Carly Rae Jepsen opens up about her musical journey after ditching pop stardom

A decade after the success of Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepsen is opening up about why she decided to step away from pop stardom.

In an interview with PEOPLE, the Canadian singer-songwriter said that she was always inspired by women who looked towards “maturity of pop music”.

"When you think about a pop artist back in the day when I started, those are 17-year-olds, and then they peak. But my dream's always been inspired by the Tina Turners and women who've found a way to move into the maturity of pop music," she told the outlet. “I'm beyond mind-boggled and can't believe I'm still on this little journey. It's my passion, and I'm so excited to see this thing grow."

Following the success of her popular song, Call Me Maybe, and 2012's Kiss album, Jepsen made a pointed decision to step back from mega pop stardom.

“I really got a jolt into some kind of fame and stardom. There were fun things about it, and there was a lot that scared the s--- out of me," she said. "I was like, 'I know I love music, and I know I love performing. There's some high I get from this, but there's parts of Hollywood I don't totally jive with. How do I figure this out?’”

Jepsen also tried her hand at acting as she played Cinderella on Broadway and took a few years to work on her album Emotion, released in 2015. She went on to release 2019's Dedicated, and recently came out with her album, The Loneliest Time.

Talking about her fanbase, she shared, “It's been a really slow, step-by-step evolution to kind of rebuild back some confidence about the music that I'm excited about sharing.”

The Loneliest Time just released on October 21st, 2022.