MORE THAN A LUCKY STRIKE

Pop stardom fell inevitably into place for Audrey Hobert, who performs at the El Rey Theatre this week

- BY FRANCESCA BERMUDEZ

ANNIE NOELKER For The Times

"I'VE FELT like a writer my entire life," says Audrey Hobert, at Swingers Diner.

Audrey Hobert isn't clowning herself anymore. She was meant to be a pop star.

"I had been sitting on all of this music long enough that there was like a tiny man in my soul beating down the door of my soul," Hobert, 26, said on a recent rainy morning at Swingers Diner in Hollywood.

This week, the L.A. native sets out on her Staircase to Stardom tour across North America, Europe and Australia. Intimate venues will see her perform from her debut album, "Who's the Clown?," released via RCA Records in August. She stops at the El Rey Theatre in the heart of Miracle Mile on Thursday, before performing the next day at Inglewood's Intuit Dome for Jingle Ball.

Though the "Bowling alley" singer has "so immensely" enjoyed her whirlwind year, music wasn't always in the cards. After graduating from New York University with a BFA in screenwriting in 2021, she fell into place behind the scenes, working in a Nickelodeon writers' room for the since-canceled "The Really Loud House."

Everything changed when she started penning tracks with childhood friend Gracie Abrams for the 2024 album "The Secret of Us." Hobert signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Group soon after and participated in songwriter sessions for a few months before setting her sights on something more personal. Initially writing for herself, it became clear her confessional lyrics couldn't be confined to her bedroom walls.