Bebe Rexha is the artist we chose to crown with 2018’s Music Mayhem Female of the Year due to the shear success and growth that Rexha has gained throughout the year from her debut album, Expectations, to defying genres with her chart-topping, record breaking, history making single “Meant To Be” featuring country music’s most popular duo, Florida Georgia Line.
Bebe Rexha is a perfect example of an artist who deserves the success, fame and overall gains that she has achieved within her career that has really taken off throughout 2018. Rexha always reaching to achieve higher heights of success and living out her childhood dreams of being a successful singer which in 2018 she has lived out several of her most cherished dreams and is only charging up for what 2019 will bring her, hopefully a well deserved Grammy award or two.
Rexha has earned every ounce of the success that she has achieved this far from constantly not giving up and pushing forward no matter what people thought of her, proving that she is who she is and if you don’t like her, she is still Bebe Rexha and she is not changing for anyone, so take her or leave her but in the end her talents will prevail showcasing that if you work hard enough to achieve what you want it is possible even if some points during the fight to the top get difficult, keep pushing to ultimately get what you want and it will eventually happen. (Check out her song “The Way I Are,” which was released in 2017 that details her struggles with labels who didn’t think she was “good enough.”) And Rexha did just that throughout 2018 achieving goal after goal from unleashing her debut album, Expectations, that she put “so much blood, sweat and tears into it,” she told Billboard Magazine Continuing to say, “I was always scared to release an album because I wanted it to be so great and I’m such a perfectionist. It was the first piece of work I put out that I was super proud of.” To officially releasing the biggest song of her career “Meant To Be” from her debut album, which changed her life as it spent a year on the Hot 100 Charts, and 50 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart and still sits high in the top five on Billboard not to mention the song breaking records for longest-running streak on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and the song even going 4X Platinum-certified by the RIAA. The music video for the single amassing over 660.8 million views in just a year since it’s release. Note: “Meant To Be” originally came out on Rexha’s third EP, All Your Fault: Part 2 on August 11th, 2017, releasing as a single on October 24th, 2017 but then being rereleased on her debut album, Expectations earlier this year on June 22nd, 2018 when the single really began to take off to impeccable amounts of success skyrocketing Rexha’s music recognition. The single even being named the third top song out of ten in 2018 by Billboard Magazine.
To highlight Rexha’s achievements in 2018:
Rexha released her debut solo album, Expectations, in June of 2018 that consists of her current single “I’m A Mess,” and the highly successful 4x platinum single “Meant To Be,” as well as fan favorites like the platinum hit, “I Got You,” “2 Souls on Fire (feat. Quavo),” and the albums debut track “Ferrari.” The album has since been RIAA-certified Gold on October 8th, 2018. The album brought Rexha the success she has been working towards with her self-empowering single “I’m A Mess” which has now given her, her first solo pop top 10 single and opened up the doors for several high profile performances throughout the year including televised performances on Good Morning America, Victoria Secret Fashion Show, Jimmy Fallon, MTV’s EMAs, and more.
Rexha, the queen of collaborations, collaborated with several artists throughout 2018 including her latest collab with David Guetta and J. Balvin “Say My Name,” her Migos’ “Quavo” single “2 Souls On Fire,” Tory Lanez collab for her song “Steady,” Rita Ora/Cardi B/Charli XCX collab of “Girls,” Neyo collab with “Push Back,” and of course the Florida Georgia Line collab of “Meant to Be.” Lending her unique vocals to several artists over the course of 2018, all of which have been radio dominating singles and we believe that Rexha’s voice really contributed to that success as its a force to be reckoned with.
Several award shows recognized Bebe Rexha for her collaborations and more this year including nominations for:
- Best Collaboration “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 MTV VMA’s
- Collaborations Of The Year “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 AMAs
- Favorite Country Song “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 AMAs
- Top Country Song “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 Billboard Music Awards
- Best Soundtrack Music “Home (feat. MGK, X Ambassadors) at 2018 BreakTudo Awards
- Hit Of The Year “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 BreakTudo Awards
- Artist On The Rise as Herself (Bebe Rexha) at 2018 BreakTudo Awards
- Single Of The Year “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 CMA Music Awards
- Musical Event Of The Year “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 CMA Music Awards
- Video Of The Year “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 CMT Music Awards
- Collaborative Video Of The Year “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 CMT Music Awards
- Song Of The Summer “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards
- Best Song “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 MTV EMAs
- Best Collaboration “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards
- Choice Collaboration “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 Teen Choice Awards
- Best Electronic Vocalist at 2018 WDM Radio Awards
and Rexha winning awards for:
- BMI Pop Award for “In The Name of Love (feat. Martin Garrix)
- Best Collaboration “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at iHeartRadio Music Awards
- Country Favorite Song “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards
- Choice Country Song “Meant To Be (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” at 2018 Teen Choice Awards
See a full list of Bebe Rexha’s Nominations: HERE.
This year was nothing more than a whirlwind of success for Bebe Rexha from opening up for Katy Perry on Witness: The Tour and Bruno Mars on his 24k Magic World Tour to touring on the entire holiday Jingle Ball radio show tour and select dates on festivals like Lollapalooza which she can still “not get over” the opportunity, to surprising Coachella fans with a special historic performance of a song she wrote that Eminem released with Rhianna “The Monster” which she says “I wrote the song in 2013 at a time in my life I thought achieving my dreams weren’t possible. Five years later, my hero invites me to one of the biggest stages in the world to sing a record that means the world to me. I’m still in shock but filled with every bit of love and gratitude imaginable. I love you REXHARS. WE F-CKING DID IT.” Not only did she get to play one of the biggest festivals in the world this year but Rexha also joined Kesha, Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello and more to perform on the biggest music award show stage there is for the first time, The 2018 Grammy Awards. On the topic of performances this year, lets talk about some very special ones including her Victoria Secret performance that she always wanted to do since childhood which we finally achieved this year performing “I’m A Mess” for the world from her hometown of New York City. But that is not the only show she got to perform in her hometown of New York City, she also got to perform her hometown Jingle Ball at the sold out Madison Square Garden and in Central Park on Good Morning America which was huge moments for Rexha’s amazing career.
Rexha performed her smash hit “I’m A Mess” at the MTV EMA’s in Spain with a massive production and amazing choreography with her dancers and more. Also, performing “Meant To Be” across pretty much every major awards show and more including an unforgettable 53rd ACM Awards performance, a sparkling rendition at the 2018 CMA Awards, a vibrant performance on the Ellen Degeneres Show, a spectacular encore performance at the American Music Awards, a finale performance on American Idol accompanied by the Top 3 finalists and even a flawless performance at the 2018 CMA Festival in Nashville, TN which also aired on television in August.
Bebe Rexha also launched her Women in Harmony Movement with a special dinner organized by Bebe Rexha herself with some friends in attendance like Avril Lavigne, Kelsea Ballerini, Rita Ora, and more. Her Women in Harmony Movement is a way to celebrate female creatives within the music business.
Rexha is ending her extraordinary year gracing the cover of Billboard Magazine, Rexha appears on the cover with “Meant To Be” collaborators Florida Georgia Line. This cover means a lot to Rexha and is a great way to end her successful year as she reflects on how she used to get the magazine from stores and browsed through them with her mother. Looking at the charts and always wanting and wishing to be apart of them and now she is living the reality of it as her song “Meant To Be” sat atop those charts for an entire year and it was just an emotion-filled moment that Rexha so deserved and must’ve been so fulfilling for her to receive.
Last but definitley not least, Rexha achieved a huge milestone in her career the other day which is more than a perfect way to finish out her year, and that is two very well deserved recognitions from the Recording Academy with 2 Grammy Nominations for Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Meant To Be” with Florida Georgia Line. Here’s to hoping we can write about Rexha winning these Grammys in 2019 as they would be very well-deserved wins.
Bebe Rexha is set to bring in the new year headlining Times Square New Year’s Eve celebrations webcast and televised show, so make sure you tune in! Rexha will carry on the tradition of singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” just before the ball drops, as well as performing several of her hits like “Meant to Be,” “Me, Myself & I” and “I’m a Mess.” Although, G-Eazy and Florida Georgia Line will not be present to sing these collaborations with her live on TV during the New Year’s Eve celebrations, they are going to be impeccable performances, that you DO NOT WANT TO MISS!
