Culture Cabinet

BETTY, the legendary rock trio composed of Elizabeth and Amy Ziff and Alyson Palmer, returns to the music scene with their new single, “Pride,” just in time for Pride Month. 

BETTY describes themselves as singing of “joy, love, longing, sex, food, heartbreak, and the universal hilarity of human existence,” and are proud to boast their ability to incorporate a touch of activism in their music. In speaking with Elizabeth and Alyson one afternoon over Zoom, that sense of passion for activism is ever apparent. 

“Our music has never been necessarily covered in politics,” Elizabeth explains in an interview with Culture Cabinet. “Some of our songs obviously are, we do have some really great political songs. But, we’ve come together through politics, but mostly through humor, and feminism. And sisterhood. I think that’s so important now, and always has been, ever since the beginning.”

BETTY came together as a band in 1986, when sisters Elizabeth and Amy Ziff sought to take their music career professionally.

Once the band was settled, they set out to create music that spoke to the state of the world and fought for humanity, even enlisting the guidance of legendary human rights activist Gloria Steinem, who inspired the trio to start a non-profit, The BETTY Effect, which has been helping communities use music and performance to advocate for social issues such as women and LGBTQIA’s rights, for a decade. 

In the last thirty-eight years, BETTY has managed to acquire quite the impressive resume. From having their music featured in various television shows and films, to writing the theme song for Showtime’s The L Word, to even having an Off-Broadway musical, BETTY RULES, directed by Tony nominated director Michael Grief, BETTY has made their mark on the entertainment industry. 

Now, they stand poised to encourage listeners to stand loud and proud in who they are with their new single, “Pride,” which is a single off their hotly anticipated album, EAT, which is slated to be released later this year. 

“Pride” is the band’s first recording to be released in seven years. I ask what inspired them to release a song after such a long hiatus. What was it about this particular moment in history that calls for BETTY’s voice? 

“I think this moment calls for pride,” Alyson emphatically explains, “This moment calls for people to stand up. We were all on such a great trajectory there. I think as humanity, at least in America, we were all being more conscious of each other. Understanding that each of us needed to grow as people and as as communities, and allowing space and room for people to do so. We were getting in the right direction, and then everything sort of fell apart and became much more antagonistic.” 

“From around the time of the pandemic on, things have been very antagonistic and have never been dealt with. And I think that it is time for us to say, ‘Okay, that was a nice little detour for a second, but let’s get back to the real thing.’ We need to have pride in ourselves, all of us. We need to not be shamed by anyone on this planet, we need to find a way to work together lived together, love together and be together in respect, and in safety, and in love.”

It’s that passion in which both Alyson and Elizabeth speak that remind me why BETTY has become so beloved to the communities for which they fight for. They are not ones to simply speak out. They intend to lead charges. They inspire others to stand up. They master the perfect intersectionality of music and activism, reminding everyone of the power that art has to convey social change. 

I ask what listeners can expect from their new album, EAT, once it’s released this year. 

“It’s really good. We’re very happy and proud of this,” says Elizabeth. 

“It’s really, really a fun album,” Alyson adds.  “And it’s a little more playful. It’s also more mature than anything we’ve done. And I’m really excited about and I’m excited for our long time fans to listen to it too, because I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

But, for now, BETTY invites you to simply join in on the Pride. With new music, and a summer tour, on the horizon, it’s safe to say that BETTY is as impassioned and strong as ever, which is something the band takes great pride in. 

“We’ve been in the fight, in the struggle,” Elizabeth says. “Sometimes it hasn’t been such a struggle, but it seems right now to be a growing struggle. And we’ll stay in it. And we’ll keep singing, and we’ll keep fighting for what we believe in.” 

You can stream BETTY’s single, “Pride,” below.

Click here for more information on tour dates and future BETTY events.