DIVA catches up with the alt-pop musician making waves around the world
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGES BY KAI DICKSON
As independent artist Chloe Star rocks out on stage at Pride in London 2025, rainbow flags cover Leicester Square as far as the eye can see. The packed audience chants along, throwing their hands in the air and banging their heads with joyful abandon. It’s queer joy at its finest.
LA-based Persian and Native American artist Chloe Star is, in simple terms, awesome. With 101 tattoos and counting, the alt-pop sensation is providing listeners everywhere with new tracks every month that explore heartbreak, living authentically and celebrating queerness. We catch up on a scorching day in May, just days before her gig at The Grace (30 May). When I ask about Pride in London last year, Chloe’s face lights up: “It was honestly a movie. It was something that was one of my favourite shows that I’ve ever done. The energy was just unmatched.”
Growing up, Chloe explains that she struggled to find ways to express herself fully. It was only after she found a love of journaling and poetry that she was able to put her feelings to paper. This soon turned into the discography that we can see today. Her biggest inspirations growing up were Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin. As a teenager, Chloe would spend her days watching Amy’s interviews. “I would look at her and be like, ‘What are you going to do to be so authentically yourself and really not give a fuck?’ That’s what I was chasing when I was younger.”
In her early teens, Chloe was also grappling with the thought of coming out to her family. Up until that point, she had referred to her then-girlfriend as her “best friend”. One day, she sat her mum down at a diner and told her that she was dating a girl. Her mum’s response? “She said, ‘Yeah, I know. I love you anyway’. And just kept going!” Chloe laughs. “Everyone in my world knew I was a lesbian before I had to tell anyone which took a lot of weight off my shoulders. After that, I knew that I didn’t have to explain myself to anybody.”
As a queer Persian and Native American artist, Chloe has been breaking down barriers both in her music and personal life. She shares that it’s been a really “cool” experience to connect with her Persian dad and “break some culturally learned mindsets”. For other queer Persian people, Chloe hopes that people in the same boat will know to “just be yourself, because you never really know what you’ll get in return, especially from people that love you”.
As Chloe gears up to perform at her highly anticipated show at The Grace, she tells me that one of her favourite songs at the moment is I Didn’t Want To Say Goodbye which dropped earlier this year. “One of my biggest fears in life is losing people that I love,” Chloe explains. “I was rehearsing [the song] and I just wanted to cry.”
From lesbian superstars like Chappell Roan to the growth of grassroots dyke communities, we’re seeing a rise of sapphic representation across the arts. “The music industry is more open now which warms my heart,” Chloe says. “There are so many queer artists that feel safe enough to be honest which is key. It creates a safe space for artists, but it creates a bigger space for the listener.”
I ask what her younger self would think seeing the career she has built for herself now. “I think she’d be so proud,” Chloe smiles. “She probably wouldn’t believe it and would need some photo proof!”
And what advice would she give to an LGBTQIA+ person in the crowd? “Stay true to yourself. Dress how you want to dress. Talk how you want to talk. Continue to walk in your path. I think when people are just being who they truly are, then the universe will take control and do its job.”
It’s undeniable that Chloe is 100% her authentic, insanely cool self now. With over 100 tattoos, I ask if any have a special meaning. She points to one on her arm of a street cone. “One of my best friends passed away a few years ago. We used to steal street cones and then paint them. Sometimes we would put them back where we found them, so not technically stealing but borrowing!”
You can find out more about Chloe Star by following her on Instagram @frenchtoastkiller.
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