TikTok + Unofficial Bridgerton Musical = Grammys win

In a Grammys category stacked with musical giants such as Andrew Lloyd Webber (The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar) and Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin), two young emerging women songwriters this week won the day with their fan-made concept album, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical – conceptualised almost entirely on streaming platform TikTok.

It’s the kind of headline that sounds too strange to be true – a fanfiction musical about Netflix’s Bridgerton beating Captain Cats himself? Andrew Lloyd Longest-Running-Musical-in-Broadway-history Webber?

Well, believe it – prolific songwriting partners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear took TikTok by storm in 2021 and have been dominating the rest of the world since. Between them, they have more than 2.7 million TikTok followers, they’ve performed at the Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary, and are the youngest artists to ever be nominated or win in their Grammys category, Best Musical Theater Album.