The Pretty Reckless, Christmas Edition

🌟 Once Upon a Time in Who-ville

Before the raccoon eyeliner and thigh-high boots, Taylor Momsen was the sweet little Cindy Lou Who singing “Where Are You Christmas?” in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She was seven years old, her voice as pure as the snow in Whoville, and America instantly stamped her as “adorable.”

That was twenty-four years ago. Taylor’s only two months older than me, so I’ve literally watched her transformation in real time—from the curious little Who to the woman who turned rebellion into religion. The same kid who once sang about losing Christmas ended up finding herself in distortion pedals and eyeliner.

🕯️ A Pretty Reckless Christmas

Her newest release, The Pretty Reckless Christmas, is the kind of holiday album I didn’t know I needed. It’s equal parts “Silent Night” and “Sin After Midnight.” Only Taylor could blend sleigh bells with snarling guitars and make it sound like salvation.

She’s always been that paradox—sacred and sacrilegious, glitter and grit, the girl who turned rebellion into ritual. Maybe that’s why I adore her.

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⚡ Warped Tour: The Year of Black Eyeliner and Destiny

I actually got to meet The Pretty Reckless at Warped Tour 2010, on July 30th at Comerica Park in Detroit. At the time, they’d only released the Make Me Wanna Die EP, and the line between “up-and-coming band” and “religious experience” was already blurred.

Taylor thought my youngest sister was adorable—she was nine years old, decked out as a tiny goth princess. It felt like some kind of cosmic passing of the eyeliner wand.

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🎬 “Make Me Wanna Die”—The Video That Started a Fire

When the Make Me Wanna Die video was filmed, Taylor was just 16, and it stirred up controversy because she wanted to go fully nude for the concept—symbolic, not sexual—but obviously, that wasn’t legal. The release got delayed while lawyers figured it out. It was messy and misunderstood, like most teenage expressions of power are. But it also marked the exact moment she stopped being anyone else’s “good girl.”

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🔥 Light Me Up: The Pike Room Revelation

A while later, I saw them again at The Pike Room in Pontiac, back when Gossip Girl was still on air. Cameras were banned—no photos, no videos—because apparently the network didn’t want America seeing little Jenny Humphrey shouting expletives in fishnets.

I get it. She wore a shirt that literally said “I Fuck For Satan.” And honestly? It was iconic.

One of her songs actually appeared in the final episode of Gossip Girl, a full-circle moment for the girl who refused to stay confined to a character. It felt like she was closing that chapter with a guitar riff instead of a goodbye.

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💋 Eyeliner as Armor

Taylor’s stage persona is more an amplification than an invention. On stage, she’s all black lace and howl—off stage, she’s grounded, articulate, and not nearly as goth as the tabloids love to paint her. But it’s still her. The Pretty Reckless isn’t a mask—it’s the part of her that refuses to shrink.

And for the record, I was doing raccoon eyes before she did. Once she made it famous, suddenly I was the copycat. 😂 Fine. If I’m going to be mistaken for anyone, let it be the woman who made eyeliner into armor—and apparently passed the ultimate goth initiation, since she’s now literally bat-approved.

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🎤 The Chorus of Defiance

In 2020, Taylor lent her voice to Evanescence’s anthem “Use My Voice,” standing shoulder-to-shoulder with rock titans like Lzzy Hale of Halestorm and Maria Brink of In This Moment. It wasn’t just a guest slot—it was a rally cry. A moment where women who’d all clawed their way through the male-dominated walls of rock stood side by side and said, we’re not asking anymore.

For Taylor, it felt like alignment—the girl who once sang about losing Christmas now lending her voice to a generation of women finding theirs.

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🎤 Rock Hall Collision Course

The electric narrative doesn’t stop there. In 2025, Soundgarden were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and Taylor was invited to join them onstage—her voice bridging generations of rebellion, honoring legacy while carving out her own. It’s poetic symmetry: the girl who grew up watching icons is now sharing their stage.

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✨ Final Notes

Taylor Momsen has always been a living contradiction: angel-faced and devil-horned, child star turned rock priestess. She’s proof that transformation doesn’t require permission—only the nerve to keep evolving.

I hope I can catch The Pretty Reckless again live soon. It has been way too long!