She did what?!
During the seven years she lived in Minnesota, Lizzo occasionally would do something wild to get the local gossip mill spinning with that question. In the year and a half since emerging out of COVID-19 lockdown, the singer and rapper has frequently drummed up international headlines essentially asking the same thing.
Truth is, it's been hard to stay on top of all of the "Truth Hurts" hitmaker's high-profile and sometimes highly unforeseeable activities of late.
One week she's in the news for doing something on TV. The next week it might be for something musical. Just last week, the 34-year-old classically trained musician was all over the media for (check notes) playing the fourth U.S. president James Madison's 200-year-old flute. No one saw that coming.
Ahead of her return to the Twin Cities on Tuesday to play her first arena concert in her former hometown — a nearly sold-out gig at Xcel Energy Center — we thought a recap was in order of all the recent mileposts in Lizzo's ever-broadening career.
1. She won an Emmy. "Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls" won the trophy for best competition series at last month's Emmy Awards. The Amazon Prime show, which included scenes from her sold-out Treasure Island Casino Amphitheater show last fall, continued the body-positive messaging sprinkled throughout her music and videos.
2. She landed another No. 1 hit single. Her disco-y flashback track "About Damn Time" proved an ironic title when it brought her to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts again, two years after "Truth Hurts" went there — a song that actually came out two years before charting.
3. She issued another album. The follow-up to her breakout 2019 LP "Cuz I Love You" also arrived in July. Titled "Special," it's actually her fourth record counting the two she issued during her formative Minnesota years (2010-2017), "Lizzobangers" and "Big Grrrl, Small World." This one shot to No. 2 in Billboard the week it came out.
4. She somehow made flutes a political hot topic. The widespread reports about the Library of Congress lending her President Madison's crystal flute to play onstage in Washington, D.C., became a bigger-than-expected news item as conservative pundits such as Ben Shapiro contended she was "desecrating history." It's really hard to avoid making a "blow hard" pun here.
5. She pulled double duty on 'SNL.' Back in April, she followed in the footsteps of Paul Simon, Dolly Parton, Olivia-Newton John, Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift as one of only 36 musical guests in "Saturday Night Live's" 48-year history to also serve as the guest host. None of them ever twerked as memorably as Lizzo did, though, in the skit about her joining an orchestra.
6. She launched her own activewear line. "Shapewear reinvented by Lizzo" is the sales pitch for Yitty, a new collaboration with Fabletics available in sizes 6X to XS. This, too, is all about correcting the body shaming she experienced in her youth, as she told CNBC how it was "a painful, shameful experience" for her literally trying to fit in.
7. She got into a long-term relationship. The fact that Lizzo's dating news became widespread celeb-tabloid gossip was another sign of how widespread her fame has become. And no, Chris Evans isn't the beau. The fella's name is Myke Wright, an actor and comedian also with Detroit roots who has accompanied her to several red-carpet events. "I am in love," she declared in a recent interview.
8. She kicked off her first arena tour. St. Paul is only the ninth stop on her Special Tour, which kicked off Sept. 23 near Miami and is scheduled to culminate with a two-night finale at London's O2 Arena in mid-March. The popular music website Consequence's review of her first of two Madison Square Garden shows on Monday called it "part variety show spectacle, part megachurch empowerment retreat." Nothing surprising about that.
Lizzo
With: Latto.
When: 8 p.m. Tue.
Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul.
Tickets: $65-$259, ticketmaster.com.
