Delilah Belle is still getting used to calling herself a singer. As the 24-year-old model prepares to share her very first single, “Nothing Lasts Forever,” with the world, she’s spending a bizarrely cold Los Angeles day sending out invitations to her release party.
“I don’t think it’s hit me yet, really,” she confesses to Billboard of the song’s imminent unveiling, which is taking place at West Hollywood hotspot Hotel Ziggy on Friday night.
The hip location on the Sunset Strip is the perfect setting to mark Delilah’s reinvention as a nascent pop star — particularly given her reality TV roots as the daughter of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills firebrand Lisa Rinna. After all, the boutique hotel was also the site of a party hosted by DJ James Kennedy in the latest season premiere of RHOBH spinoff Vanderpump Rules — this was pre-#Scandoval — and also happens to be just down the road from what used to be L.A.’s iconic Tower Records flagship store.
Fans first met Delilah back in 2014 when her famous mom snagged a diamond in the fan-favorite fifth season of Bravo’s 90210 franchise. (Ironically, in her very first scene, Rinna implores Delilah and her younger sister Amelia Gray, “Tell me about Coachella,” after not allowing the then-teens to go to the festival.)
But just one look at the music video for “Nothing Lasts Forever” lets fans know that Delilah has certainly grown up since her earliest days in front of reality TV cameras. The visual for the downtempo ballad opens with the DNA designer sitting in a milky bath instantly reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze” video before she jolts awake, singing, “Feelin’ like I’m dyin’ and it won’t pass/ Feelin’ like I’m lyin’ in a bloodbath/ I could pull the plug, let it drain out/ Or take another drug for the pain now” in a glossy alto.
The song wades into weighty territory for a debut single, exploring Delilah’s physical and mental health struggles over the past few years. In November 2021, she went live on Instagram to detail living with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety, as well as a particularly bad experience with a Xanax subscription, to her more than 1.6 million followers. (She now boasts, as of press time, closer to 2 million and counting.)
Yet despite its raw edge, the elder Hamlin sister says she didn’t think twice about getting vulnerable with the song. “I’ve always been an open book and I’ve never been scared to really share what I’ve gone through.” she says. “That’s just not really who I am.”
Below, Delilah Belle chatted exclusively with Billboard about breaking into music, what she hopes fans take from “Nothing Lasts Forever,” whether she got any advice from her mom’s RHOBH bestie Erika Jayne and more.
What made “Nothing Lasts Forever” the right choice as your debut single?
I want this song to be something that everyone can relate to in one way or another. You know, I’ve written tons of songs about breakups, heartbreak, et cetera, but I feel like this song really is open to interpretation, and I want people to be able to just really relate to it in whatever way they need to in that moment. Because the meaning behind it really is “nothing lasts forever,” whether that be a breakup or really anything.
How did you start writing music in the first place?
I’ve always journaled my entire life and I’ve also always loved singing. And I knew that I wanted to be able to convey and tell my story through music. I thought, you know, “I have a platform. I could just put out an Instagram Story and talk about the struggles I’ve been going through.” But really, I thought that, creatively, the best way to go about telling my story would be through music. “I have a platform. I could just put out an Instagram Story and talk about the struggles I’ve been going through.” But really, I thought that, creatively, the best way to go about telling my story would be through music.
You said they’re up for interpretation, but the song’s lyrics deal with some heavy emotional themes surrounding mental health and anxiety. What inspired that?
Honestly, what I’ve been going through the past couple of years — really most of my life, as I can remember — I’ve felt a certain way. And they definitely are heavy, heavy lyrics. [Pauses] Yeah, I’ve struggled with my mental and my physical health the past couple of years and I wanted to be able to convey my struggles not so, like, blatantly. But at the same time, you know, they are heavy and they really do convey exactly how I was feeling.
Was that a vulnerable process for you to put those ideas down on paper? Did you feel ready to put all this out there?
You know, I honestly did feel ready to put all this out there. I’ve felt ready for a while, especially after I posted this video a couple years ago on my — I guess it was a Live, then I posted it to my IGTV, if that’s what it is. I’m so bad at technology, I literally don’t know what things mean. [Laughs] But yeah, I’ve always been an open book and I’ve never been scared to really share what I’ve gone through. That’s just not really who I am. So going through the process of writing and recording and being able to share my story through storytelling, through music was definitely a cathartic experience. It just felt right. Like, I didn’t feel uncomfortable at any time. I honestly could’ve shared more; I could’ve been even more open. It’s easy for me to open up, and I think it’s important to open up.
What do you hope listeners and new fans take away from the song’s message?
I really, really hope that people can resonate with the lyrics and take what they need from it. Because it’s so much more than just a song to me. I’ve been in very dark, dark moments in my life where I put on a song, or I’ll have the same song or, like, a playlist on repeat that just like that sad playlist. And those always make me cry, and when I’m in those moments, I want to be able to relate to someone else. Or I want to feel heard, I want to feel like I’m not going through this alone.
So number one, I want people to be able to, if they’re sitting on their bathroom floor or laying in bed, feeling like they’re dying and this moment won’t pass, I want them to be able to be like, “OK wait, someone else feels this way.” And whether someone looks up to me or thinks of me in a certain way, I want them to be able to be like, “Oh wait, Delilah also feels that way.” And if that can help someone, that would just be amazing. I want people to know that nothing lasts forever and I also struggle.
That’s something so many people struggle with and it can be hard to talk about and feel really isolating.
Yeah, and I think people can tell us over and over again that, like, “This too shall pass.” People can tell us all of these clichés, but in reality, it really does take wanting to change. And in my lyrics, I convey, like, “Same me, same girl, same behavior.” I was really just stuck in this one space until I realized, like, I have to change my thinking in order for my life to change…And when you change your thinking and your behavior, then you really do realize that nothing lasts forever.
Do you have any pop artists you looked to for inspiration as you dove into music?
I honestly didn’t know what my sound was going to be. I’ve written multiple songs and every song is, like, a different sound and could be considered a different genre. So when I think of someone who’s an inspiration to me as a musician, I think of how they tell their story. And I think that that’s something that’s really important to me and that’s such a beautiful thing. So I think of Lady Gaga, I think of Billie Eilish. Lizzo. I think of, you know, going back to Amy Winehouse. I even think of XXXTentacion in the way that he told his story through music, I just think it was very impactful. So I wouldn’t really say when I looked up to musicians I was trying to necessarily embody their sound, but more so the way that they told their stories.
Considering that you’ve known her for so many years, did you get any advice from Erika Jayne about starting music?
I don’t think I did get any advice from Erika. I don’t think I reached out, to be quite honest with you! [Laughs]
Well maybe we need her on the “Nothing Lasts Forever” remix.
Maybe we do, maybe there’s 10 remixes! I do think I invited her to my release party though. But no, honestly, I kind of did this alone with my little team that I created and love so much.
Tell me about the concept for the music video.
So the concept for the music video is…sick. [Laughs] I wanted it to be very elevated, ethereal, I wanted it to be high-fashion, I wanted it to be emotional, I wanted it to be so many things. So me, my creative directors and my team — we really thought about it and made it like a dream within a dream. We wanted it to be a work of art, honestly. And also, like I said with the song, open to interpretation. We didn’t want it to be too literal, and that’s what I love about it.
How did shooting the music video compare to all of your experience modeling?
When I model, I would bring emotion if that’s what was asked of me. But in the music video, in every shot I was thinking a lot, and thinking heavily about things that have happened throughout my life — and the last couple of years especially. So there was a lot of emotion filming it. I mean, I went through, I don’t know if it’s a hundred percent conveyed, but for me, I was very emotional filming that. And it was also kind of like acting? Which I’ve not really done in so long, since I was in, like, theater school when I was younger. It was awesome because it was something that I was kind of also directing. Obviously there was a director, my creative directors, but it was something that I was directing with my emotions and my thoughts. So it was a bit different in that aspect.
You’re definitely a little more in the driver’s seat than on a modeling shoot, I assume.
Yes, which I love because I’m very creative.
So can people expect more music coming soon from you? A full-length album, perhaps?
What can I tease? Hmmm. [Laughs] I’m definitely planning on a hundred percent releasing more music in the future. I… Yeah, I will leave you with that. Yeah, I don’t know yet. We’ll see.
