In which forthcoming video game adaptation movie does the character of Ken Masters sing a rendition of 4 Non Blondes’ 1993 hit ‘What’s Up’?
“That’s easy, because I’ve just approved it – Street Fighter.”
CORRECT.
“I haven’t seen the film yet, but it seems light and fun, and Ken’s singing it at karaoke while all fucked-up. It felt on-brand for me! [Laughs].”
What is the secret behind the enduring appeal of ‘What’s Up’?
“There’s always some asshole fucking shit up. The song is about rebellion, revolution, standing up and having to deal with these fucking idiots. There’s not a decade that doesn’t go by where we’re not facing some egotistical dude that wants to take control or power. You can whip that song out for so many different scenarios, and just saying ‘What’s going on?’ is powerful. It’s hooky, relatable, and you don’t have to be a good singer to join in when it plays.”
‘What’s Up’ reached Number 2 in the UK Top 40. Which boyband kept you off the top spot?
“I know this one! Take That?”
CORRECT. Take That’s ‘Pray’ pipped ‘What’s Up’ to Number 1.
“We ran into them all the time because we were neck-and-neck in the charts, and they were the sweetest, most supportive and cutest dudes.”
Last year, a mash-up of ‘What’s Up’ and Nicki Minaj’s ‘Beez In The Trap’ became a viral TikTok trend, with celebrities including Sabrina Carpenter and Queen’s Brian May lip-syncing along. Any of them stand out to you?
“I loved it all, but both Madonna and Martin Scorsese doing it felt big to me. I had just recently reunited with 4 Non Blondes, and we’d played BottleRock festival in May 2025, before that blew up on TikTok. We couldn’t have planned that, and it took it to another level.”
@much Madonna hops on the “Beez in the trap x What’s Up” trend!🐝 Via: TT/ @madonna #madonna #beezinthetrap
When 4 Non Blondes performed on Late Show With David Letterman in 1994, what two words did producers ask you to remove from your guitar?
“’Choice’ and ‘dyke’.”
CORRECT.
“These are easy! I’m winning! They were pushing to see how far they could go, but once I said ‘no’, everything was fine.”
Did you face a lot of pushback from the industry?
“Lots of male bands were intimidated by us. I remember in Paris, Whitesnake were total assholes to us, calling us dykes. I confronted them: ‘Excuse me, what you just say?’. They muttered, ‘We didn’t say anything’. I’m like: ‘You did say something, and I’m so sorry a bunch of dykes are playing a stadium while you guys are down the street playing a small theatre’, and I walked away. There were digs about us being women and dykes, but I never allowed even a possibility of anybody stopping me from being who I was going to be. I’ve maintained an incredible career because I feel like I am respected for my honesty and not letting people push me around.”
What did you bet Pink that her 2001 album ‘M!ssundaztood’, which you mostly wrote and produced, would be a hit?
“I told her: ‘Your album will sell 10million records, if not more. And if it does, you owe me a Bentley.”
CORRECT.
“I never got my Bentley and she sold 12million-plus. I need to go after her for that! When I wrote ‘Get The Party Started’, I was laughing going, ‘Oh my God, I just wrote a dance hit’. It was funny ‘cause it was so stupid – a fun, dumb song, and I’d never done that before. It was fun to let go and think, ‘Linda, you don’t always have to be so dark and brooding and make massive statements. Lighten up!’. I just sang every cliché possible, and the energy of it was perfect. Then Pink nailed it.”
You wrote and produced Christina Aguilera’s 2002 chart-topper ‘Beautiful’. Which of these artists hasn’t performed or released a cover version of it: Suede’s Brett Anderson, The Lemonheads, Shirley Bassey or Gloria Gaynor?
“Well, I know Shirley Bassey did a version of ‘Get the Party Started’ so I’ll say her.”
CORRECT. Although she released a dramatic rendition of ‘Get The Party Started’, the Tiger Bay diva has never covered ‘Beautiful’.
“The Lemonheads did ‘Beautiful’?! And Gloria Gaynor and Brett Anderson? That’s awesome! I need to check them out!”
Although your new album ‘Let It Die Here’ is made up of new songs inspired by your mother’s death, you include your own version of ‘Beautiful’ on the record…
“My album is about my mom. It was suggested by my team that I could do a version of ‘Beautiful’ that we could release before the album to re-introduce everybody to me as an artist. When I put it on my album, it became directed towards my mother: she brought me down, her words brought me down. The perspective of it changed. Her words really affected me, and it’s me fighting back going: ‘But I am great. I am a beautiful person. Why are you always trying to take me down?’. It became more personal than the universal appeal it has with Christina.”
Did you know that Aguilera’s original would end up as a LBGTQ+ anthem?
“You never really know, but like how every parent thinks ‘my kid is special’, you do the same with your songs. When Christina sang it, I knew it was something special, but I didn’t imagine what its impact would be.”
Which rock icon (according to the artist in question) did you once call a “power bottom”?
“Wait, what? [Laughs] Gosh! That one I do not know. Tell me!”
WRONG. Courtney Love (whom you collaborated with on her 2004 solo album ‘America’s Sweetheart’ and Hole’s 2010 LP ‘Nobody’s Daughter’).
“[Laughs] OK, I can see that! Love that! Courtney Love is an incredibly intelligent woman. We were working on a record once when Billy Corgan came in and he was a Debbie Downer and ruining the vibe. Courtney and Billy have incredible history together, but my band said, ‘We can’t continue with this guy’. Finally, I went into the control room, looked at Billy and said: ‘You gotta go, man’. As Courtney’s eyes bulged, I said: ‘You’re walking around like you’re God’s gift to fucking rock’n’roll. You’ve got bad energy. I want you out of my studio’. Billy was shocked and left.”
“Courtney couldn’t believe I’d kicked him out of my studio, and thought it was ballsy. Then I realised: ‘Oh, she’s a pussy!’ Courtney acts like this tough person – and she is. She’s very intimidating, but really she is a bottom. She wants to be kind and wants a hug and she’s very gentle, but she has an armour she puts up. I love her and have had amazing experiences with her. The world needs Courtney Love back and I can’t wait for her new record because there isn’t anyone else like her.”
Love claimed in 2007 that you were set to produce the follow-up to Green Day’s 2004 classic ‘American Idiot’. Was there any truth in that?
“That’s a hard one for me. Green Day reached out to me and asked me to produce their next record. I had a full calendar and cancelled six months of work to do it. I met with [Green Day frontman] Billie Joe [Armstrong] and we talked for three hours, and he said: ‘I watched the documentary of you talking about Courtney and you’re so interesting and I was intrigued’. He was having his own meltdown, and I think life was getting to him. Like every artist, I think he had got to a point where you feel like I have nothing to say and need help – there’s a therapy aspect to producing too.”
“One thing I found weird was that Green Day recorded their albums separately: so Billie would do his part, then Mike [Dirnt, bassist] would come in, and then Tré [Cool] would come in, but they didn’t record together. I suggested they set up in a little circle and they should go ‘60s, and I put a playlist together. [1960s rock band] Love was one of the inspirations on there.”
“Then Courtney blabbed her mouth that I was producing. Suddenly they started getting backlash from their fans, upset they were ‘bringing in Linda Perry who produced Pink and Christina Aguilera’. And then those guys just stopped calling me. I would reach out to figure out what was going on. Nobody called. I lost six months of scheduled work. That was fucked-up – all because Billie Joe’s a little pussy and got all this backlash from his fans and didn’t like it.”
“Weirdly, cut to later on and they made a ‘60s-inspired record under a different name [2008’s ‘Stop Drop and Roll!!!’ released under the moniker Foxboro Hot Tubs].”
“Whatever! I’m good with it, but it was harsh and rude to do that. Just call me and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to go a different way. I’m not digging this backlash we’re getting.’ Just balls-up, man. Not returning my calls was such a pussy move, and I lost a lot of respect for Billie Joe.”
“It happened because I was a woman and I’d written pop songs. I was disappointed in those guys, and then I was mad at Courtney because if she would have just shut up, we would have made the record and it would have come out and it would have spoken for itself. I had a vision and knew I was going to kill that record.”
Which song that you’ve written opens with the French lyrics: ‘Avez-vous toutes les informations’?’
“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!! [Laughs] I’ve never written a French song… oh! is it Kelly Osbourne’s ‘One Word’?”
CORRECT. Her 2005 Top 10 hit.
“It was fun working on that record. Kelly had just had a moment with ‘Changes’, her duet with her dad [Ozzy] and I got a call from Sharon asking me to work with Kelly and produce her album. For Sharon, I’d do anything. Mind you, I’m not thinking Kelly is the most talented kid, but she did have a spark. On the day we’re going into the studio, I get a call saying I need to start the album without Kelly because she’s in rehab. I’m thinking: ‘How do I start an album without the artist?’ [Laughs] I don’t know what she wants to do. Then it hit me: ‘Make an ‘80s record, because her voice isn’t that skilled and that was the best period for her style of vocal.’ I lost track of time and three weeks later, I’d written a full album [‘Sleeping In The Nothing’]. Kelly listened to it and fucking loved it. It was super-fun. Talk about just dumbing down and being stupid! I even bought a Leopard Jackson guitar. I fully committed to the ‘80s!”
Which pop titan performed ‘What’s Up’ when you were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015?
“Lady Gaga.”
CORRECT. Similarly, you covered ‘Bad Romance’. As a songwriter, are you worried about AI?
“I remember when microwaves showed up and they said people were going to stop cooking and using the stove, but since then, it’s been culinary extravaganza. AI will help teach people things they don’t know. There’s always going to be somebody who’s going to rely on the easy way – who doesn’t want to cook and they’ll buy TV dinners and shove it in the microwave. There will always be somebody abusing the thing that everybody’s afraid of, but it’s very few compared to the people that are actually gonna benefit and learn from it. AI might help teach a seven-year-old how to write a song, find their own voice and understand how music works. The world evolves and technology evolves with it. You can’t have a fucking iPhone and FaceTime your best friend in Italy from California then complain AI is taking over. So, I embrace it all. And people are still going to want art. AC/DC are still selling out arenas because the kids can hear the difference.”
What is the B-side to the UK 7” of 4 Non Blondes’ 1993 single ‘Spaceman’?
“‘Superfly’ or ‘Train’?”
WRONG. ‘Strange’.
“I barely remember that song! Is it good? [Laughs] There were some key songs on that album [‘Bigger, Better, Faster, More!’] including ‘Spaceman’ that were great, but honestly, I’ve only listened to the album seven times in my life. I wasn’t happy with my performance and I thought the production sucked. When I reunited 4 Non Blondes, I said that I only wanted to play two songs off the album – ‘Train’ and ‘What’s Up’. And I wrote a whole new record from the perspective of a ‘90s band playing festivals to energetic, drunk kids that just want to have fun. I even put ‘What’s Up’ in the middle of our sets to prove a point – that our new material would mean people wouldn’t leave after the big one. And those motherfuckers stayed!”
“I’m calling the [forthcoming] record ‘1994’ because it’s what we would have made if we’d released a second album then. It’s so fucking good! It’s like the greatest ‘90s record! It’s fun and dumb, with my stamp of emotional moments.”
What is track 12 on your latest solo album ‘Let It Die Here’?
“‘Feathers In A Storm’?”
CORRRECT.
“Oh my God, is it?! I took a guess on that! [Laughs]”
The album arrives alongside an unflinching documentary, Linda Perry: Let It Die Here, which tackles your cancer diagnosis and recovery, family trauma and the death of your mother.
“What happened was I became friends with the filmmaker Don Hardy and I scored his documentary Citizen Penn. One day, Don said to me: ‘Hey, you’re so interesting. Do you mind if I film you in the studio?’ In my mind, I thought I could use some of it for social media content. He was very quiet, so I barely knew he was there. Then life started happening. I started having a meltdown, I got sick, my mom got sick, and this all happened in a short period of time.”
“When I watched the finished documentary, it was hard. I looked at Don and said, ‘You made a really beautiful film’. I wanted no changes apart from getting rid of some of the talking heads. I wanted it to be raw, rather than a vanity piece, so I didn’t want people hyping me up. Although I couldn’t get rid of Dolly Parton saying I’m like Elvis! [Laughs]”
Then your personal solo album, ‘Let It Die Here’, followed…
“They wanted me to perform at the Tribeca Film Festival, but it didn’t make sense to play 4 Non Blondes songs, so I wrote an album based on what I saw. It was therapeutic because I didn’t know how hard I was on myself and how damaged I had been until I saw the documentary. None of this was ever planned, but it became clear that’s what I was supposed to do.”
The verdict: 8/10
“Awesome! I thought I was going to fail because I used to get Fs on my tests!”
Linda Perry’s album ‘Let It Die Here’ is available now. The documentary Let It Die Here screens at Olympic Studios in London on June 21. 4 Non Blondes play Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, on June 24.