Gigi Perez’s “Sailor Song”: A Journey from Setback to Global Hit

In April, American singer Gigi Perez encountered a fan after a performance who proudly displayed their new tattoo. The inscription read, “Gigi I 🖤 U.” The singer was speechless, recalling, “In my head, I was like, ‘Please don’t regret that’,'” she laughs. She added, “It’s hard for me to process that somebody else has my name permanently on their skin. “However, she acknowledged, “But, I mean, it’s just the ultimate honour to know that the music impacted them so greatly that they would do that.” This marked the initial instance of a fan expressing such profound dedication by getting her name tattooed, and its timing proved remarkably opportune. Six months prior, Gigi had been released by her record label while on a promotional tour in London. Subsequently, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter returned to her parents’ residence in Florida, prompting a reevaluation of her career path. “I was free falling,” she stated. “I had no income, I was back home, and I was starting to doubt myself.” She resolved, “But I was like, ‘Let me just give myself a year to learn how to record and produce my own records. “From there, if I need to get a job so I can still make music, I’ll do that. “And then everything happened…” This “everything,” for those unfamiliar with Gigi’s narrative, encompassed achieving an unexpected global hit single. “Sailor Song,” a poignant love ballad describing infatuation with a woman resembling actress Anne Hathaway, gained immense popularity online in June and rapidly translated into mainstream success. In the UK, it ascended to number one, concluding Sabrina Carpenter’s nine-week reign. The track also topped charts in Ireland and Latvia and secured a spot in the top 10 across various territories, from New Zealand to Belgium. “I knew the song was special to me,” Gigi commented. “I just didn’t know it was going to be special to so many other people.” Upon discovering it had reached the top position, Gigi informed the UK’s Official Charts Company, “I got out of the shower and just started crying.” This achievement provides a tidy resolution to a complicated background. Born in New Jersey and raised in Florida, Gigi, who was a drama school enthusiast, transitioned to music after realizing she was “never going to be cast in the ingenue role.” Having taught herself piano and guitar, she quickly ascended to the top of the US streaming charts in 2021 with her independently released debut single, “Sometimes (Backwood).” This track secured her a contract with Interscope Records, and Gigi subsequently opened for Coldplay on their Music of the Spheres tour, even before performing her own headline concert. Reflecting on that initial surge of success, she noted it generated pressure to accelerate her career too rapidly. For an extended period, she felt “stuck and limited” due to a perceived lack of advancement. “It was this cognitive dissonance where I’d get an amazing slot [on someone else’s tour] but didn’t know who’d be coming to the show,” Gigi explained. By the time she performed in London last November, she recognized she had reached a breaking point. “I asked God, or the universe, ‘Open the doors that need to be opened and close the doors that need to be shut,'” she recounted. “I knew it had to happen – but I was so terrified of what that meant.” Interscope terminated her contract two days later. However, rather than a collapse, Gigi experienced a resurgence of energy. She composed additional songs and independently learned production techniques through YouTube tutorials. “Sailor Song” originated from a sudden moment of inspiration in February. “I was on my bed, my door was open and I was just messing around, jamming,” Gigi described. “My little sister walked by, and she was like, ‘Gigi, what was that?’ And I was like, ‘I have no idea, but I think it’s really cool.'”” She added, “There are times where I spend a lot of time thinking about a song and what I want to say. This was one of those times where it just blew out.” She previewed the song on TikTok in April and officially released it in July. As of Wednesday, November 20, it had garnered 340 million streams on Spotify exclusively. In certain respects, it represents an improbable hit. Its production is characterized as low-tech and homespun, and Gigi’s vocal delivery is sufficiently androgynous that many listeners were taken aback to discover it was a song depicting two women in love. Nevertheless, the chorus is undeniably compelling. “Kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor,” she sings. “And when you get a taste, can you tell me, what’s my flavour?” Predictably, within our perpetually polarized culture, no achievement remains unblemished indefinitely. In the US, evangelical Christians voiced criticism of “Sailor Song” specifically for the lyric: “I don’t believe in God, but you’re my saviour.” Gigi’s subsequent response, shared on TikTok, was resolute. “My songwriting is not a democracy,” she stated, “and that applies to every artist’s work.” The singer’s challenges with faith are profound. Her parents converted to born-again Christianity during her primary school years, prompting her mother to undertake additional employment as a bus driver to fund Gigi’s and her sisters’ attendance at a private religious school in Florida. This experience was not entirely favorable. “Growing up gay in an environment where you’re not allowed to be that was very taxing on me,” Gigi disclosed on the Bringin’ It Backwards podcast in 2022. Her faith, however, was significantly challenged by the sudden passing of her older sister, Celene, at age 22, in the early months of 2020. The shock and grief were immense, permanently unsettling the foundations of Gigi’s life. Through her music, she endeavored to articulate the inexpressible. “The other day, I thought of something funny/ But no-one would’ve laughed but you,” she sang in a track simply titled “Celene.” “And Mom and Dad are always crying/ And I wish I knew what to do.” Gigi’s most recent release, “Fable,” represents another effort to confront this grief, expressing frustration with those who offered insincere “thoughts and prayers” following her sister’s demise, and pondering why disengaging from faith causes her “skin start to burn.” “One of the hardest parts about my grief is that I didn’t have any music that touched on my life, on my situation, to get me through it,” she stated. “And so I made it for myself.” She elaborated, “I’ve written tons of grief songs but, finally, in Fable, I said it in the way I always felt, from the very day I lost her, and I was so just relieved by the expression of it.” This catharsis functions as a form of self-healing. Above all, the singer desires her music to connect with others who require it. “One of my biggest wishes is to not let this experience that is so dark and isolating stay that way,” she affirmed. “My hope is that there can be some way this [music] can help. And it’s amazing, because I’ve been seeing a lot of that. It’s been very healing for me.” With this capacity to connect with individuals during their most vulnerable periods, it is anticipated that Gigi’s name will soon appear tattooed on many more arms.