K-pop superstar and BLACKPINK sensation Rosé joined Howard for the first time on Monday morning to perform live from the Stern Show studio and promote her acclaimed solo debut “Rosie.” Before wowing listeners with a stripped-down version of her smash-hit “APT.” and recording the all-new Howard 101 special Howard Stern Presents: Rosé, the artist opened up to Howard about the origins of her spectacular career and how she moved from Australia to Seoul at the age of 15 to attend a school specializing in training K-Pop hopefuls.
“You go into a dorm full of girls that you’re training with and half-competing with,” Rosé told Howard. “It’s wild.”
The hours were long and the program was demanding, but she never considered giving up. “‘I’m going to make it,’” the 28-year-old singer and songwriter recalled thinking, adding, “I’m really grateful for that time.”
The training paid off. In 2016, she co-founded the all-female group BLACKPINK — which quickly became one of the most popular bands in the world — and late last year she released her solo studio debut “Rosie,” which featured the massively popular Bruno Mars collaboration “APT.” as its lead single.
As Rosé explained to Howard on Monday, the track was inspired by a long night with fellow musicians and a popular Korean drinking game. “I was teaching the boys how to play a drinking game, and they were so obsessed with it,” she noted. “They kept doing it all night, so it was like a joke. We were like, ‘We should make a song out of this.’”
After playing Howard an early version of “APT.” off her phone, the star recalled how she’d sent the very same demo over to Bruno Mars after joining his label. “I think a lot of people were like, ‘He’s not going to like it, it’s too unserious — don’t send it,’” Rosé explained.
But Bruno had the complete opposite reaction — he liked “APT.” so much he wanted to collaborate with her on it. “He just kind of understood it,” she explained. “He took it, and then he just knew what to do with it.” “I’m still in shock [about] what he’s done with [‘APT.’], and that collaboration process was just kind of like a movie and a dream,” Rosé continued, adding, “He starts adding these sounds, and it’s just euphoric. I was just freaking out. It was such an incredible moment.”
Rosé’s debut studio album “Rosie” is out now on all platforms. Tune in to Howard 101 at 7 p.m. EST on Friday for Howard Stern Presents: Rosé.
