IVY IS THE NEXT POP PRINCESS

WORDS ROB CORSINI

Most people spend decades trying to find their purpose in life - but not IVY. By the time she was eight, she’d written her first song, burned it onto a CD and given it to her parents to send off. But she wasn’t aiming just anywhere, she was laser focused on the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. All because, even at eight, IVY knew that she wanted to be one thing - a Pop Star.   

As she enters 2026, she’s fresh off a rebrand that ushers in a new era. Gone are the days of bby ivy. Now IVY is releasing club-ready, anthemic pop designed for a night on the town with the girls and the gays.

With her latest single, ‘High’, IVY talked to F Word about why we all need more fun in our lives, who she’d cast in her all-star pop girl band, and how she convinced her parents to let her move to LA - alone - when she was sixteen years old.

Rob Corsini: Hey IVY, welcome to F Word! So, we’re still in January 2026, you have new music out already, what’s your vibe for the year so far?

IVY: It's very good. I've walked into this new year just feeling like… myself. Last year, I went through so much stuff, but I was creating the most happy, fun pop. Now I get to release it at a time in my life where I actually believe it. I'm just having fun with it. It's a bold new era.

RC: For some people, it’ll be the first time they’ve heard your music - so if you were introducing yourself, at this point in your life, how would you do it? 

IVY: [Laughs] First I'd say “Hi”. I’m Ivy, I'm a pop singer from Norway. I make fun pop. Sassy, confident, energetic, pop.

RC: Fun pop is such a great descriptor for your music - why is fun the adjective you’d choose?

IVY: Because we need to have some more fun! But I guess because it's carefree, bubblegum pop - not quite, you know, it's alternative pop still - it’s in the dance world. 

But I really, really love pop music with a deeper theme. And so there's always a hidden message you can find in every one of my songs.

RC: In the last year you’ve undergone a transformation and you’re releasing music under IVY now - tell me about that transformation?

IVY: Well, I'm not a baby anymore. How long can I go around calling myself bby ivy, you know? [Laughs] I think it's just more mature - you'll see in the upcoming EP. It’s coming into myself and my sexuality.

RC: If you were gonna compare bby ivy and IVY - what would the similarities and differences be?

IVY: I think bby ivy is the younger version of myself. You wanted to speak to her and be like “You'll be okay,” you know? [Laughs] IVY is the grown version who’s able to let loose more. I've had some transformations in my personal life too, I quit drinking last year and that kind of made me come into myself, in a way. To find my personality without the things that you’d usually lean on to be bold and out there. I was finding my confidence again and that’s kind of what I do in the music, as well. It's a journey of self-discovery.

RC: I know you’re based in London now but you were born in Norway - tell me about your childhood?

IVY: I grew up in Norway, but I moved around a lot. London, Spain, and LA from when I was 16. I basically had to beg my parents to let me move to LA, because that's where I felt like I needed to be. I was obviously only 16, so it was difficult, but we made a deal. I made a PowerPoint presentation for them, sat them down, and I was like: this is where I'll go to school; if my grades drop below this, then you get to send me home; this is my emergency contact, and so they finally agreed to let me go.

RC: Is that how you got into music?

IVY: When I was in LA, I signed with a label at 16. That did not work out. I was very young and very easy to take advantage of. I signed something without knowing what I was signing - you know, the story you hear every day. Especially with young artists in LA.

RC: One of the things I love about your music is how unabashedly pop-centric it is. Have you always been a pop girl?

IVY: Always. I love the super big pop songs that you hear at the Summertime Ball. Zara Larsson, Anne-Marie. If there's one really big goal I have, it's performing there.

RC: If you were able to form a super group girlband with yourself and four other pop girls - who would be in it?

IVY: Four other pop girls, okay, that's perfect, actually. Zara Larson, Tate McRae, Sabrina Carpenter - and then I’m stuck between Mabel or Mimi Webb. Ok, let’s go for Mimi Webb.

RC: Your new single ‘High’ dropped today - how would you describe it?

IVY: High is a club-ready anthem to get dancing to. It’s for the girls and the gays at the club.

RC: What’s the story behind the song?

IVY: The longing! You know when you see someone who kind of just looks so put together, and they look so perfect - runway ready when they walk into the room. I’ve always had this thing where I wanted to either be the person, or I wanted to be with them, you know? Being stuck between those two. I think that's the bisexuality as well.

RC: Club-ready is the perfect description for ‘High’. If you were going to create your dream night out, what would it be?

IVY: I'd be out with my girlies and my gays, of course. I’d be wearing a recently bought outfit, whatever that is, because I always prefer the outfit that I’ve just bought - that’s why I have a shopping addiction. 

We all have to get ready at mine, with the playlist blasting nostalgic pop playing, crammed in front of one mirror. Some great mocktails. And then we jump into the van to the club. Maybe a pub. I’m torn between the pub life and the club life. 

And then the night ends at home, eating a margarita pizza with added pineapple in bed. With lots of garlic dip. It has to be eaten in bed, there’s a naughtiness to it.

RC: You’ve got an EP coming out soon - tell me about it.

IVY: I still don't have a name, I just realized that! But all the visuals are ready. The songs are all from the same time in my life. They’re sexy and confident, maybe because I was just missing some confidence and I was writing for the version of me that I wanted to be. I feel like I've finally reached that, even before the music drops.

So now I'm just happy to dance around and promote it, because you want to promote a song about being fun and sexy when you feel fun and sexy, you know? And I hope other people feel that when they listen to it.

RC: What’s your favourite F Word?

IVY: Can I swear? Fuck

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