Can Jeff Goldblum Make Dreams Come True?
Bebe Barry was born in Guy’s Hospital and grew up in Borough Market – The Wheatsheaf pub, to be precise, where she enjoyed chatting to the locals and ‘cuddling their dogs’ when she walked through the bar after returning from school, writes Michael Holland.
Alas, the family had to leave when the new railway line cut through the top of the pub, moving out to Kent and away from the ‘tight knit community’ Bebe had come to know and love. But not for long as another pub became available in Southwark Street, which they returned to.
From a young age Bebe was interested in music: ‘My mum was always singing to the radio and my dad has always been a pop culture expert. I had a vast music education from him, listening to Motown, Bowie, Stevie Wonder, and all the greats,’ she says. ‘I started learning the recorder when I was about six and then switched to piano at ten. It was around then that I picked up the guitar as well, and I’ve been playing ever since.’
At school, Bebe sang in the choir and says she ‘loved the composition part of Music GCSE and A Level’. She had a lot to say at the time but didn’t know how to put it into a song, although a supportive teacher helped Bebe through her ‘stubborn pursuits’.
On leaving school, Bebe went to the drama school LAMDA where she developed her performance skills. However, tough times began when she developed PTSD after the Borough Market terror attacks and discovered she had ADHD.
These days, Bebe has reached the point where, she declares excitedly, ‘I can’t get enough of writing lyrics; it’s one of my favourite parts of songwriting.’
Her first solo performance was in June 2021, a night she will always remember: ‘I was SO nervous to sing in front of people, but now I’m an absolute lunatic on stage, so it’s crazy to think back to that first gig!’
She started doing shows around London, then with her ‘bestie and fellow artist Emma Tea’ raised funds for a mini-tour in Redcar, Leeds, Birmingham, as well as London: ‘It was such an adventure and so much fun to hit the road with our bands,’ she remembers.
In recent times, Bebe Barry has become a bit of an Instagram and TikTok sensation after she and her friend Ben Burwell wrote ‘Jeff Goldblum’ after Bebe had seen a viral video of the Hollywood star at the Super Bowl. She reveals the song was brought on by ‘a deep admiration for his talent and irrepressible eccentricity’ and tells me that she and her writing partner ‘were on the same wavelength straight away after watching the video clip – We wrote the song in less than an hour’.
They posted a video of the song and within a day Jeff Goldblum himself and seen it and posted a 10 out of 10 review, which made Bebe struggle to stop herself from shouting, ‘Jeff Goldblum likes my song’ when she read it while walking in the park. ‘I was truly gobsmacked. I initially saw he had liked a post and my instant thought was that it was a fake account, but I quickly registered the blue tick by his name… The song hadn’t even been out for 24 hours and there was this glorious comment from the man himself. I’ve been flying high ever since.’
There has consequently been a real buzz on social media since Goldblum gave his approval of the song, especially on TikTok. Bebe says, ‘I’ve made some posts about what’s happened and they’ve been viewed around half a million times now, with lots of people saying lovely things about the song, which has been wonderful.’
And, of course, Goldblum’s interest has evoked dreams of one day playing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury and, she discloses with a wry smile, ‘I also dream of bringing out Ryan Gosling on stage and duetting “I’m Just Ken”, from the Barbie movie.’
And with Goldblum’s 10 out of 10 review still fresh in Bebe’s mind she also wants to get on board with ‘Greta Gerwig, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt to help create the soundtrack to a Ken spin-off movie, if it ever happens…’
Also up there as hopeful future events are playing Middlesborough’s Riverside Stadium – ‘My dad is a “smoggy”, and my brother, and I have been going to football matches there since we were small,’ explains the singer/songwriter.
On a more down to earth note, Bebe is on a mission to somehow get her song to Greg James – ‘I feel like the whole saga is super up his street!’
Bebe Barry wanted to end the interview with praise for Ben Burwell, her songwriting partner and ‘very talented artist’, and for her producer Patch Chiverton: ‘I think the true magic of our Jeff Goldblum song is how much fun we had making it. There were so many laughs and so much excitement and I think those are the secret ingredients that got us 10 out of a possible 10 Goldblums!’
Song details: Jeff Goldblum by Bebe Barry, written by Bebe Barry and Ben Burwell, produced and mixed by Patch Chiverton and mastered by Pete Maher.
The new video will be released on Bebe’s youtube channel on the 4th October. The handle for that is @bebethebarry – Bebe’s handle on all social media platforms.
