On show in Montreal on Friday: here are 5 things to know about Lizzo

UPGRADE DAY

Accomplished flautist, model of body positivity and ally of the LGBTQ+ community, Lizzo will be performing Friday at the Bell Centre. 

On the occasion of this glittering celebration, here are five things to know about this extraordinary artist, who is today one of the most famous names in music.

1 ) The delayed success

Melissa Viviane Jefferson, born in April 1988 in Detroit, known as Lizzo, first became known to the general public with her song Truth Hurts, in 2019. The song had however been released two years earlier, in September 2017, but it quickly fell into the cracks of the sofa, just like his first two albums, released in 2013 and 2015.

It's finally thanks to Netflix's 'rom-com' Someone Greatand to the TikTok application that its title becomes viral and imposes itself in the charts. Ranked 24th on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 best song of the decade, the song alone garnered three Grammy nominations in 2020, including recording and song of the year. p>

At the same time, the career of the American singer officially takes off with the release of her third studio album, Cuz I Love You, which will be equally well received by critics and the industry. She won Grammys for Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Pop Solo Performance for her song Truth Hurts and Best Traditional R&B Performance for her song Jerome.< /p>

2) Positive entrepreneur

Lizzo has naturally become the muse of self-confidence and the normalization of round bodies over the course of her various projects. In her music, she talks about her confidence and self-love. She creates her own brand of sculpting lingerie, Yitti, and tackles the lack of body diversity among dancers in her docu-reality Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.

< p>She also doesn't hesitate to talk about her sexuality and to send brands that don't want to dress her to look elsewhere if she's there.

3) Half EGOT

Lizzo just needs an Oscar and a Tonny to make it onto the prestigious EGOT list. Winner of three Grammys and an Emmy, the singer would like to diversify and does not slam the door to a career as an actress. She also auditioned for the role of Ursula, in the adaptation of The Little Mermaid, and recently appeared in the series The Mandalorian, on Disney+. She plays the Duchess of the planet Plazir-15.

4) Classical flautist

Lizzo is a classically trained flautist. She has been playing the transverse flute since she was ten years old and played in the marching band at the University of Houston, Texas, where she studied music.

She nicknamed her Sasha Flute instrument, in honor of Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé's stage alter ego. She says she named it that because she felt at the time that she was leading a double life; that of a concert flautist and that of a rapper. However, today she manages to combine the two well.

She also had the opportunity to play a few notes on the 200-year-old crystal flute of former US President James Madison, during a concert in Washington.

5) The activist

At a concert in Knoxville, Tennessee, Lizzo invited on stage drag queen friends protesting new state legislation to restrict public drag performances. She, of course, posted photos of the event on her platforms.