Reneé Rapp Says Her Name Was Designed for Pop Stardom—and She’s Living It Loud
Reneé Rapp isn’t just living up to her name—she’s owning it.
In a recent appearance on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, the rising pop star and actress revealed that her mother chose her alliterative name specifically to help her succeed in entertainment. “My mom picked my first and last names to both start with R’s—just in case I wanted to be a pop star,” Rapp said. “I’m obsessed with the way she did it.”
It seems the plan worked. Rapp has quickly become one of pop’s most exciting voices. Her latest single, “Leave Me Alone,” debuted live at the 2025 American Music Awards and marks the first release from her upcoming sophomore album, Bite Me, due August 1 via Interscope.
Rapp’s rise has been driven by a fearless sense of self. During the podcast, she also opened up about publicly coming out as a lesbian on Saturday Night Live. Originally described as a “little bisexual intern” in a sketch, Rapp asked the writers to change it. “I didn’t feel very bi anymore,” she said. “I felt like a lesbian—and that word felt amazing.”
That same bold energy carries into “Leave Me Alone,” a raw, guitar-heavy anthem that takes aim at fame, pressure, and her exit from HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls. “Signed a hundred NDAs but I still say something / Leave me alone, b—h, I wanna have fun,” she declares.
With Bite Me on the way and a defiant attitude leading the charge, Reneé Rapp is proving that her name wasn’t just made for stardom—it’s rewriting what it means to be a pop star.