Greta Thunberg is, without a doubt, one of the most well-known environmental activists on the planet. Since founding the Fridays for Future movement in 2018, the young Swede has become one of the most recognizable faces of the environmental movement and a figure capable of influencing political and social debate on a global scale. However, beyond her public persona, Greta’s personal life has always remained discreetly in the background. Although some details about her parents, producer Svante Thunberg and soprano Malena Ernman, are known, few had paid attention to her younger sister, Beata Ernman, until now.
Read more Several consecutive power outages annoy thousands of residents of l’Hospitalet
Singer, actress, dancer, model, and multidisciplinary creator, Beata MonaLisa, known musically as BEA, is making her way beyond her sister’s name. At just 20 years old, the Swedish artist has gained popularity in recent weeks after several of her singing videos went viral on TikTok, where she caught attention for her spectacular voice. However, her passion for music and performing arts goes back much further.
In an interview with Interview Magazine, she recalled that she started dancing at just three years old and singing at seven, a passion that led her to participate in all school shows, although at that time she did not always receive support from those around her. “I performed in school shows and everyone thought I was annoying. They made fun of me. Now, many of those who used to laugh follow me and tell me we went to school together,” explained the young artist.
Her first big opportunity as an artist came in 2020, at just 12 years old, when she was chosen to play the young Édith Piaf in the musical Forever Piaf, a production she starred in alongside her mother for five years. Although comparisons with Greta Thunberg have been inevitable since she began gaining notoriety, Beata has always tried to separate her career from her sister’s. In fact, when Interview Magazine asked her about her relationship with the Swedish activist, she responded as briefly as firmly: “I am not responsible for other people’s lives.”
However, Greta’s media exposure also ended up affecting Beata. In 2019, the activist revealed in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that her sister had been a victim of bullying, threats, and harassment simply for being part of her family. “The one who really suffers is my sister. She is 13 years old and has been subjected to bullying, threats, and harassment,” Greta said at the time. She also denounced that many of the hateful messages she received ended up being directed at the rest of her family and lamented that Beata did not find the necessary support to lead a normal life.
Read more The EU and the United Kingdom seal the Gibraltar agreement that means the disappearance of the fence
Like her sister, Beata has not hesitated to publicly express her opinions. The artist has raised her voice to denounce some of the dynamics that, she says, are still present in the music industry. “I have many straight producers who tell me how I have to sing. They want to feel like they have taught me. A young and outgoing girl is very provocative, especially to them, because they want to have control,” she told Interview.
She also revealed that her next album will be marked by a “pro-queer and anti-misogynist” message. And although she says she is not part of the LGTBIQ+ community, the artist acknowledges that many of her followers are. In the same interview, she recalled being invited by Robert Fux, host of Drag Race Sverige, to perform at a queer event, an experience she describes as “the best night of my life.” “I felt that, for the first time, I was accepted as an artist and it was thanks to the queer community,” she explained. In fact, she confessed that on the way home, she wrote the song You’re the Upgrade as a tribute to those who had welcomed her.
Although she shares a surname with one of the most influential figures in contemporary activism, Beata MonaLisa is determined to build her own career. Her growing popularity on social media is making her one of the new promises of the European music scene, proving that, despite belonging to the same family, the Thunberg sisters have chosen completely different paths. In this new stage, Beata has opted for a renewed image, with long platinum blonde hair and a much more colorful aesthetic, as she showed during a recent performance in Stockholm.
The young artist is focused on developing her musical career and defining her own identity, away from the activism that has made her sister an internationally recognized figure, while continuing to face the challenges of being an emerging artist. “I don’t care if they love my art or hate it, as long as they make me feel something. Not compassion. Love or hate. That is the purpose of being an artist,” she has stated on her social media.
Read more Ukraine now targets Russian Azov freighters after months of attacking their refineries
