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
57m
59m
20m
20m
20m
41m
41m
44m
1m
20m
1h 29m
1m
2m
5m
1m
2m
5m
46m
2m
1m
1m
46m
21m
51s
3m
21m
44m
34s
6m
2m
21m
1h 34m
9m
4m
46m
1m
1m
21m
10m
20m
23m
20m
20m
44m
1h 13m
43m
21m
44m
44m
2m
3m
22m
23m
46m
44m
21m
41m
45m
20m
22m
22m
30s
24m
1h 16m
59m
4m
41m
20m
2m
41m
1h 39m
47m
24m
1m
43m
21m
20m
22m
20m
1m
1h 42m
1h 25m
20m
20m
20m
1m
2m
21m
2m
13m
14m
10m
3m
1m
5m