Whitney Woerz

Whitney Woerz entered the music scene as a mid-teen singer and songwriter whose output centered on an upbeat, spontaneous style of pop. Her first collection, the 2015 Behind the Smile EP, carried traces of guitar-driven texture that aligned it with Taylor Swift’s initial work, whereas later material moved toward polished arrangements and more restless vocal phrasing, as heard on the 2020 track “Weirdos.”

A native New Yorker, Woerz entered the studio for her debut project in the opening months of 2015 while still fifteen. Glenn Rosenstein, whose credits include U2 and Madonna, handled production, and the resulting Behind the Smile EP appeared before year’s end, featuring the viral track “6 Second Love” alongside “Ghost Story,” a song that addressed a friend’s experience with depression. Her ongoing focus on that subject earned her the role of teen ambassador for Bring Change 2 Mind, an organization working to lessen the social stigma tied to mental-health challenges. Also in 2015 she issued Live from Muscle Shoals: The Fame Sessions, a set of covers drawn from X Ambassadors, Troye Sivan, Bon Iver and additional artists, captured at Fame Studios.

The single “Idea of Her,” released in 2017 and marked by an energetic tone, inaugurated a run of independent releases that continued with “Love Me Not” in 2018 and “Little Bit More” the following year. Two further 2020 offerings, “Weirdos” and “Retrograde,” adopted a more idiosyncratic character.