Hayley Kiyoko in Phoenix
Article Written and Photos by Sarai Kelley
Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Hayley Kiyoko is a multi-talented artist who refuses to be put in a box. In 2013, she issued her first solo EP, A Belle to Remember, which included the single "Rich Youth". However, it was her This Side of Paradise EP (released in early 2015) that proved to be Kiyoko's breakthrough, with the evocative single "Girls Like Girls" and its accompanying music video that garnered over 100 million YouTube views. The daughter of actor/comedian Jamie Alcroft and Japanese-Canadian figure skater Sarah Kawahara, Kiyoko began her acting career in commercials, later staring in notable roles as Stella Yamada in the popular Disney Channel film Lemonade Mouth, and as Velma Dinkley in a pair of live-action Scooby-Doo films.
The start of Kioko’s music stardom seemed to launch in 2015 with the This Side of Paradise EP, with the evocative electro-pop single "Girls Like Girls" and its accompanying video eventually garnering over 70 million YouTube views. A year later, Kiyoko unleashed her major-label debut EP, Citrine, which included the airy pop confections "Pretty Girl" and "Palace." Her debut full-length album, Expectations, arrived in 2018, featuring the singles "Sleepover," "Feelings," and "Curious." It landed at number 12 on the Billboard 200. A stand-alone single, "I Wish I Knew," followed in July 2019. She continued her rise in the alternative pop world, releasing the EP I'm Too Sensitive for This Shit in 2020 and the full-length Panorama in 2022.
Kiyoko is an iconic breath of fresh air in the scene for her unwavering true-to-self anthem, a driving force of support for the LGBTQ+ community is a hat she so gracefully wears. Her live shows are truly unbeatable, an out-of-body experience of self-love and appreciation. She has truly cultivated a shared safe space for any person to truly express who they are without the fear of the outside world. Her sophomore album explains a process we all understand all too well, a lush, detailed exploration of navigating the highs and lows of life. You could sense the invitation into senseless freedom the moment she took the stage, lyrically bouncing back and forth in the understanding of what it genuinely feels like to lose yourself and not know how to get back, finding a sense of stability in being a staying present in life, and ultimately finding your way back to the trust and best version of you.
Hayley Kiyoko is still on tour, find a date near you for a show you won’t want to miss
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