Some artists spend years trying to find the right audience. For Gigi Perez—who brings her headlining tour to Cleveland on June 30—the audience found her in spectacular fashion.
In less than two years, Perez has gone from an emerging singer-songwriter to one of alternative folk’s fastest-rising voices. Her deeply personal songwriting, haunting vocals, and fearless vulnerability have resonated with listeners across the globe, culminating in the explosive success of “Sailor Song”. The breakthrough single has surpassed two billion streams across platforms, transforming Perez from an internet discovery into one of music’s most compelling new storytellers. Her latest release, ‘At the Beach, In Every Life,’ continues that momentum, while her newest single further showcases an artist unwilling to chase trends when authentic storytelling works just fine. (Turns out honesty still has remarkable chart potential.)
Perez’s rise has been anything but overnight. Raised in Florida after being born in Bergen County, New Jersey—a fun coincidence shared with this interviewer—she developed a passion for music early in life, eventually earning admission to the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Life, however, had other plans. Following the devastating and unexpected loss of her sister in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Perez left Berklee and began navigating unimaginable grief through songwriting. Those songs ultimately became the foundation of a career that has touched millions.
Before making her stop in Cleveland, Perez has spent much of the summer opening arenas and amphitheaters for Noah Kahan, one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters in music today. Cleveland serves as a headlining stop on one of the tour’s rare off days before Perez rejoins Kahan when the tour reaches Cincinnati on July 1 and Pittsburgh on July 3.
It’s a balancing act that Perez genuinely enjoys.
“I think a lot of it is the energy of people, which is really fun because I get to experience different perspectives,” Perez said. “When we’re doing the Noah Kahan shows, I get to see the people that love him. I also get to be surprised and see the people who come already knowing the words to my songs, and I’m like, ‘This is crazy!’ Every time it’s a surprise to me, but it’s beautiful.”
She has become an admirer of Kahan’s performances as much as his audience.
“I love Noah Kahan shows,” she said. “I’ve watched every show he’s played so far on the tour. Even getting to see his set and what he does—how they harness an entire community of people for two hours straight and get sucked into that world—is incredible.”
For Perez, opening a show isn’t simply about filling time before the headliner arrives.
“I feel like getting to play that set is so much fun because you know you’re getting to share your story, but you’re also getting people really excited,” she said. “I love doing that. I love hyping people up, especially when I love the artist so much. It’s a fun experience.”
While opening for Kahan exposes her music to thousands of new listeners each night, headlining offers something entirely different.
“I remember when I first started doing headline shows,” Perez recalled. “It was just weird. I’m like, ‘Wait, I can’t believe I am the show.’ It’s funny because I’m like, ‘Get ready for me,’ I guess.”
The novelty still hasn’t worn off.
“I feel like I get to connect with people in a deeper way because that’s just what the time and space allows,” she said. “It’s beautiful because I get to experience a lot of different stuff at once, and I feel like it nourishes different parts of my soul.”
That ability to create an intimate atmosphere—even inside increasingly larger venues—has become one of Perez’s defining characteristics. Her songs rarely hide behind metaphor for the sake of cleverness. Instead, they invite listeners into moments of heartbreak, uncertainty, healing, and hope with remarkable honesty.
It also explains why audiences don’t simply listen to her songs—they sing them back.
Asked whether anything compares to hearing thousands of fans singing her lyrics, Perez admitted she’s still trying to process the experience.
“It’s so surreal,” she said. “So many artists impacted me so greatly. They were really lifelines to me because I feel like that’s what music is for teenagers and young people. You’re dealing with so much confusion and identity, and sometimes it feels like the only one who understands you is your favorite artist.”
Today, she finds herself occupying that same role for countless listeners.
“When I look out into a sea of people, there’s definitely a girl who feels the same way I did,” Perez said. “It really connects me to this cyclical experience of life, and it fills me with so much joy to know that can continue—and to be on the other side of it. It makes me believe in miracles because I always desired that feeling when I was younger. I saw that stage, and for some reason, I knew I was going to be on it.”
Moments like those carry additional meaning because Perez understands what music can accomplish during life’s darkest chapters.
The death of her sister fundamentally changed the trajectory of her life. The grief was overwhelming, but songwriting gradually became more than a personal outlet. It evolved into a source of comfort not only for herself but for listeners carrying similar burdens.
“Something has shifted within me over the last year or so,” Perez reflected. “Although I still carry a lot of grief in my heart, I feel like it’s been transforming and leaving me.”
When tragedy first struck, she hoped there would someday be purpose behind the pain.
“One of the things I hoped was that this could somehow be used for good,” she said. “I remember praying to God and hoping this wouldn’t just be the end of me. Seeing that there’s still grief, but it has a real purpose—to help others understand they’re not alone and to give them hope that their suffering isn’t their definition.”
That realization has changed how she views her own story.
“Getting to share that with others is so beautiful,” Perez said. “It gives everything so much purpose. I saw somebody online yesterday who had just lost their sister this week. They had already been following my music. I’m okay with being that person, and I’m glad to be that person for whoever needs it. It gives my life a completely different purpose and drive.”
Those themes have become woven throughout Perez’s catalog. While individual songs may explore heartbreak, relationships, identity, or faith, they consistently point toward resilience rather than despair. She never presents herself as someone who has all the answers. Instead, she writes from the perspective of someone still asking meaningful questions.
That authenticity has helped fuel one of the year’s biggest musical success stories.
“Sailor Song” has now accumulated more than two billion streams after exploding on TikTok before spreading across streaming platforms worldwide. The numbers are almost impossible to comprehend. After all, that’s roughly one stream for every four people on Earth—which is a sentence that sounds made up until you realize it’s true.
Perez admits she’s still trying to understand it herself.
“I’ll never be able to fully understand it,” she said. “But I always seek out and try to place it because it’s really important to feel the magnitude as much as possible.”
Ironically, statistics matter far less than individual stories.
“What really gets me is hearing from people,” Perez explained. “Within a sea of numbers or a sea of flashlights is a real human person, soul, and spirit who, for whatever reason, returns to the song.”
That search for spiritual understanding remains one of the most fascinating aspects of Perez’s songwriting.
During CleveRock’s conversation with Perez, discussion turned toward faith, Christianity, and the challenges both interviewer and artist experienced growing up in conservative church environments. While their individual experiences differed, both recognized how certain subjects often seemed to dominate conversations while broader themes of compassion, grace, and humanity received less attention.
For Perez, reconciling her faith with her identity has been a deeply personal journey.
“I know that I can’t change how I am,” she said. “When I see a girl and I have feelings for her, and it’s innocent, I’m not even thinking about sex. How can this be a perverted thing? Everything has been turned into this massive spiritual warfare. When you look at the character of Jesus, and it just feels like this cannot be the thing that Jesus cared about.”
Rather than abandoning faith altogether, Perez continues exploring it with openness and humility.
“Jesus was the person who actually physically came to the earth,” she said. “You’ve got to talk more about that guy and his love for humanity and his love for all people. That’s the whole thing, at least how I understood it.“
She acknowledges that her own beliefs continue to evolve.
“I still don’t have clarity on my relationship with God or Christianity and all this stuff,” Perez said. “But it’s informed so much, and I feel like it’s something that’s important for me to talk about. Even if I struggle with it, I don’t allow it to dictate my life.”
Finding others who have experienced similar religious backgrounds has also brought comfort.
“I really do relate, and I find comfort when I meet people who went through the same thing,” she said. “Unless you’ve lived it, you don’t understand how much it can really shake up your world.”
That willingness to discuss subjects many artists avoid has become part of Perez’s appeal. Whether she’s writing about grief, identity, faith, love, or uncertainty, she approaches each topic with vulnerability rather than certainty. In an era where social media often rewards instant opinions and absolute answers, Perez seems remarkably comfortable admitting she is still learning. That’s refreshingly human—and perhaps one reason listeners feel such a strong connection to her music.
The Agora may be smaller than the stadiums and amphitheaters that she’s visiting with Kahan, but don’t mistake intimacy for lesser importance. If anything, these headlining performances allow Perez to do what she says she enjoys most—take her time, connect on a deeper level, and create an evening where every lyric feels personal.
Given the trajectory of her career, Cleveland audiences may someday look back on this show and realize they caught Perez at precisely the right moment: no longer an emerging artist, not yet a household name, but unmistakably on that path. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that seeing an artist on the rise is always satisfying. Seeing one who can make thousands of people feel like she’s singing to just one person? Even better.
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