What You Never Knew About Chloe Bailey

Chloe Bailey has been on the rise in recent years, but there's a lot more to the talented "Treat Me" singer than meets the eye. Many know the 25-year-old singer, actor, and producer as one half of the duo Chloe x Halle, which includes Chloe's sister Halle Bailey.

While Chloe's showstopping looks and sometimes controversial performances have kept her abuzz on social media, her rise to stardom is any aspiring artist's dream come true.

Starting out with Chloe x Halle, the sisters were first spotted by Beyonce's team at Parkwood Entertainment in 2013. Since then, they have released two Grammy-nominated albums: "The Kids Are Alright" and "Ungoldy Hour." Amid their musical pursuits, they also delved into the world of acting. Chloe and Halle were series regulars on Freeform's "Grown-ish" alongside Yara Shahidi, Trevor Jackson, and Francia Raisa. They even sang the show's theme song, "Grown."

Chloe's spirited portrayal of Jazzlyn gained her a prominent fanbase, and in 2021, she began to pursue her solo music career. Starting with "Have Mercy," she teased several singles until releasing her debut album "In Pieces" in 2023. She also took on a much-talked-about role in Prime Video's horror series, "Swarm." Now, the up-and-coming artist is headed out on her first solo tour.

The Bailey sisters uploaded their first YouTube video in 2011 — a cover of Beyonce's "Best Thing I Never Had" — and kept going from there. The duo sang several songs over the years, showcasing their skills on guitar and keyboard. However, it was their acapella version of "Pretty Hurts" that caught the superstar's attention in 2013. Chloe was only 15 years old and Halle 13 when they posted their soulful cover of the ballad.

By 2015, the duo had signed a six-album contract with Parkwood Entertainment worth $1 million, per ABC News. "When we first saw 100 views, we were excited over it. And then a week later, it was 10,000," Chloe said in 2016. She continued: "We're just two girls who love music and just want to make it fun, and we get to make a life out of this. That's our career. That's our job. We get to do what we love."

Before her sister Halle Bailey was cast in the life-changing role of Ariel in "The Little Mermaid," Chloe Bailey already had connections at Disney. After their YouTube videos went viral, Chloe x Halle joined Radio Disney's "Next Big Thing" talent competition in 2012.

"We would always see clips on Disney Channel," Chloe told Shine On Media about "Next Big Thing." "And everyone who was singing was so, like, talented — and we're like, what if we could do that. And guess what? We're finally here." The duo eventually ended up winning season five of the competition, which allowed them to join "N.B.T. On Tour."

From there, Chloe and her sister were featured on several Disney Channel projects. First, they were given roles in the Disney Channel original movie-musical "Let It Shine" alongside Tyler James Williams and Coco Jones. Next, they recorded a song titled "Unstoppable" with Radio Disney, which they performed on "Austin and Ally" with Ross Lynch (per PopBuzz).

Chloe Bailey met Beyonce nearly ten years before ending up on her radar once again in 2013. Chloe portrayed a younger version of Beyonce in the movie "Fighting the Temptations," in 2003. Of the crazy coincidence, Chloe told Collider: "Acting actually came first. My very first audition, I was three and a half, and I auditioned [for] 'Fighting Temptations' to play the younger version of Beyonce, so it's funny how the universe works."

Chloe and her sister Halle Bailey went on to become Beyonce's proteges. They appeared in her iconic visual album, "Lemonade," and opened the Formation World Tour's European leg in 2016. She even gave their introduction speech for the Rising Star Award at the 2020 Billboard Women in Music Awards. The duo is so close with Beyonce that her fabulous mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson, even made a cameo in Chloe's "Have Mercy" music video.

Of their rise from internet covers to a major record deal, Chloe is eternally grateful to her mentor. She even shared with 

Entertainment Tonight that Queen Bey gave her notes on her debut album before releasing it. "I'm grateful that [Beyonce] saw something in these two little Black girls with short-a** locs on YouTube and gave us a chance," she said (via People).

On the "Tamron Hall Show," Chloe Bailey got candid about struggling with her mental health in past years. The "Surprise" singer said that even though she sees the success of her career, she's still trying to get to the point of feeling like a queen. She shares that she fell into a depression during the supposed prime of her career.

"It didn't have anything to do with my career or my music," Chloe explained to Tamron Hall. "It was all personal internal things, and I think when you figure things out that make you question your entire life, you look at yourself like, 'What did I do wrong? Am I good enough?' things like that." She said that she speaks openly about these realities to make sure other young people don't feel alone, especially with the deceiving nature of social media.

Chloe also spoke to Allure about the realities of separation anxiety from her sister Halle, who was on-location filming "The Little Mermaid" during the COVID-19 pandemic. She told the magazine: "Music saved me. I was at a low moment where I felt lost, like I didn't have any sense of who I was."

Chloe Bailey took a turn away from lighthearted roles in projects such as "Grown-ish" and "Praise This" when she was cast in Donald Glover's horror-thriller series "Swarm." After the show was released, there was much discussion surrounding Chloe's sex scene with castmate Damson Idris. But despite the controversy surrounding the scene, Chloe maintains that she is proud of her work on the show. She told Tamron Hall, "Being on that set opened my love for acting so much more, to be honest with you — because that was really the first time I felt comfortable being raw and open."

"Why I love [my character] Marissa and resonated with her is because, on the outside, she's this huge ball of sunshine. She's so like positive, and she, in turn, was dealing with her own personal issues. So you really never know what people are going through, and I felt honored to play her and to share her."

Chloe also discussed how acting has served a greater purpose in her life. "I also use acting as a form of therapy and finding pieces of myself through the character, and I really found a deep, fond appreciation for acting in the past three years, as much as I have with music," she expressed (via Collider).