Queen Certified: Sasha Keable
WILL LAVIN—How did you first discover you had a talent for music?
My dad would print off guitar tabs when I was a kid and we would just sing together. Then one day he was like, “Oh, you’re actually alright.” And I was like, “Yeah, I am alright. What the hell?” I always loved music, but I feel like that’s when I found I had a real passion and talent for it.
That talent has helped you have a huge 2025. What would you say the biggest highlight has been?
Doing Tiny Desk is my number one, for sure. Everything felt like it all came together for that moment. It’s something I’ve always pictured and thought about. It still blows my mind. It’s something that’s out right nowand I can be like, “Go watch my TinyDesk.” The fact you can type that into YouTube is just mad to me.
During that performance, you mentioned almost giving up on your dreams to be a singer. What was it that made you almost walk away from music?
I’ve wanted to give up so many times. There was one time early in my career where I basically got coerced into doing a song that I didn’t want to do. I got swindled by some contract. I remember I was driving and the song came on the radio; I literally pulled over and burst into tears. I was like, “No one’s ever gonna take me seriously in music ever again.” I felt so betrayed. Then I ended up getting dropped by the label. I fired my management and stopped making music for like two years. I didn’t want anything to do with the industry.
You obviously returned to music. How did you turn things around?
I’m just a very resilient person. I’ve had to be like that my whole life. There’s been so many things that have happened, so many moments where I’ve wanted to quit, but I’ll just keep going. I’ll run things down to the ground until I know I’ve exhausted every single option. I want to leave no stone left unturned.
You just released Act Right, your first EP in four years. What does it represent for you?
It represents a new era, a new chapter. I’m proud of myself, as it really wasn’t easy to write. It was emotional in terms of subject matter. I’m happy that I persevered and managed to really capture how I was feeling and put it into something that I’m proud of.
Another highlight this year was surely getting a shout out from Beyoncé. How did you find out about it?
We were all sat around having breakfast in the countryside somewhere celebrating my friend’s 30th birthday. Someone messaged me on Instagram saying that Beyoncé had mentioned me in her GQ article. I was like, “Look at these stupid messages that I get from people.” My friend Leah looked at me and said, “Her GQ article did just come out.” We all looked at eachother for a second and then scrambled to search for it online and it came up. We were screaming. I cried. How do you even process that? It’s Beyoncé!
Have you had the opportunity to meet her or have a conversation yet?
No. But the fact that when I do eventually meet Beyoncé she’s gonna know who I am, that’s blowing my mind. It just shows you that you never know who’s watching.
