There’s no mistaking the unmistakable: Kate Pierson’s voice is one of the most singular sounds in alternative music. Whether belting beside Iggy Pop on “Candy,” harmonizing with R.E.M. on “Shiny Happy People,” or trading vocals with Jack White on “Venus,” the B-52s co-founder has long been the secret weapon of some of pop’s most infectious and genre-defying moments. With a career spanning nearly five decades, Pierson has helped define and redefine the sound of alt-dance-rock, with her soaring vocals and quirky synth lines becoming hallmarks of a generation.
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Now, she’s bringing that iconic energy back to the dancefloor with the release of the “Pillow Queen (Bright Light Bright Light Summer Remix)”, a dazzling rework of a standout track from her latest solo album, Radios and Rainbows, out via SVR. The remix arrives today with a joyfully campy and colorful new video directed by longtime creative collaborator John Stapleton—and just in time to stretch Pride season straight through the dog days of summer.
“I really wanted to put out something fun to celebrate summer while continuing to support the Pride movement,” explains Kate. “So I reached out to electro pop artist Bright Light Bright Light—who is so joyful, positive and LGBTQ+ supportive—and asked him to do a remix of my song ‘Pillow Queen’ from my album Radios and Rainbows. It turned out to be the perfect match! The ‘Pillow Queen Bright Light Bright Light Summer Remix’ will be released on August 1 to keep the Pride going… so let’s turn up the volume and dance to this rainbow colored party groove!”
The original version of “Pillow Queen” is a flirty, dub-infused bop Pierson describes as “a bouncy, flirty summer song about someone who’s beautiful but doesn’t really respond… it’s a sex song – sexy and frothy.” Bright Light Bright Light, known for his glittery, club-ready productions and collaborations with Elton John and Scissor Sisters, takes the track into an even more effervescent space, giving it a high-energy facelift primed for late nights and sweaty dancefloors.
It’s a natural extension of Radios and Rainbows, a record Pierson created with the intention of putting something bright and joyous into a world that’s felt especially heavy. “It’s an eclectic group of songs,” she says of the album. “Anthems, dance things, a disco song… Overall, the album has an upbeat vibe because I wanted to put out something positive in these dark times. I wanted to make it fun!”
While Radios and Rainbows marks only Pierson’s second solo release—following her 2015 debut Guitars and Microphones—the desire to strike out on her own has been with her for decades. “When the Bs were touring all the time and doing so much work, it felt like such a family dynamic,” she says. “To me, it would’ve been a betrayal if I’d done something on my own outside the B-52s. It was a prison created by my own mind.”
Even in her earliest days, long before the sky-high beehive wigs and cosmic party anthems, Pierson was already finding her voice through songwriting. “I had a folk group in high school called the Sun Donuts,” she laughs. “We wrote our own folk protest songs. I was very influenced by the folk movement in the ’60s—that’s how I became politicized—hearing songs by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Phil Ochs.”
While the B-52s became one of the most iconic and influential bands of their era—turning Athens, Georgia into a hotbed of eccentric cool along the way—Pierson has never stopped writing. And now, Radios and Rainbows serves as both a creative release and a new chapter. “My creativity has been unlocked!” she says. “I still have a lot more songs in me, and I’m already looking forward to recording my next album!”
In the meantime, fans can catch a different side of Pierson this year as she returns to the stage for a series of intimate live performances. With stripped-down instrumentation and an emphasis on vocals and emotional resonance, she’s excited to connect more deeply with audiences: “I want to let the emotions and the feelings of the songs come through.”
With “Pillow Queen (Bright Light Bright Light Summer Remix),” Pierson does exactly that—delivering a blast of technicolor pop that’s as bold, free, and joyfully unapologetic as she is.
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