Wrabel & Sadie Jean Reimagine Fan-Favorite “hurts like hell”
August 12, 2022 BY Bailey Vigliaturo
Wrabel has teamed up with rising artist Sadie Jean and Thai-Italian singer/songwriter Valentina Ploy for two special reimaginings of his stand-out heartbreaking ballad “hurts like hell.” The former is no stranger to the break-up ballad herself with her viral hit “WYD Now?”, while the latter is creating a name for herself internationally with her personal and relatable songwriting.
Wrabel says, “It was such a treat to get to sing this song with Sadie. I’ll never forget the first time I heard her song “WYD Now?”. I literally pulled over to see who it was and reached out to her like a super fan. We ended up writing together, and I asked her if she’d be into singing “hurts like hell” with me. I think she has such heart in her music and cuts through a lot of the noise out there.”
On Valentina he adds, “I got in touch with Valentina through my label A&R, and I’m so glad they put me onto her cos now I’m such a fan! I love the honesty in her work and oh my gosh the voice! So excited to get to sing this song together.”
Wrabel first debuted “hurts like hell” in 2020 with a stirring performance on NBC’s Today. Co-written with Scott Harris (Shawn Mendes, P!nk) and produced by Stint (Demi Lovato, Kesha), it quickly became a live fan favorite with all-too-relatable lyrics that touch on feelings of desperation, longing, and the unrelenting memories that can haunt us years after the fallout of a relationship.
Since then, Wrabel released his 2021 debut album these words are all for you to critical acclaim with praise from Billboard who said it boasts “boisterous vocals met by beautiful piano melodies” and from SPIN who said it “showcases his trademark, beautifully intimate performances and powerhouse songwriting.” More recently, he released a deluxe version called these words are all for you too, which included three additional songs as well as remixes by Goldhouse and Japanese Wallpaper, and Wrabel’s recent collaboration with Cam on a refurbished version of “london.”
The past few months have seen Wrabel appear with Armin van Burren at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome and Jai Wolf at Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, along with performances at the 2022 Sound Mind Music Festival in Central Park and WonderRoad in Indianapolis. He also has guested on Tenille Townes’ “When You Need It” and on a re-released version of Wild Rivers’ “Thinking ‘Bout Love.”
Wrabel’s resume speaks for itself. He has toured alongside and collaborated with P!nk, has co-writing/performance credits alongside the likes of Kesha, Tenille Townes, Marshmello, Celeste, Backstreet Boys, Ellie Goulding, Louis Tomlinson, Louis the Child, Wafia, Cash Cash, and more. He’s released four previous EPs, has racked up over 525 million streams, and his song “The Village” has become an LGBTQ+ anthem. Over the past few years, his “knife-to-the-heart” (Idolator) songwriting has led to him becoming “one of Hollywood’s finest songwriters for a decade” (American Songwriter), earned him a performance spot on the national NBC TODAY stage and had Billboard saying that Wrabel is “ready for his breakthrough.”
