Tuesday, 22 September 2026The Plausible PostIndependent news from around the world, around the clock.
Secret Session Singer’s Live Confession Topples Pop Giant, Sparks Label Probe and Royalties Storm
A Queens session singer stunned millions at a live awards show on 18 September, admitting she sang lead on dozens of hits credited to a global pop star. The admission has prompted streaming corrections, a state probe, threatened lawsuits and a scramble to reallocate millions in royalties.
By Fiodor Petrescu ·
Emel Berberoğlu on stage at the Dolby Theatre after a live confession that she sang lead on hits credited to a pop star, 18 September, Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES — What began as a routine awards show performance at the Dolby Theatre on Saturday night turned into an industry earthquake when 34‑year‑old session vocalist Emel Berberoğlu stepped out from the shadows and told the audience she was the uncredited lead voice behind much of Nova Raines’s multi‑platinum catalogue. Within hours streaming services had begun editing credits, tickets for the superstar’s arena tour were frozen and California’s attorney general announced she was reviewing whether record‑label contracts concealed consumer and employment harm. "I didn't come here to be invisible anymore," Emel told a stunned crowd and a live TV audience of roughly 12 million at 20:13 PDT on 18 September.
A creased session contract and a lipstick‑marked coffee cup in a dressing room, photographed after the confession.
