Who is Gigi Perez? As viral hit Sailor Song vies for Number 1 in the UK

This week could see a brand new Number 1 single on the Official Singles Chart - with viral breakout star Gigi Perez in the mix for her first ever UK chart-topper.

Sailor Song, Perez's first ever charting single in the UK, has had quite the journey up the Official Charts, with chart-watchers keeping their keen eyes on the sweet, sapphic ballad and its upward momentum over the previous few months. 

For the uninitiated, this may have come as something of a surprise - who exactly is Gigi Perez, and why has Sailor Song clearly struck such a chord with UK listeners?

Who is Gigi Perez?

Gigi Perez is a singer-songwriter from the US. 24 years of age, she was born in New Jersey but is now based in Florida.

As for many rising musicians in 2024, much of Perez's initial buzz and career growth came through her TikTok page. At the time of writing, she has nearly 860,000 TikTok followers, bolstered by Sailor Song's massive success.

When did Gigi Perez release Sailor Song?

Sailor Song was officially released on July 26 2024, but its road to virality started long before then.

Perez first began teasing the song - an aching love ballad that's been compared to the likes of Hozier, The National and Bon Iver - this April, with hype slowly building with each snippet of the song she teased. 

How has Sailor Song by Gigi Perez performed in the UK?

When Sailor Song was finally released in full, clearly the appetite for the song was there. On the chart week beginning August 2 2024, Sailor Song officially debuted at Number 53 in the UK. It dipped to Number 70 the next week, before rising to a new peak of Number 43 the week after, and finally last Friday it broke into the Top 40 for the first time ever at Number 35. 

It became Perez's first career entry into the UK's Official Chart.

Since its chart debut, nothing could stop its rise - it quickly moved up over the next few weeks; to Number 24, to Number 13 for two weeks and then Number 11.

It finally broke into the UK Top 10 on October 11 at Number 6, before rising to Number 3 and then, last week, reaching Number 2...where it's now battling to de-throne Sabrina Carpenter's Taste and become Perez's first-ever UK chart-topper.

Why is Sailor Song by Gigi Perez so popular?

The song's tender acoustic balladry may seem quite conventional, but its lyrical content is anything but. Sailor Song is centred over a sapphic love story, with Perez fascinated by a woman who "looks like Anne Hathaway."

"Kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor," the song's chorus goes. "And when you get a taste, can you tell me, what's my flavour?"

Given its central queer love story, the release of Sailor Song drew criticism from some far-right, conservative Christian groups online for the line "I don't believe in God, but you're my saviour." Perez took to TikTok to decry the backlash, saying; "My songwriting is not a democracy and that applies to every artist's work."

As for Perez herself, Sailor Song is not her first taste of viral success. She got her first taste of virality in 2021 when the song Sometimes (Backwood) became a minor streaming sensation in the US, earning her a record deal with Interscope (Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey), who issued her debut EP How To Catch A Falling Knife in 2023.

After her deal with Interscope lapsed, Perez initially released Sailor Song as an independent artist, but given its recent success, she's just recently joined the roster over at Island, who have taken over servicing the hit. 

Sailor Song by Gigi Perez is out now via Island.