Eli Is Manifesting A Plan To Open For Ariana Grande

In less than a year, Eli has gone from “singing to her laptop,” as she puts it, to releasing her debut album, Stage Girl, and hitting the road on her first headlining tour. But it wasn’t until the singer experienced a very specific rite of passage — signing boobs — at a recent sold-out show that she truly felt like a pop star.

“It’s much cooler than taking a selfie with someone,” she tells me at a Hell’s Kitchen coffee shop the afternoon after her show. “I love it. It’s so visceral.”

The 25-year-old singer might’ve missed out on Y2K culture, but she arguably captures the era better than most millennials on Stage Girl, full of sticky-sweet pop-R&B melodies with shades of early Britney Spears and Hilary Duff (she cheekily references “Come Clean” on “Girl of Your Dreams”). The album was inspired by Eli’s childhood in small-town Massachusetts, where she’d watch talent shows like American Idol, The Voice, and The Four — all of which she auditioned for several times.

“Eli knew who she was from a very young age,” she says. “I remember in kindergarten I was like, ‘I’m going to be a rock star.’ That was my truth. I really do have that Disney spirit in me of wanting to be a singer and going for it.”

The rejections didn’t get her down, and Eli decided to create her own competition on the Eli Is the Next Stage Girl Tour, where she proves why she deserves to be a pop sensation with mic drop-worthy vocal runs and punchlines. (She wins, of course.) What makes Stage Girl — both album and show — stand out, however, is Eli’s vulnerable yet witty way of describing her experience as a transgender woman, from the closeted confessions of “I Wish I Was A Girl” to her moment of transition on “Somebody I’m Not.”

Eli’s journey happened in real time while making the album. “I was repressed for 20 years, and then I just let the floodgates open,” she says. “I got to reap the benefits of it at such an interesting time in my life where I was signed to a label and wanted to put out music, but wasn’t showing up as my real self yet.”

She was initially skeptical of boxing herself into a specific narrative, saying she wanted “to make sure the shades of Eli that aren’t just my transness were shining as well,” but she sheds that fear on the deluxe version of Stage Girl, which is coming soon. She describes her upcoming track, “Feel The Rain,” as a blend of all of her singles, calling it “the best song I’ve ever written,” while “Nobody’s Girl” is a “frank and honest” story about her trans identity.

“I sometimes am a bit put off by an artist who puts out a deluxe album because it’s like a cash grab,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But baby, I’m not making any cash, and I’m broke right now.”

Eli’s candor in her catchy melodies has garnered such A-list fans as Chappell Roan, Demi Lovato, and, most surprisingly to her, Lily Allen. “She DMed me and said, ‘We should write together when I’m in LA.’ And I was like, ‘This is not real,’” she says. “It validates the confident part of myself that thinks I have a perspective and worth as an artist.”

When the tour wraps, Eli hopes to jump to bigger stages, including opening for Ariana Grande on her Eternal Sunshine Tour. “I’m going to break in, and I don’t know how,” she says, joking. “Just let me do one song.”

But before playing arenas, she has one thing she wants to check off her bucket list: a Y2K-style mall tour. “The malls need it, and I need it spiritually, physically, musically,” she says. “It’s so inspiring and fun and weird. I just want to be like Britney in the mall. When I was 14, I sang in a mall, and the tracks didn’t work, so I had to sing a cappella. It was so fitting. It was a very Stage Girl opportunity.”

Learn more about Eli in her Bustle Booth questionnaire below.

In The Bustle Booth

What’s your coffee order?

Recently, I’ve been doing an iced Americano, black, but usually my favorite kind of coffee is a vanilla latte with pumpkin puree or something. I have that Christian Girl Autumn in me. I love a pumpkin latte.

What are the saved weather locations on your phone?

They’re very random. New York right now, Boston, Revere, whatever the f*ck that is. Cape Cod, New Hampshire, and Madrid. I was in Madrid three years ago — very beautiful, amazing thrifting.

What’s your star sign?

Libra.

What’s your favorite overused movie quote?

*sings* “I got my ticket for the long way ’round, two bottles of whiskey for the way.” The “Cups” song, obviously. That was what made me confident in my singing.

What was your favorite cartoon to watch as a kid?

Tom and Jerry, love.

What’s one movie or TV show that you’re currently obsessed with?

My Old Ass is really beautiful. And I’m really obsessed with The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. It’s insane.

Who is your celebrity idol?

Ariana Grande.

If you had to go on a reality TV show, which one would it be?

I would love to go on the queer Are You the One? It’s really crazy, and I’d love to just be messy as hell on it.

What is your go-to karaoke song?

“Your Song” by Elton John.

What is something that’s been inspiring you lately?

Marxism.

What is something that you would want people to say about you?

“I think she cares about me.”