FORT WORTH, TX- Gigi Perez is an artist whose seemingly sudden success was actually a triumph many years in the making. For me, having the chance to experience her work live was also a long time coming. Born in New Jersey and raised in Florida, Gigi Perez is a Cuban-American alternative artist quickly on the rise to become a household name. In between weekend performances at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Gigi paid Fort Worth, Texas, a visit on her At The Beach In Every Life Fall 2025 tour.
I discovered Gigi’s song “Sometimes (Backwood)” during COVID times in early 2021. Upon first listen, I remember being astounded by the vulnerability in both the lyricism and performance of the song. I found Gigi’s voice to be distinct and powerful in a way that set her apart from everyone else in the singer-songwriter world at the time. I later remember being disappointed that it was the only song she had out. Over the years, I kept up with her new releases, including her 2023 EP How To Catch A Falling Knife. After finding little success with that project and being dropped by her label in early 2024, Gigi returned to producing and publishing her music independently.
By March of 2024, she dropped “Normalcy,” the first single from what would become her most successful project. Gigi’s career skyrocketed with the release of “Sailor Song” in July of 2024. The song has since accumulated over 1.4 billion streams on Spotify. Gigi followed this success with the release of her debut album At The Beach, In Every Life. This album features “Sailor Song” and other noteworthy singles such as “Fable” and “Please Be Rude.” With this project, I was so happy to see Gigi returning to her original style and methods of making music. Her fans seemed to agree, as the record has gained global popularity on social media, especially TikTok.
It would be a disservice to her work not to acknowledge Gigi’s story. At The Beach, In Every Life reflects Gigi’s navigation through her queer identity, religious trauma, and, most prominently, the unexpected loss of her older sister, Celene Perez, in early 2020. The project encapsulates how Gigi sees and experiences life through the lens of immense grief and still finds a way to love and be loved. Gigi’s late sister, Celene, is the throughline of her work. To me, every song may not distinctly be about her, but you can feel her presence in each word Gigi sings. Gigi has credited Celene as the sole inspiration for her career. Having shared a passion for music growing up, Gigi chooses to honor her sister’s legacy through her music and performances.
In the past, Gigi Perez has toured in support of artists such as Hozier, Coldplay, and Noah Cyrus. This time around, she was on a headline run, having sold out the Tannahill’s Tavern in Fort Worth, Texas. Gigi took the stage, opening with “Please Be Rude,” a song about the push and pull of a relationship. The track speaks honestly about the uncomfortable feelings that come with love and desire. I noticed Gigi straying from the original recorded melodies of the song, emphasizing her impressive vocal range and the emotional nature of the lyrics. I personally love when artists find ways to reinvent their music for live performances, and I feel Gigi did it perfectly.
Gigi followed this with a captivating performance of “Sleeping.” The lyrics of the song describe a time period in her life when she found herself giving in to the darkness of her grief. I felt that her performance accentuated the content of the song with note and lyric changes. I could really feel the energy of the crowd rising with the desperation of the song. Slowing down for a moment, Gigi performed her beloved debut single “Sometimes (Backwood).” The band exited the stage to leave Gigi to perform the song solo. Hearing this song live vividly brought me back to the time of its release. While her live performance sounded nearly identical to the recorded version, I appreciated how I could still see the growth in Gigi’s vocals and comfortability as a performer compared to the start of her career.
The title track of her album, “At The Beach, In Every Life,” is one of my personal favorite songs of all time. Before performing it, Gigi took a moment to talk about what this song means to her. She described it as the moment you meet someone “who shines a light in front of your face in the middle of the darkness.” To me, this song really encapsulates the full range of love, happiness, and despair that come with being alive. It’s that moment you find the person who finally brings you back to life after a period of time when you are only going through the motions. It’s the moment after a tragedy when you allow yourself to love again. More than any other song, I could feel Gigi’s diligence and raw emotion in this performance. There’s a moment in the song when all other instruments come to a halt as Gigi sings the line, “You would find me at the beach, in every life, through every door.” I took this moment in the song to look up at the audience and see how connected and invested her fans felt in the performance.
As the night was nearing its end, Gigi invited her younger sister, Bella Perez, on stage to perform “Sugar Water.” Gigi and Bella harmonized beautifully to lyrics they wrote together about their childhood nostalgia and shared trauma. Bella took on the bridge of the song solo, repeating the lyrics “I want it back,” as the crowd joined in unison. To close the show, Gigi appropriately threw on a sailor hat to perform “Sailor Song.” Phones came out, and all the casual attendees’ voices turned on as the room came together for one last song. In moments like these, it was easy to see exactly why this track was the one to go the distance. This live performance meticulously captured the feelings of desperation and passion that resonated with millions around the world.
Some might think that Gigi Perez’s breakout moment has already come and gone, but I would argue that she is just getting started. Experiencing an artist who creates and nurtures such a welcoming musical space with ease is like a breath of fresh air for a live music geek like myself. Everyone in this small room had come from vastly different life experiences, but we were all able to feel connected through these universal feelings of love, passion, and grief. It is performances like these that remind me what live music is all about. There is nothing better than hearing an album that means so much to you live, and this performance has only further solidified my belief that the name Gigi Perez is next in line to take over the world.
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Gigi Perez Brings Deep Emotion and Vulnerability to Fort Worth Stop of At The Beach In Every Life Tour
