Life and Death With Charli XCX

Charli xcx believes in ghosts, which is why she tends to keep a safe distance from wherever they might gather.

- By ANGIE MARTOCCIO Photographs by GUS VAN SANT

That might be difficult on this mid-May afternoon, considering we’re standing on the grassy 54 acres that make up Hollywood Forever cemetery, where Charli has suggested we film this interview. Roughly 95,000 souls rest here, including those belonging to Judy Garland, Cecil B. DeMille, and Dee Dee Ramone, but Charli isn’t about to grab a Ouija board. In fact, the 33-year-old pop star suspects it might be too late. “We're probably possessed now,’ she says in her languid British accent, gazing through her signature black wraparound sunglasses.

We're in an area of Hollywood Forever known as the Garden of Legends, which overlooks a serene lake decorated with weeping willows, palm trees, and towering mausoleums. She’s wearing a custom all-denim Levi’s set of low-waisted jeans and a frayed zip-up jacket. The skies are gloomy and overcast, fitting for a trip among the tombstones. (Strictly speaking, Charli doesn’t need the shades.)

This is Charli’s first time walking among the graves, but she first visited the property — which regularly hosts screenings, concerts, and even yoga classes — back in 2021, when she performed at the site’s Masonic Lodge while on tour for her pandemic-era cult classic, How I’m Feeling Now. Death surrounds us, but there are signs of life, too: Peacocks roam the grounds, fanning their feathers next to the cemetery’s 1962 Rolls-Royce hearse, while turtles, ducks, and feral cats go about their day. “This gang over here,” Charli says, pointing to a pack of ducks waltzing across the lawn. “I love the sound they make. So cute!”