The YouTuber and singer will make her Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade debut on Turkey Day. Find out more about the rising pop singer here!
A number of musicians help families celebrate Thanksgiving every year as part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City, and singer Zoe Wees, 19, will make her debut with the parade on Thursday November 25. She will perform on The Brick-changer float by The Lego Group. She will be one of the youngest singers on the parade, which will also feature iconic musicians like the band Foreigner, Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland, and Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. Find out everything you need to know about Zoe here.
1. Zoe is German
Zoe was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, and as a child she was diagnosed with Benign Rolandic Epilepsy (BRE), which is a form of epilepsy that many children outgrow. She sang about her experience with BRE in her 2020 song “Control.” She opened up about her experience with epilepsy and how fans reached out after “Control” dropped in a 2020 interview with London In Stereo. “I got a lot of messages from fans who have epilepsy themselves. Many of them sent me very long and intimate stories of their struggle with losing control. It touches me very deeply and shows me that the song is special for them,” she said. The “Control” music video has gained over 50 million views on YouTube since it was released in March 2020.
2. She was on ‘The Voice Kids’
While Zoe regularly posts on her YouTube channel, she actually made her TV debut in 2017, as part of the German Voice spin-off The Voice Kids, where she joined German singer Sasha’s team for the fifth season. She was eliminated during the show’s third phase.
3. She performed at the AMAs
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is not her first major appearance in the United States. Zoe was featured at the 2021 American Music Awards on Sunday November 21, when she performed her recent single “Girls Like Us.” She gave a jaw-dropping glamorous performance, where she was accompanied by dancers of all types for her female-empowerment anthem! She sported a large black hoodie, but really popped with lots of orange in her outfit. She had orange sweatpants and a matching bandana around and had long, matching braids to tie the whole look together.
4. She released her debut EP in May
Zoe dropped her first EP Golden Wings on May 21, 2021. The song features both “Girls Like Us” and “Control,” which has since been certified Gold by the RIAA. In addition to the singles, it also features the songs “Hold Me Like You Used To”, “Ghost” and “Overthinking.” Zoe doesn’t seem like she’s slowing down anytime soon though. She’s released a handful of more singles since the EP came out. Since then, she’s released remixes and different versions of songs on the EP, but she followed it up with the song “That’s How It Goes,” with R&B singer 6LACK on September 24.
5. She launched an interview series on her YouTube channel.
Zoe kicked off a discussion series on YouTube on November 4, called “Learning to Love Myself.” The series features Zoe having discussions with some of her favorite singers. So far she has released three episodes. The first episode featured Tate McRae, whose song “You Broke Me First” Zoe has covered. The second episode featured 6LACK, and the third episode featured Jessie J, and Zoe dropped a cover of Jessie’s song “I Want Love,” shortly after.