Leah Kate isn’t one to shy away from emotional wreckage. The RIAA-certified Platinum artist has built a career on turning heartbreak into high-voltage anthems, and her latest single, Just Because, is no exception. Out now, the track kicks off 2025 with a gut-punch of raw emotion, proving once again why Leah remains one of pop’s most compelling voices.
Inspired by a late-night spiral in New York City, Just Because captures the dizzying pull of an old flame—the kind of love that lingers long after it should’ve burned out. “I was in New York when my ex called me out of the blue,” Leah reveals. “He’s someone I’ve never been able to completely get over, and when he told me he still thinks about me, it triggered me. I wrote the lyrics that night, capturing the rawness of it all.” The song’s aching chorus—“Can I be brutally honest for once in my life? Not being with you in the city, it just eats me alive”—drips with unfiltered vulnerability, set against a backdrop of Leah’s signature sharp-edged delivery.
A few days before dropping the track, Leah made waves on the iHeartRadio Awards red carpet. It’s just the latest in a long line of pop-culture moments for the singer, who has amassed over a billion global streams and built a reputation for no-holds-barred, emotionally charged songwriting. Her breakout smash, 10 Things I Hate About You, became a viral juggernaut, racking up over 300 million streams, landing on Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits, and climbing the Billboard Global 200.
Leah’s meteoric rise has taken her from TikTok sensation—where her viral moments have racked up over 250 million views—to selling out her first-ever North American headline tour last fall. She’s spent the last few years supporting pop powerhouses like Anne-Marie, Madison Beer, Hayley Kiyoko, and Chase Atlantic in packed venues worldwide, and her music has soundtracked hit shows like Selling Sunset and The Hills.
With Just Because, Leah taps into the universal sting of heartbreak, proving that sometimes, even when you know better, falling back into the past is just too tempting to resist.