As Official Charts Company data confirms that Bella Kay has the biggest new hit song released in 2026 with ILoveItILoveItILoveIt, here's a chance to read our On The Radar interview...
Superstar-in-waiting Bella Kay is still processing the success of her hit, ILoveItILoveItILoveIt, as she gears up to finish her debut album. Here, the Texan artist tells Music Week about a whirlwind year, signing with Atlantic Records, childhood road trips and why trusting your gut is everything…
INTERVIEW: Charlotte Krol
PHOTO: Mehki Reece
“It was great,” Bella Kay reflects, speaking to Music Week the day after headlining the O2 Academy Islington. The Texan pop star’s understated response is hilariously at odds with the magnitude of her rising stardom. Perhaps it’s because she’s still recovering from the night before. She is sitting here in the fancy confines of The Franklin Hotel, nursing her throat with a hot cup of lemon and ginger tea.
Islington was the latest stop on Kay’s sold-out UK and European tour. This summer, she scoots across North America for a string of headline and festival shows. And in the autumn, she returns to support folk-pop powerhouse Noah Kahan (“I’m such a big fan,” Kay beams) on his UK and Ireland arena tour.
Kay’s sold-out headline shows come as little surprise. The singer-songwriter’s unfiltered lyrics about self-sabotage and lovelorn friendships set to driving acoustica have won her a legion of fans. Breakout global hit, ILoveItILoveItILoveIt, has amassed more than 286 million streams on Spotify since its January release. Alongside hitting the Top 20 on the Hot 100, ILoveIt... peaked at No.2 in the UK (630,456 sales, OCC), pipped to No.1 on each occasion by Sam Fender & Olivia Dean’s colossal collaboration, Rein Me In. ILoveIt…, which features on Kay’s 2026 EP A Couple Minutes Out, followed the viral momentum of The Sick. That single, taken from 2025 debut EP Sick To My Stomach, was released by Atlantic Records after Kay inked a deal last summer.
If that sounds like a whirlwind of releases, live shows and rapid stardom – plus 17.8 million likes and counting on TikTok – it is. Yet, Kay appears to take it all in her stride.
“It felt awesome [signing a deal], it all happened really fast,” she recalls. “What was kind of nail-biting about it was a lot of people around you are like, ‘Be careful.’” She takes another sip of tea. “But I’ve just been really fortunate to have got signed in a way that allowed me to grow and explore.”
Kay adds that what’s “cool” about being an artist in 2026 is there are many different paths to choose from – be it the major, indie or crossover route via label and artist services companies. She is now working on her debut LP.
“At the time I signed, I didn’t know super well all the different things that were possible, but this just seemed what was right for me and so I didn’t have reservations,” she continues. “I thought, ‘I’m just going to make it work.’”
Kay’s steely determination is supported by her “great” team at Atlantic Records, where she works “really closely with my A&R, Jeff Levin, who is amazing”.
“The team listen to me and want my vision to come to life – not necessarily what they think is right,” she adds.
That support extends to Atlantic Records UK, whose team was out in force at the London show.
As we speak, it’s about a month since ILoveIt... was last vying for the UK singles top spot. Kay takes a deep breath, her eyes widening when she’s asked about its chart success.
“Because it’s happened so early in my career, I haven’t fully been able to grasp it,” she says. “I don’t pay super close attention to the charts. Maybe I’d be more locked in if it was happening at a different time, but I’m finishing the album so it’s hard for me to focus on something in the past.”
Instead, Kay is looking forwards, otherwise she’ll get “obsessed” with what’s happened as opposed to her “priority”: completing her debut.
The tracks on it, she tells us, are “very classically Bella Kay”, including single, Promise? (which featured on recent EP Are You Mad At Me? alongside Say It Say and Stop). Promise? features acoustic strums and lovesick lyrics, as Kay muses about admitting her romantic feelings to a friend.
“What’s exciting is there are tracks where people are going to be like, ‘Whoa, I didn’t know she could or would do that,’” Kay says of the album. “It’s more exploratory.”
The as-yet-unannounced album has been largely recorded in LA, where Kay now resides. It’s been written for the most part with songwriter-producer Alexis Kesselman, aka Idarose.
“She’s my main collaborator – she’s great,” says Kay. “Alexis just gets me in a way that other [songwriters] haven’t. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with so many exciting people, but she’s the other half of my brain.”
Before Kay began her pop career, she spent her teenage years writing music at home on the guitar. Her singing voice developed through choir and musical theatre at high school, while her “super deep” love of music was sparked by family road trips.
“I’d be in the backseat thinking, ‘I don’t know what I’d do without music’ – even at the ripe age of eight!” she says.
“I just then fell in love with songwriting, the whole ‘sad girl with a guitar’ thing, when I was 13,” she adds.
Trusting her gut is working, and Kay says she is proud of ILoveIt… “not because of how it did commercially, but because it was a tough call to put it out”.
“I was deciding between putting out an album and releasing A Couple Minutes Out EP, and I wasn’t sure about doing that because it’s a little weird to put out six songs [on Sick To My Stomach EP] and then three songs,” she explains. “All I knew was that it was a very me track.”
Before Music Week’s slot is up during Kay’s busy press day, there’s time to ask her about being a pop star today.
“The way the industry is now, you have to really engage with social media if you want to reach as many people as possible,” she says, reflecting on what it takes. “I have fun with it; I love the connection with fans.”
And as for Kay’s ultimate career ambitions?
“To do this job in a way that makes me happy for as long as possible,” she concludes emphatically. “I’ve always loved writing and music, so it all felt like kismet when I decided to do it.”
ESSENTIAL INFO
RELEASE: Are You Mad At Me? EP (out now)
LABEL: Atlantic Records
MANAGEMENT: Immersive Management & Records
WHAT THE TEAM SAYS:
Adam Mersel, manager, Immersive: “‘Voice of a generation’ is a phrase that gets thrown around often, but Bella truly embodies and earns it. She has an extraordinary ability to articulate the coming-of-age experience in a way that feels timeless and reflective of what young people navigate today.”
Priscilla Felten, manager, Immersive: “Bella possesses the unique ability to write from a place that’s both deeply personal and incredibly universal. The way in which she has connected with her fans from day one has been a testament to her authenticity as an artist.”
Jeff Levin, EVP & co-head, pop & rock A&R, Atlantic Records: “Bella is a true one-of-one songwriter. She has a level of talent and instinct you can’t teach. I have an immense amount of trust in her vision and ability to take risks and not skip steps. Her growth has been enormous, but I truly believe she’s barely scratched the surface.”
