Cleveland-based powerhouse Chayla Hope has unleashed her latest single “Forget Me Not,” the third track from the vinyl-presser-turned-pop-star’s debut record Damn, Feelings, due out October 2022. Hope is using the single to raise awareness about animals in need of adoption and rescue, a cause very close to her heart. She will be partnering with animal rescue organizations in her hometown of Cleveland and beyond, like the UK-based Wunder Dog Rescue, which seeks to compassionately reduce the global stray dog population.

Mixed by 10-time GRAMMY award winner Josh Gudwin (Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa), the breezy ebb and flow of this summertime bop meditates on the feelings of attraction we often leave unexpressed. “It’s about having the courage to act on them even when you’re afraid,” Hope says. “Not wanting to say anything out of fear, but knowing that not saying something could be holding both of you back from the love you’ve always wanted.”

After years spent fronting and singing in alternative rock bands, including Emmy and multiple ADDY award-winning local favorites Seafair, pop is where Chayla was meant to be. “Pop is the music that raised me, the music my mom used to listen to while cleaning the house,” she says on planting her musical flag in the genre. “It’s always been there for me as an anchoring and joyful force. It is me.” 

Throughout her life, Chayla has had to overcome obstacles like heartbreak and trauma by dressing up, performing, and powering through by sheer force of her artistic and creative vision. She has long been fascinated by the juxtaposition of happy music masking sad lyrics, exploring the complicated nature of human experience through its most common facet: our feelings.

A proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community who found her performance identity doing drag, it’s no surprise Chayla was selected to sing the theme song for Care Bears: Unlock The Magic and has numerous features in the show’s soundtrack and merchandise, embodying its core themes of empowerment, inclusion, and self-understanding through her music. 

Photo Courtesy: Lindsey Poyar