Chloe and Halle Bailey were in their mid teens when, five years ago, they posted a cover of Beyonce’s Pretty Hurts on YouTube – but they showcased a poise and vocal ability beyond their years.
The clip soon caught the attention of Beyonce herself, who shared it on her Facebook page, adding the caption: “So amazingly talented!!”
After learning they were unsigned, she contacted the sisters at their home in Atlanta, Georgia – taking them under her wing and signing them to her Parkwood Entertainment label.
A few years later, they have uprooted from Atlanta to Los Angeles, released an award-nominated debut album, landed roles in TV show Grown-ish (for which they wrote the theme song), and are currently opening for Beyonce and Jay-Z on their On The Road II stadium tour.
“We’re having such a blast,” says Chloe, on the phone from New York. “Just building our craft and being really happy and making memories.”
It’s a pretty safe bet, however, that the duo would have succeeded even without Beyonce’s endorsement.
They wrote and produced their debut album themselves, concocting an ethereal take on R&B infused with trap beats and intricately-woven harmonies.
“Pretty much the whole album we did in our living room,” says Halle who, at 18, is the younger of the two sisters.
“It’s so funny because that’s the family area where we watch TV, then our studio’s off in a little corner of the room. So whenever we’re recording it’s like a game where we’re like, ‘OK everybody, be quiet!’
“Our little brother’s bedroom is right next door so he always has to tiptoe by when we’re recording!”
They prefer the homemade approach, turning down the A-list collaborators Beyonce could easily have supplied so they could forge their own musical identity.
“Our mum and dad instilled in us that we can do amazing things, we can learn to do whatever we want,” says Halle.
“So we were like, ‘Instead of getting a big-time producer and having to wait four weeks for a meeting, why don’t we just try to create it ourselves?'”
