EJAE Blames DiCaprio Stare for Cracking on 'Golden' High Notes
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- EJAE told the Times that Leonardo DiCaprio, seated directly in front of her during the February BAFTA Film Awards performance of "Golden," made her "so nervous" because he "was not smiling," and said the BAFTAs "haunt me"
- EJAE said she "cracked a little bit on the high notes" during the BAFTA performance, pinpointing the moment right before singing the lyric "born to be" when she locked eyes with DiCaprio
- At a post-show afterparty, Jay-Z walked up to EJAE and introduced himself as "Shawn," while Beyoncé called her voice "incredible" and confirmed her daughters sing "Golden," according to EJAE
- EJAE co-wrote "Golden" with Mark Sonnenblick and provides the singing voice of Rumi in fictional K-pop group HUNTR/X, alongside Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami
- "Golden" won the Oscar for Best Original Song and brought the trio to the BAFTAs, Brit Awards, Golden Globes, and Grammys
- EJAE said she had "no inkling at all that KPop Demon Hunters would be as big as it became," adding "In the past year I've lived five lives" and "I was a nobody and suddenly I'm a something"
Why it matters: EJAE went from self-described "nobody" to Oscar-winning songwriter in roughly a year, with "Golden" pulling her onto the BAFTA, Grammy, Golden Globe, and Brit Awards stages. The DiCaprio anecdote humanizes the pressure of that compressed ascent: even after winning Best Original Song, a single unsmiling face in the front row was enough to crack her on the high notes.
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