50 Fun Facts About Melanie Martinez

On which TV talent show did Melanie Martinez first find fame in 2012?

She was a junior in high school at the time and had already been eliminated from a televised MSG Varsity Talent Show earlier that year.

Which Britney Spears song did she sing for her blind audition on The Voice?

Three of the four judges turned their chairs; she picked Adam Levine as her coach.

Which coach did Martinez choose on The Voice?

She was eliminated in week five of the live rounds along with Amanda Brown, leaving Levine with no artists left.

In which New York City borough was Melanie Martinez born?

She was born in Astoria and her family moved to Baldwin, on Long Island, when she was four.

Martinez's parents are of which two heritages?

She has described growing up in a super-conservative, traditional Latin household.

What was Melanie Martinez's debut single, released in February 2014?

Its music video was fan-funded through Indiegogo, with friends doing hair, makeup and camera work.

Martinez compared the story of her debut single, about a picture-perfect but dysfunctional home, to which film?

She described the perfect lawns and identical houses concealing a screwed-up group of people hiding behind wealth.

Which record label signed Martinez in April 2014?

The label later became the first record company to distribute a fragrance when it released her Cry Baby Perfume Milk.

Which single from her debut EP was featured in a preview for American Horror Story: Freak Show?

It reached number nine on the Alternative Digital Songs chart and was certified gold.

How many tracks were on Martinez's debut EP, released in May 2014?

The EP came out a month after she signed to Atlantic, and she toured it from June 2014 to March 2015.

Which 1963 Lesley Gore hit is sampled on the Cry Baby single that opens with a ruined birthday?

Lesley Gore's original was a number one in 1963; Martinez turned its birthday-party heartbreak into a full-blown meltdown.

Where did Cry Baby debut on the US Billboard 200?

It topped the Top Alternative Albums chart and later went double platinum.

Which of these was the third single from Cry Baby, following 'Pity Party' and 'Soap'?

The album's physical editions came with an illustrated storybook written by Martinez herself.

Which video served as the conclusion of the Cry Baby visual story in September 2017?

Martinez had promised in 2015 to release a video for every track on the album, forming one continuous storyline.

Which two Cry Baby songs shared a double-feature music video in August 2016?

The pairing makes sense narratively: the second song is Cry Baby's revenge on the kidnapper introduced in the first.

Which Cry Baby bonus track went viral on TikTok in 2020 via a Timothée Chalamet edit?

It became one of the 100 most-played songs on Spotify in the US and sent the five-year-old album back onto the Billboard 200.

What Christmas-themed single did Martinez first post to SoundCloud in December 2015?

It later appeared on the vinyl EP Cry Baby's Extra Clutter alongside the album's bonus tracks.

What was the name of the fragrance Martinez released in 2016?

Distributed directly by Atlantic, it made the label the first to distribute a fragrance.

Which cosmetics brand released Martinez's 'Cry Baby' blue and 'Teddy Bear' brown lipsticks?

The blue shade launched three days after the Cry Baby album, the brown one in March 2016.

What is the title of Martinez's second studio album, released in September 2019?

It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and doubled as the soundtrack to a film of the same name.

Besides starring in it, what were Martinez's two other roles on the K-12 film?

She had planned two further films to close the Cry Baby storyline but scrapped them as too expensive.

In the K-12 film, what is the name of Cry Baby's best friend?

Played by Emma Harvey, she and Cry Baby discover supernatural powers on the bus ride to K-12 Sleepaway School.

In the K-12 film, what is the principal secretly doing to students?

Cry Baby poisons him in the song 'The Principal', but he recovers almost immediately.

Which frequent Martinez collaborators, who produced her debut single, co-wrote the K-12 track 'Drama Club'?

The NYC songwriting duo have been with her since her very first single.

Which K-12 song was Martinez's first single to feature another artist?

Rapper Tierra Whack guested on it in February 2020, though the song ended up left off the After School EP.

What was the name of the EP released in 2020 as the deluxe extension of K-12?

It was delayed to September 2020, and neither 'Copy Cat' nor 'Fire Drill' made the final tracklist.

Where did the K-12 Tour end prematurely in February 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic?

It had begun four months earlier in Washington, D.C.

How did Martinez tease Portals in February 2023?

A teaser then showed a mushroom in a foggy forest with the words RIP Crybaby engraved in its stem.

How is Martinez's Portals-era alter ego usually described?

The concept has Cry Baby dying and being reborn as a creature stuck between Earth and the afterlife.

Which two Portals singles gave Martinez her first Hot 100 entries as an original artist?

They peaked at numbers 95 and 61 respectively.

Where did Portals debut on the Billboard 200?

Its 142,000 first-week units made it her highest-charting album to that point.

How many songs are on the standard edition of Portals?

Martinez had planned it as her third visual album, but the idea was dropped after seven videos in favour of the next two records.

For which Portals video was Martinez nominated for a VMA for Best Visual Effects?

Videos kept arriving long after release, including 'Faerie Soirée', 'Light Shower', 'Spider Web' and 'Leeches'.

What was the name of Martinez's sold-out 2024 arena run that drew on all three of her first albums?

It included two consecutive sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden.

Which new character did Martinez introduce for her 2026 album Hades?

The teaser described a new pop star out of 'Hades Tech' who had been extracted from a secluded cult.

What was the lead single from Hades, released in January 2026?

'Disney Princess' followed as the second single a month later.

Hades was released as a double album alongside which companion record?

Together they debuted at number three in the United States, continuing her Greek-underworld theme.

Which of these acts has Martinez cited as an influence?

Her list also includes the Beatles, Feist, Kimbra, Zooey Deschanel, Regina Spektor and CocoRosie.

How did Martinez learn to play guitar at fourteen?

Her family could not afford lessons, so she matched her poetry to the chords of songs she liked and posted the results on YouTube.

Which fellow musician did Martinez date from 2019 until an amicable split in 2020?

Tree is the alt-pop artist known for his bowl cut and oversized JNCO jeans.

What visual signature has Martinez been known for since her early career?

Her early doll-like look paired the hair with babydoll dresses and exaggerated facial expressions.

In 2021, Martinez was named on which magazine's Under 30 list?

That same year one of her older songs was still riding its TikTok revival.

Melanie Martinez was raised from the age of four in which Long Island town?

She was born in Astoria, Queens, to parents of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent.

Which elementary school teacher does Martinez credit with teaching her to sing?

She began writing poetry in kindergarten and later taught herself guitar from online chord diagrams.

How many of the four coaches on The Voice turned their chairs for Martinez's 'Toxic' audition?

Adam Levine, CeeLo Green and Blake Shelton all hit their buttons, and she chose Levine.

What RIAA certification has Martinez's debut album Cry Baby achieved?

Singles including 'Pity Party', 'Soap' and 'Play Date' have each gone platinum on their own.

Where did K-12 debut on the Billboard 200 in September 2019?

The album doubled as the soundtrack to a musical film of the same name that Martinez wrote and directed.

What was the third single from Portals, after 'Death' and 'Void'?

The album sold 142,000 units in its first week to debut at number two on the Billboard 200.

What phrase was engraved on the mushroom in Martinez's first teaser video for Portals?

Later teasers carried themes of rebirth and growing embryos before the pink, four-eyed alter ego appeared.

In which city did the Portals Tour open on 30 May 2023?

The 31-date North American leg followed warm-up sets at all three South American Lollapalooza festivals.