GREYSON CHANCE IS READY TO FLIP THE RECORD

Greyson

- By BEA ALAMIS

(Photo by ELLEISHA ANGELS)

Chance almost walked away from music more than once. After a health scare, years of doubt, and a long journey toward forgiving his younger self, he steps back on stage with a sharper and wiser sense of who he’s become. But behind his new persona lay a teenager who carried the weight of unspoken struggles, including the pressures of fame and the manipulative industry. So he is setting everything on his own terms and is, once again, ready to flip the record.

Since early 2022, the American singer-songwriter has been an independent artist, with a sense of artistic freedom apparent in his new music. Ahead of the Manila stop of his “Gold” tour, I spoke with Greyson, both as a writer and someone who has been rooting for him since 2013 — three years after his debut as a child pop singer, when he went YouTube-viral for a Lady Gaga cover. Before our conversation, I found myself compiling our meet-and-greet photos from over the years, realizing I had grown up and gone through a lot with the help of his music.

Greyson was previously in Manila in 2019; he was supposed to return for his “Portraits” tour in 2020 until the pandemic postponed it. The opportunity to slow down gave him time to reflect, and he channeled his feelings of self-doubt, isolation, and uncertainty into his album “Trophies” in 2021. Finding this positive outlet in his creativity, along with overcoming major imposter syndrome, led him to create the tour he has been planning since last year. The “Gold” tour is a flip of perspective for Greyson because it’s an opportunity for him to perform songs he never expected to play again. At the same time, it is also a celebration of his growth as an artist and a reunion with his fans who have grown with his music.