Every artist has the moment they first walked onto a stage, whether it was a county fair stage, a cafe showcase, or an underground club. Astoria, Queens-born Melanie Martinez first stepped into the spotlight on the stage of The Voice Season 3 in 2012. Even though she was eliminated from Adam Levine’s team halfway through, her aesthetic and covers helped her skyrocket to fame soon after.
For casual listeners or those eager to catch up on the lore before her upcoming era, this is your guide through the key chapters of Melanie Martinez’s cinematic universe.
Important Characters and Terms through the Melanie Martinez Cinematic Universe (MMCU)
- Cry Baby: The supernatural empath protagonist of Martinez’s first three albums.
- The Afterlife Creature: The four-eyed, pink skinned and haired entity that is formed from Cry Baby’s soul in the PORTALS era. Often symbolizing rebirth and spirituality.
- HADES: The force of the new 2026 era, representing a patriarchal, corrupt machine that traps society using control masked as protection.
- Empath: Supernatural chosen individuals (like Cry Baby and her friends) who posses magical abilities fueled by their deep emotional intelligence.
The Story Behind Cry Baby
Released: August 14, 2015
This MMCU officially opens up with the introduction of Cry Baby, Martinez released her viral single “Dollhouse.” This led into her 13-track debut album, Cry Baby, which was released via Atlantic Records.
The album introduces her main title character, Cry Baby, an empath born into a deeply dysfunctional and abusive family in which Martinez describes as “a child who experiences adult things.” While Cry Baby exists in a world filled with pastel colors, toys, birthday parties, and nursery-rhyme-inspired imagery, the albums lyrics track her journey dealing with an alcoholic mother and unfaithful father, eventually losing her “innocence” as she navigates toxic relationships as seen in songs like “Carousel” and “Alphabet Boy.”
As the story of Cry Baby unfolds, each song represents another emotional obstacle in her life. She struggles with being overly emotional in the title track, experiences feelings of isolation in “Pity Party,” becomes trapped in unhealthy relationships in “Carousel” and “Training Wheels,” faces manipulation and condescension in “Alphabet Boy,” and wrestles with insecurity and society’s impossible beauty standards in “Mrs. Potato Head.”
Before Cry Baby ultimately finds freedom in “Milk and Cookies.” By the album’s closing track, “Mad Hatter,” she embraces her individuality and learns to accept herself rather than conforming to what others expect of her.
“I’ve always felt like I was a cry baby, I’m so emotional and I take things very personally, and I’ve been made fun of for that. The name has stuck with me. This album is me figuring out how to embrace being imperfect and accepting the things I can’t change about myself, and being happy and comfortable with who I am. In the beginning, when I started writing, I was insecure. As the album went on I got more comfortable with myself. It’s interesting because what happens to my character also happened to me through the writing process of the album.” Melanie Martinez about the Cry Baby album.
The Overthrow of the System in K-12
Released: September 6, 2019
Following the events of Cry Baby, Martinez wrote, directed and starred in K-12, a full-length musical film and album that pushed the Cry Baby story even further. Rather than continuing to explore inside Cry Baby’s home life, the character continues on to K-12 Sleepaway School, an institution that works as a metaphor for societal conditioning. In K-12 you see Cry Baby become the narrator of the world around her. As Martinez explained, “You’re not learning about her, you’re learning about the place that she’s in and her perspective.”
The album follows Cry Baby through each grade from kindergarten to 12th grade, with each song representing another year of school, starting with “Wheels on the Bus” at Kindergarten simply observing the world around her. As she moves through each “grade”, she meets new classmates classmates and explores themes of bullying (“Class Fight”), sexism, political corruption (“The Principal”), harmful beauty standards (“Strawberry Shortcake”), pressure to perform (“Show & Tell”), and unhealthy relationships (“Teacher’s Pet” and “High School Sweethearts”).
By the time she reaches “Recess” (the final track), she has learned that her self-worth isn’t found through validation from others, but instead by remaining true to who she is. Cry Baby and her supernatural friends lead an uprising to overthrow the system.
The Spiritual Metamorphosis of PORTALS
The Spiritual Metamorphosis of Released: March 31, 2023
With March 2023, and following a long hiatus, came PORTALS, a massive rebranding for Martinez, and the third and final chapter of the original Cry Baby trilogy. She shed her signature split-dyed hair and doll clothes and introduced a new alter ego a whimsical fairy with pink skin, extra eyes and green hair, a physical representation of Cry Baby’s evolution beyond the human world.
This album centers around the death of the Cry Baby character and her entrance into the afterlife as a spirit, detailed in the opening track “DEATH.” Martinez directed it herself, expanding her lore and her own cinematic universe. It serves as the final chapter of the initial trilogy and moves through the stages of healing (“FAERIE SOIRÉE”, “LIGHT SHOWER”), self-reflection (“VOID”), personal growth (“TUNNEL VISION”), and letting go (“EVIL”), before ending with “WOMB,” where Cry Baby prepares to enter a new life. 
The Newest Chapter: HADES
Released: March 27, 2026
In 2026, Martinez released her fourth studio album with Atlantic Records, HADES, which introduces a new narrative framework separate from her previous “Cry Baby trilogy”. The project is accompanied by her announcement of the HADES: THE SACRIFICE tour, which is scheduled to visit arenas and cities around North America and Europe starting July 17.
Martinez has almost completely traded in the whimsical fantasy for the grim, dystopian mirror of society. She contemplates the “traps” of modern life through a dark landscape, using tracks like “POSSESSION” and “THE VATICAN” to attack religious hypocrisy, internet culture, and systemic corruption. A step forward from the high school level coup in K-12. But, rather than escaping into a fantasy world, this era focuses on the harsh reckoning with reality.
“Each song on this record explores a different trap set by the kind of evil, patriarchal energy that is HADES. It isn’t about predicting a dystopian future. It’s about recognizing destructive patterns that already exist. The same dynamics are repeating in different places. Control disguised as protection. Cruelty framed as logic. Exploitation sold as opportunity. Once you start noticing those threads, it becomes hard to ignore them.” Melanie Martinez about the HADES album
What to Expect from HADES: THE SACRIFICE Tour and ELYSIUM
Dates: Starting July 17, 2026
To bring her newest record to life, Martinez announced the HADES: THE SACRIFICE tour, which is scheduled to visit arenas and cities in North America and Europe starting on July 15 in the Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
And just as fans were settling into the grim feel of HADES, Martinez shifted the trajectory of the new era with an announcement during a live performance in June 2026 of her fifth studio album, ELYSIUM. It will serve as a counterpart to HADES, representing a lighter, cathartic theme of “letting go,” focusing on the healing and moving forward to a brighter future. Martinez reveled that she had always envision HADES and ELYSIUM as companion pieces.
She has now amassed 13.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify and over 62.2 million followers across her social media platforms. As she moves further away from the character that defined much of her first decade in the music industry, the focus shifts from one story to the foundation of another.
HADES: THE SACRIFICE Tour Dates:
North America (tickets here)
7/15 – Saint Paul, MN – Grand Casino Arena
7/17 – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena
7/18 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
7/20 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum
7/21 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
7/23 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
7/25 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
7/27 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
7/28 – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena
7/30 – Orlando, FL – Kia Center
8/2 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
8/3 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
8/6 – Monterrey, NL, MX – Arena Monterrey
8/8 – Mexico City, MX – Palacio de los Deportes
8/12 – Phoenix, AZ – Mortgage Matchup Center
8/14 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum
EU + UK (tickets here)
9/9 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
9/11 – London, UK – The O2
9/12 – Manchester, UK – Co-Op Live
9/15 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
9/17 – Milan, IT – Unipol Forum
9/18 – Frankfurt, DE – Festhalle
9/20 – Brussels, BE – Forest National
9/23 – Kraków, PL – Tauron Arena Kraków
9/24 – Prague, CZ – O2 Arena
9/26 – Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena
Keep up with Melanie Martinez: Instagram // TikTok // YouTube // Spotify
