Interview w/ Greyson Chance + Osaka, Charli XCX & 'Captive State'

The Culture This Week: the BlackBook interview w/ Greyson Chance; rooms with a view: the Hilton Osaka; the new h Club in Hollywood launches art program; KARYYN's new single 'Aleppo' is a meditation on the war torn city; Charli XCX introduces Nasty Cherry; exclusive cocktail recipes from the new A.L.B. SoHo; Film Spotlight: Captive State.

BlackBook Interview: Greyson Chance on Fame, Joni Mitchell and His Enduring Friendship w/ Lady Gaga

If ever a star was "born," it was on the fateful day of April 28, 2010, when a 12-year-old kid from Oklahoma belted out a shiver-inducing cover of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" (for a school talent show) and left a room full of onlookers gasping in awe. When the video of the performance was uploaded to YouTube, it became an instant sensation - and soon record biz honchos (including Guy Oseary) were beating a path to the door of a very young Greyson Chance.

The past nine years have brought a lot of highs (lasting friendships with superfans Ellen DeGeneres and Gaga herself), as well as some lows, with two album releases and the requisite touring leaving him with an impressively devoted fanbase. It also made him the artist he is now, the one who has finally made the record he's always intended to make. Indeed, portraits was released this past Friday, and it's the work of a songwriter who has genuinely found his voice, by learning from some of the very best - from Amy Winehouse to Joni Mitchell, Sylvan Esso to Brandi Carlile...and even, lyrically, a little Hermann Hesse.