Inside Charli XCX's shocking past – illegal raves to rare heath condition and 'rejection'

ok.co.uk:

It's a question we might all be asking in years to come: where were you during Brat Summer? British singer Charli XCX could never have dreamt that her latest album would generate such global hype, but as music journalist Michael Cragg tells us, "She's now one of the UK's biggest exports, and the Brat craze captured people's imaginations in a way we hardly ever see nowadays." Brat was said to be a rejection of the "clean girl" aesthetic, with Charli herself explaining, "It can be like, so trashy.

Just like a pack of cigs and a Bic lighter. And like, a strappy white top with no bra." It went even further than that, and as music business writer Rhian Jones says, "The marketing around Brat was so smart that people interpreted it however they wanted to." It was symbolised by a shade of slime green, which during summer 2024 was all the rage in everything from fashion to hair and makeup, and even home decor. "The colour was a way of rejecting the status quo and turning everything upside down," adds Rhian. "Charli has always done her own thing and doesn't care if some people see her as a bit weird.

She just pushes ahead with self-confidence and determination." Though the Brat effect seemed to transform Charli, 32, into a household name almost overnight, she had in fact been in the music industry for 15 years.

She was born Charlotte Emma Aitchison in Cambridge to a Scottish father and Indian mother, who she persuaded to loan her money aged 14 so she could begin recording songs. "I always felt like a loser," she later said. "I had friends, but my school was full of blonde white girls and I was this half-Indian girl with frizzy hair and different interests.That always made me feel a little bit rejected.