“I got together all of my pocket money that I had saved up… it’s still my favorite guitar”: Blackpink’s Rosé on the acoustic guitar she bought when she was 14 and played at the most important audition of her life
Rosé is best known as one-fourth of one of the world's biggest girl groups – Blackpink.
She recently stepped out on her own with her first full-length album, rosie, which departs from her group's flamboyant, EDM- and hip-hop-influenced brand of K-pop in favor of a collection of tender, acoustic guitar-backed songs inspired by her own love for and history with the instrument.
In a recent interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Rosé shared how she started learning guitar by watching YouTube videos, stating, “All these YouTubers online, they looked really cool. And so I was like, ‘I want to be like them.’”
Her first guitar quickly followed. “It was blue,” she recalls fondly. “It was $70 and my dad bought it for me. I remember it was a cheap one, so my fingers hurt so much.
“I remember I got together all of my pocket money that I had saved up my whole life – I was probably 14 by then – and I still have it [and it's] still my favorite guitar – a Taylor GS Mini.”
The guitar turned out to be crucial for an audition that would change Rosé's career trajectory – the opportunity to join what was then an unnamed K-pop girl group that would later become the phenomenon that is Blackpink.
“I walked in... I thought it was a joke. I was like, ‘This is funny. I'm not gonna get it at all.’ My dad and I had flown all the way from Melbourne to Sydney for the auditions. I was like, ‘Might as well make some good memories.’ And so I kind of went, ‘Hi,’ I did it. And [then] I was like, ‘Bye.’”
Rosé's debut album, rosie, was released on December 6 through The Black Label and Atlantic Records. The first single, Apt., a collaboration with Bruno Mars, topped the Billboard Global 200 – and its music video featured the pair playing Fender Mustangs.
Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.
