Addison Rae wants to be more than a pop star

Addison Rae says she is not focused on being boxed in as a pop star and instead wants to be seen simply as a star.

The Diet Pepsi singer believes her sound is driven by instinct as much as the time she grew up in, after Rosalía suggested she has helped bring the spirit of the 2000s American pop star into the present.

She told The Los Angeles Times: “I don’t know — it’s kind of confusing. I think my music is very now as much as it’s a conglomeration of my life. I was a baby in the 2000s and grew up watching everything in the 2000s, so naturally that’s what I was raised on. My mom always had on MTV. But I think the 2000s was an era of pop that will never be replicated. It was all so new. It was an era of undeniable stardom — of pop being unafraid to be provocative and risky.”

The singer, dancer and actress says she never had a single minded goal of becoming a traditional pop star.

Addison explained: “I appreciate the people that say I’m thoughtful or strategic — that gives me a lot of credit, actually, because I don’t think that’s the case all the time. When you say you want to be a pop star, people reference someone like a Britney or a Gaga or a Rihanna — there’s an idea of what a pop star means. I don’t really care about being a pop star. I just want to be a star.”

She said that performing is what truly motivates her, regardless of the format, adding: “I feel like it’s all one and the same to me — I just want to perform, and wherever that finds its home is where I’m putting my energy. I wouldn’t say that every night on tour before I went onstage I was necessarily in the best mood of my life. Some nights, you’re crying before you go on, so you’re kind of acting in a way to put on this performance for people. I’m very ambitious in general. I love chasing big dreams, and if that comes in the form of an amazing script or a director that I really love and trust, I’m 10 toes deep.”

She added that she has no plans to limit herself, pointing to the women who inspired her before: “I don’t think it’ll ever narrow down. I don’t know why it would. Someone like Barbra Streisand is someone I’ve always loved and looked up to. Judy Garland too. Even Marilyn Monroe. I mean, she was doing it all. I just think: Why would you not want to do it all?”