Bailey tells PEOPLE about working to find confidence as a solo artist and covering “Footloose” for Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop: “All the icons have had their own Pepsi moment, and now having mine is really surreal”
Chloe Bailey is crossing a major pop star milestone off her list — a Pepsi commercial.
As the star of the beverage brand’s latest Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop advertisement, the “Treat Me” triple threat steps into a modern take on Footloose, as she performs the musical’s title track in a retro diner where dancing isn’t allowed. Following in the footsteps of superstars like Britney Spears, Madonna, Mariah Carey and her own mentor, Beyoncé, Bailey doesn’t take the job lightly.
“When I got the ask from Pepsi, I was completely ecstatic and over the moon. I was like, ‘Wow, I get to have my pop star moment’ — so early in my career,” the Chloe x Halle musician, 24, tells people over Zoom. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always dreamt of this moment.”
Growing up, Bailey recalls seeing Beyoncé’s 2003 Pepsi commercial, in which a gas station employee sings along to “Crazy in Love” before the 28-time Grammy winner exits a car and approaches him to ask for driving directions.
“When you saw her walking to the Pepsi vending machine, and the guy was so mesmerized. That’s been ingrained in my memory,” she says. “All the icons have had their own Pepsi moment, and now having mine is really surreal.”
A longtime fan of Footloose, Bailey has long dreamed of taking her singing, dancing and acting talents to Broadway, and in some ways, she considers the Pepsi advertisement an audition. “I just love entertaining, period,” she says. “My goal is to have an EGOT.”
Originally released in 1984, Footloose depicts a town (loosely based on Elmore City, Oklahoma) where dancing is outlawed and follows a teenager determined to overturn the legislation. Given that Bailey’s faced criticism from haters who think she does “too much” in her energetic, heavily choreographed and vocally extravagant performances, could she relate to the storyline?
“Oh, abso-freakin-lutely. It was hitting everything that I felt right on the head,” says the Georgia native. “The world tells you not to be too much. The world tells you not to be too little. You can never please everybody, and you have to just please yourself.”
For the past two years, Bailey’s been working on her debut solo album, which has been preceded by the singles “Have Mercy,” “Treat Me” and “Surprise.” She’s recorded “over 100 songs” for the “finished and complete” project, and another track — potentially titled “For the Night,” she teases — is coming out soon, further unveiling the album’s sonically eclectic universe ahead of its to-be-announced release date.
“Just by hearing [“Have Mercy,” “Treat Me” and “Surprise”], you really don’t know what to expect,” says Bailey. “People haven’t heard all sides of me, musically. They expect one thing, but I like to be unpredictable.”
Bailey’s album was born out of a time period where she experienced separation anxiety from her sister, Halle, who spent a large part of 2021 filming Disney’s upcoming The Little Mermaid (in which she plays Ariel) across the pond in Europe. During their time apart, Chloe was forced to find confidence on her own — which has proven to be a difficult task.
“If I’m being completely honest, I am still struggling to find my inner confidence. The only time I really feel confident is when I’m on stage [or] in the studio articulating my innermost thoughts and feelings,” she admits. “Some days I feel more powerful, confident and strong, and some days I feel a little small, but that’s OK. That’s part of being human.”
For public-facing artists in the music industry, Bailey says it’s crucial “to be open and honest” about not feeling your best. “A lot of items, people see the glitz and glam and think everything’s fine and copacetic, and we’re always happy,” she explains. “But you also have to pay attention to your mental health because it can get lost within the crazy schedules and not having time for yourself.”
Since Halle, 22, wrapped production on The Little Mermaid, the siblings have been able to spend more time together, between recent Chloe x Halle festival performances and shooting separate acting projects in Atlanta at the same time.
After a lifetime side-by-side, being apart was difficult, and they’ve cherished their time back together. “In the beginning of our relationship, we were all we had and all that we knew, and our confidence really stood on the foundation of us as sisters, our friendship and our bond,” says Bailey.
“When we branched out into our own projects, the foundation of who we are as individuals was shaky because we’ve never built on that. So, sis and I have had time to build on who we are as human beings — what we like, what we don’t like, what we know our strengths and weaknesses are,” she continues. “Coming back together, it’s made us appreciate each other even more.”
With the highly-anticipated May 2023 release of The Little Mermaid on the horizon, as well as Halle’s other acting projects, a new film adaptation of The Color Purple and upcoming drama film The Line, Bailey expresses a high level of general excitement. “I am just so proud of my sister,” she says. “I’m the big sis, so I always feel like a protective mom. It almost brings me to tears when I see her truly stand in her power.”
In addition to her upcoming solo album, Bailey has a few of her own acting projects in the works: the youth choir comedy film Praise This, a “trippy” untitled Donald Glover series for Amazon Prime and “other cool projects” that haven’t been announced. While she’s worked as an actress since starring as the young version of Beyoncé’s character Lilly in 2003’s The Fighting Temptations, performing for the camera has felt especially “therapeutic” for Bailey as of late.
“I tend to bottle my emotions inside, and for some reason, without fail, there’s something I can relate to in the characters I take on,” she says. “It’s always unlocking a piece of me that was never healed, and I feel like that’s when you truly get the raw emotion. So, acting has been almost like a therapy session for me.”
As if they’re not busy enough, the sisters have already started talking about new Chloe x Halle music, though it likely won’t arrive until after Bailey’s album drops. “When we create projects, it always takes us a year or two to fully make sure it’s perfect,” she teases. “We’ll just have to wait and see — but we’re definitely starting it now.”
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