{"id":178150,"date":"2025-08-26T22:34:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T22:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/178150\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T22:34:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T22:34:25","slug":"conan-gray-talks-wishbone-healing-through-heartbreak-and-his-favorite-fan-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/178150\/","title":{"rendered":"Conan Gray Talks \u2018Wishbone,\u2019 Healing Through Heartbreak, and His Favorite Fan-Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

A wishbone never breaks evenly, and neither does a heart\u2014at least, that\u2019s what Conan Gray<\/a> muses on his fourth album, Wishbone, which dropped on August 15. The project was two years in the making and came to the singer-songwriter unexpectedly while touring his \u201980s-inspired pop extravaganza, Found Heaven, as he was healing through the pitfalls of heartbreak. <\/p>\n

In May, he kick-started the Wishbone era with the swoonworthy romance of \u201cThis Song,\u201d<\/a> which is a confession of love fueled by yearning. The album begins as a grand gesture filled with highs and eventually tumbles down into the lows of his relationships, be it with romantic prospects, his self-image, or family dynamics. In \u201cClass Clown,\u201d he admits to feeling an \u201cunexplainable\u201d looming emotion that followed him from his upbringing in Texas to global superstardom. \u201cNauseous\u201d expands upon that, exploring how childhood trauma has affected his adult relationships. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing this honest in all of the music feels new again,\u201d Conan says, sitting down after posing for photos in Cosmo\u2019s studio. \u201cIt was a very raw and humbling experience because I forgot how strange it feels to truly sing about your deepest, darkest, intimate moments of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the 26-year-old, Wishbone is a homecoming in more ways than one. His music video trilogy for \u201cThis Song,\u201d<\/a> \u201cVodka Cranberry,\u201d<\/a> and \u201cCaramel\u201d<\/a> recreates a dream-scape version of his coming-of-age story mixed with his fantasies of real-life romance. It visually calls back to his debut single, \u201cIdle Town,\u201d<\/a> a melodically moody track inspired by his upbringing in Georgetown, Texas, and embraces the rawness of his roots on songs like \u201cHeather\u201d and \u201cPeople Watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Letting loose in his music has clearly worked in his favor, as he drew in one of the largest crowds New York\u2019s Governors Ball has ever seen in 2025. He has the sort of relatability that rakes in more than 54 million monthly listeners on Spotify and earns him the number one spot of top global albums on the platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As he sits before me at the Cosmopolitan office in a worn-in Stanford t-shirt and light-washed jeans, it feels more like a catch-up with an old friend as he asks how I drink my coffee. We discussed how he heals through heartbreak and how he hopes listeners muscle through their own in streaming his latest album. He\u2019s also seen a bunch of fan fiction inspired by him and his music\u2014and he wants more.
<\/p>\n

When you first announced Wishbone<\/a>, you said you didn\u2019t want people to hear it. What made you feel like you had to keep it hidden?<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t necessarily that I didn\u2019t want people to hear it but more like I didn\u2019t expect them to. I was in the middle of releasing my third album when I started working on Wishbone, and I truly was writing for myself. I had some things that I wanted to say that had been stressing me the fuck out and I just had to get them off my chest. That\u2019s mainly the reason why\u2014because I wasn\u2019t planning on it.<\/p>\n

It was more of a release for you.<\/p>\n

Fully. People always ask me, \u201cDo you keep a diary? It\u2019s so good for your brain.\u201d I basically do because I write songs. That\u2019s my way of journaling. <\/p>\n

How are you feeling about it now that everything\u2019s out and being listened to?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still pretty surreal that it\u2019s even out. There was a beauty in my third album because it was distinctly different from anything I had ever done, and I felt a certain ability to not be judged. During that whole era, I got to play a character and hide behind this very experimental time of my life. <\/p>\n

Being this honest in all of the music feels new again. It was a very raw and humbling experience because I forgot how strange it feels to truly sing about your deepest, darkest, intimate moments of life. When I was in rehearsals for my tour, they played me the arrangement they made for \u201cClass Clown.\u201d<\/a> The second we started getting into it and I tried to sing the first words, I fully started crying. I forgot that\u2019s how it feels and that I was actually going to say everything that I was saying on the album.<\/p>\n

\"conanIt feels like the beginning for your listeners, but you\u2019ve lived with this album for almost two years. What\u2019s the first thing you do after finishing a project? Do you have any traditions?<\/p>\n

I am very severe about finishing a piece of work. I don\u2019t let myself have any fun until I\u2019ve gotten absolutely everything done. There\u2019s still a lot left to do with the tour coming up. I just feel extremely grateful that everything\u2019s been received with so much love and understanding and that people relate. That\u2019s a huge relief, because I really put myself out there and I\u2019m always a little afraid that maybe it\u2019s just me that feels those emotions I write about.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re definitely not the only one going through those feelings. As a listener, I was like, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve never had an original experience in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

No, never. Ugh, we\u2019re so unoriginal. The fact that we all think we\u2019re different from each other is what makes us all the same. You know? Because we all think we\u2019re the only ones. <\/p>\n

\n

The fact that we all think we\u2019re different from each other is what makes us all the same. <\/p>\n

\u2014Conan Gray<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Did you share any of your songs with friends or people who weren\u2019t directly involved in the project?<\/p>\n

I have a good chunk of friends who don\u2019t make music and don\u2019t care about my career other than they hope that I\u2019m doing well. Those are the people I get my most important opinions from. Ashley\u2014who has been my best friend since we were 11\u2014I play her everything, and she tells me very honestly what she thinks. It\u2019s important to have a diverse friend group, too, because there\u2019s a huge difference between musicians\u2019 music and music for the people. My goal is to connect with people because I was such a lonely kid. Everyone has a different reason to create, and mine was always companionship.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve also given and received support from other musicians, like Role Model and Charli XCX<\/a>. What are those relationships like? Do they just hit you up, like, \u201cWant to do the \u2018Apple\u2019 dance?\u201d<\/p>\n

I had been to Tucker [aka Role Model]\u2019s show in L.A., and I knew about the Sally of it all. I had asked, and then we planned to be as fun and ridiculous as possible. For \u201cApple,\u201d I also just reached out to Charli, like, \u201cHey, please, please, please, can I be the Apple girl?\u201d and she agreed because she\u2019s the nicest girl ever. She\u2019s been so kind to me from the beginning of my career, always had words of encouragement, and believed in me. It meant a lot, especially when I just started. She is such a legend and has been doing her thing for so long, and I really thank her.<\/p>\n

\"conan\"conanLet\u2019s talk about the Wishbone cinematic universe you\u2019ve built through \u201cThis Song,\u201d \u201cVodka Cranberry,\u201d and \u201cCaramel.\u201d Was carving out this visual narrative always part of the project, or was it something that came to you after you wrote each track?<\/p>\n

I wanted to tell a classic love story. The music videos are a manifestation of something that I wish I could have had in high school. I wasn\u2019t falling in love, wrestling in creeks, and kissing on rooftops. I was studying for AP tests and writing songs in my bedroom. In a way, it was making a dream come true for me. I wanted to give people a piece of that dream and let them see a world in which two people fall in love and it works out.
<\/p>\n

It really emphasizes that young summer love, coming-of-age vibe. It almost reminds me of movies like The Last Song or The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, and\u2014I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m saying this\u2014it could be the new-gen version of Troye Sivan\u2019s Blue Neighbourhood trilogy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Look, put respect on the scripture! <\/p>\n

Did you have any specific influences when bringing the visuals to life?<\/p>\n

For sure\u2014like a gajillion. It was all coming-of-age and romance movies. I\u2019m not kidding, The Hannah Montana Movie was one of them.
<\/p>\n

So what I\u2019m hearing is you\u2019re having a Miley Stewart summer.<\/p>\n

Like, Miley Stewart with her 13-inch extensions, riding her horse. It will forever be real. But I was also influenced by Normal People, which affected me deeply. Brokeback Mountain was another one, and my director, Danica Kleinknecht, had a bunch of other references I had never seen. <\/p>\n

\"conanWhy build this world and create these characters, Wilson and Brando? Do they represent anything in your personal story?<\/p>\n

There are bits and pieces that are completely real moments from my own life, but also not even close to what happened. I wanted it to feel innately like a return to my hometown. I needed the videos to be shot in Texas so I could be as honest as possible. You can\u2019t put me in Texas and then dress me in designer clothes. I was wearing clothes that I had in my closet from when I was 16. People have definitely picked up on that because my whole childhood is documented on the internet. <\/p>\n

Your fans have started expanding the Wishbone universe online, with Wilson and Brando fan fiction on Wattpad<\/a>. Have you read any of it? Is there any fan-made content that has stood out to you over the years?<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t a fan fiction ingester growing up, but there was one from when I was in high school where it was me and Tom Holland<\/a>. But it wasn\u2019t actually me; it was just my face on a character. It was several chapters about this relationship, and it was riveting. Me and my friends all read it together, and every time a new chapter would come out, we\u2019d be like, \u201cOh my god, there\u2019s a new one.\u201d This was pre-Zendaya.<\/p>\n

We need to call up the writer of that story right now.<\/p>\n

I miss it. Bring it back! Update the Wattpad!<\/p>\n

Back to your own characters\u2014is this the end of Wilson and Brando\u2019s journey, or will we see more of them eventually?<\/p>\n

I would love to see more of them, but I don\u2019t really know. At the moment, I\u2019m focused on the tour.<\/p>\n

\"conan\"conan Is there anything about the Wishbone pajama show that fans may be surprised by?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s my first tour with a storyline. I want to bring people through a lot of the feelings that I felt while I was making Wishbone, and that\u2019s what the tour is going to feel like.<\/p>\n

Can you give a little teaser of the setlist?<\/p>\n

Look, \u201cManiac\u201d is a banger. I\u2019m going to sing it. \u201cVodka Cranberry\u201d will be sung. \u201cPeople Watching\u201d will be sung\u2014I actually will never forget singing it at Radio City. I\u2019m going to hit all the hits, and then I\u2019m gonna sing the new songs.<\/p>\n

Speaking of your Radio City show, that was the first concert I went to solo, and I immediately felt a sense of community. The people next to me came all the way from Italy, and it was their first concert ever. What do you make of moments like these? <\/p>\n

My shows are filled with a bunch of people who are exactly like me. When I hear stories of people coming to the shows and going out of their way to come see me, I\u2019m like, \u201cHell yeah!\u201d because we\u2019re the same. It makes me feel less alone in the world, and it\u2019s also hard for me to understand. My most important job is to write music that feels true to me and that will connect with people. If I think too hard about the fact that there are so many people watching, then I\u2019m just going to say nothing.<\/p>\n

\n

I wanted to break people\u2019s hearts and force them to go through the breakup with me. <\/p>\n

\u2014Conan Gray<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Heartbreak and reflection are a throughline of your discography and this record, but you kicked off this era with a stunning, cinematic confession of love on \u201cThis Song.\u201d Why go with that as the lead single for Wishbone?<\/p>\n

It was a little bit of a psych-out. I selfishly wanted people to feel the same heartbreak that I did, and I started with \u201cThis Song\u201d because it comes from a place of love and relationships start from a place of love. It\u2019s butterflies; it\u2019s happiness. It\u2019s that summer love. It\u2019s that happy \u201cOh my god, anything could happen. I\u2019m so in love. Life\u2019s so good\u201d feeling. Then I wanted to break people\u2019s hearts and force them to go through the breakup with me. When you listen to Wishbone from the top down, you really get a chronological order of what goes down. <\/p>\n

You definitely go through the whole spectrum. There\u2019s a specific line from \u201cConnell\u201d that evokes an opposite feeling from \u201cThis Song\u201d: \u201cAnd you remind me of how good it feels to hurt \/ Yeah, you remind me of how little I deserve.\u201d How did you get to that point? Were you hesitant to include it at all?<\/p>\n

In so many ways, this album caught me at a time of my life that was the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back. It was that one final experience, that one final moment, that one final person, where I really took a step back and looked at my life and thought to myself, This is something that\u2019s consistently happening to me. There\u2019s nothing coincidental about this. That\u2019s why in \u201cConnell,\u201d I ask, \u201cWho\u2019s the victim in the end?\u201d If I\u2019m constantly choosing people who I know are going to hurt me, maybe it\u2019s just a me problem. I have to put myself in places where I\u2019m gonna be loved, even though that\u2019s scary.
<\/p>\n

It stings a certain way because you\u2019re not necessarily villainizing the person who hurt you, but yourself in such a vulnerable state.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Especially if you grew up in a situation where rocky and confusing forms of love are what you\u2019re used to. You inevitably look for something familiar in the next people that you go to. During the past two years, when I made Wishbone, I took a hard look at my life and was like, \u201cOkay, never again. I\u2019m not going to do this to myself anymore. That was the final time.\u201d That\u2019s why I got to write about it. In a way, I wanted to hold myself responsible\u2014to never put myself in a place where I could be hurt like that. <\/p>\n

    \n

    Falling in love is one of the great things about being a human. You should never really stop yourself from doing it.<\/p>\n

    \u2014Conan Gray<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    It really takes a toll when it happens to you. I had gone through this crazy heartbreak two years ago, around the time you started working on this record. Maybe it was the same time.<\/p>\n

    Maybe it was the same person… <\/p>\n

    Can you imagine? I hope not, for your sake. Once it ended, I questioned if I\u2019d be capable of being in a relationship again, but one of my best friends reminded me of that old saying: \u201cIt\u2019s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.\u201d Having been through it, I fully agree with it now.<\/p>\n

    It hurts so much less if you\u2019ve already experienced it one time because you know you\u2019re gonna be fine on the other end. Falling in love is one of the great things about being a human. You should never really stop yourself from doing it. <\/p>\n

    \"conan<\/p>\n

    Stream \u2018Wishbone\u2019 on Spotify<\/a><\/p>\n

    Get tickets for Conan\u2019s \u2018Wishbone\u2019 Pajama Show tour<\/a><\/p>\n

    Conelivia Hive, Rise<\/p>\n

    Parts of this interview have been edited and condensed for clarity.
    <\/p>\n

    Creative director: Samantha Adler<\/a>. Senior entertainment director: Maxwell Losgar<\/a>. Visual director: Scott M. Lacey<\/a>. Associate visual editor: Sabrina Toto<\/a>.
    <\/p>\n

    \"Play\"conan<\/p>\n