidence onstage, which she's honed for years on both her own headlining treks and as a killer initial act. She's toured with Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue, and most recently, Panic! At The Disco — all experiences that made her a stronger and more thick-skinned performer. "I think it's really essential to get humbled every right now and again and remember what it's like to perform in front of a group of people who don't care about you at all," she said.


That won't be a provide beginning tonight, as soon as BETTY: The Tour officially launches and Who's fans revel in the energy and zeal she brings to the stage. It's a hard-earned celebration, immediately after all.


"You have to work your ass off and then you're like, 'Oh, I feel like I haven't done anything.' Yet then, all of a sudden, you wake up one day and you're like, 'No no, I'm playing Terminal 5. I mentioned I habitually would, and yes it took longer than I thought it would take to get here, however I'm doing it.' That's really empowering for me and really satisfying," Who said.


"I habitually feel like I can't wait to show people what I can do," she continued. "I feel like I have so much to give, especially on stage, and I'm just so excited to share that."