Rachel Platten Can Be More Than A One-Sided Pop Star
Buckets of pink confetti were fluttering down on my head as I slurped up the last few drops of my $10 cran vodka. The drink was called “Fight Song”—named after the anthem that Rachel Platten was busting out in front of us with all her strength, pumping her fist in the air with the endurance of someone who does a lot of cardio. I was packed close to the front of the stage along with other Platten-heads on the first night of her two sold-out shows at Irving Plaza in New York last March; Platten, in faux-fur vest and bejeweled leotard, not only performed "Fight Song," but exposed her other sides of herself. There was anger, loss, confusion—sides of Platten we didn't hear through her radio singles. And as I screamed the chorus of her claim-to-fame track in a haze of happiness, confetti landing in my drink, I thought: Why isn’t Rachel Platten the biggest pop star in the world right now?
Her major label debut, Wildfire, was certified gold, and her breakout single was certified platinum (Plattenum?), but Platten is not, for all intents and purposes, a “big” pop star right now. Nobody’s gossiping about her exploits or putting her in fashion campaigns. No one speculates about her marriage. Instead, we just listen to her music. Imagine that.
22m
42m
57m
21m
57m
20m
1m
59m
20m
20m
20m
41m
44m
1m
20m
1h 29m
5m
2m
5m
1m
2m
8m
58m
9m
5m
46m
1m
2m
6m
1m
46m
8m
21m
51s
3m
21m
44m
34s
6m
2m
1h 20m
21m
1h 34m
9m
1m
13m
4m
46m
21m
10m
20m
1h 38m
23m
14m
11m
17m
44m
44m
20m
20m
1h 13m
43m
44m
21m
5m
2m
3m
22m
22m
22m
23m
20m
46m
44m
45m
20m
41m
21m
30s
24m
1h 16m
12m
2m
7m
41m
20m
4m
41m
1m
20m
24m
43m
47m
21m
20m
22m
20m
1h 42m