AceShowbiz - Freya Skye began crafting her breakthrough solo single “Silent Treatment” in the spring of 2025, emerging from Buckinghamshire, England, where she was known for representing the UK at the 2022 Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Alongside co-writers Sophie Simmons and Max Margolis, she initially created a rough draft of the song in May but felt it wasn’t quite ready. “We didn’t feel like we’d nailed it,” she recalls. “We were like, ‘Let’s just park it and wait for inspiration to strike again.’”

During this creative pause, Freya Skye remained busy, making her acting debut as Nova Bright in Disney Channel’s Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires in July 2025. This role introduced her to a wider audience beyond her music fanbase. Then, in September, inspiration returned in full force. “One morning, the concept came to me,” she says about finally completing the infectious pop track infused with guitar and drums. “We rewrote the whole song, took everything we had before and pieced it all together. It felt almost like a dream.”

Following the premiere of Zombies 4, Skye joined six other Disney stars on the extensive Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour, which spanned 43 dates across North America, including a highlight performance at Madison Square Garden in New York. Despite the exposure from the tour and her acting work, she was eager to perform her own solo music for fans. “I’m so close with my fans, and I know what we both like,” she explains.

Her determination led her to urge Hollywood Records, which had signed her in 2024 concurrent with her casting in Zombies 4, to release “Silent Treatment” quickly. The single dropped in early December 2025, just in time to showcase it during her appearances as a presenter and special guest performer on the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour. This tour brought her back to major arenas across the U.S., placing her alongside established artists.

Skye admits to feeling impostor syndrome amid a lineup featuring stars like Ed Sheeran, Zara Larsson, and Olivia Dean. However, that nervousness quickly faded once she performed. “I started singing the first chorus, and people knew the words. I was so taken aback. I was like, ‘The song’s been out for three days!’”

Since its release, “Silent Treatment” has steadily gained traction, reaching a peak of No. 14 on the Pop Airplay chart and marking Skye’s debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2026. She describes the moment she learned the news with awe, recalling how she put her head in her hands and wiped away tears. “Look at the names that I’m surrounded by: They’re the people who I used to sing songs in the car with my family with. They’re the people who I have grown up with.”

Among those she admires is Taylor Swift, whom she proudly calls a “Swiftie.” Attending Swift’s The Eras Tour at London’s Wembley Stadium in 2024 was, in her words, “the best night of my life.” Skye understands the importance of songwriting elements like bridges in pop hits, and “Silent Treatment” contains memorable lyrics such as “You’re a narcissist, I’m an optimist, name a deadlier combo.” She explains the song’s broad appeal: “Getting the silent treatment is such a universal experience. [But] there’s a fun energy to it that’s just infectious. Sometimes I’m listening to it and I want to cry; sometimes I’m dancing; and sometimes I’m just grooving while doing my homework.”

Skye’s manager, Nick Bobetsky of State of the Art, who connected with her in 2024 after previously working with Chappell Roan, attributes part of her rising success to this deep connection with fans reminiscent of Swift’s own loyal following. “There aren’t a lot of fair-weather Freya fans,” Bobetsky tells Billboard. “If you’re a Freya fan, you are searching, sharing, consuming, you’re spreading the word. Her fans are really loud for her.”

While leveraging her growing fanbase from the Zombies franchise, Bobetsky emphasizes that they aren’t aiming to replicate the career trajectories of other Disney alumni like Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, or Selena Gomez. “The road map that is really valuable is knowing [the Disney] system, it’s such a massive accelerator when it comes to exposing young artists to young fans,” he says. “The piece that I think we’re really prioritizing is to not just rely on that.”

What distinguishes Skye is that she is achieving her Top 40 breakthrough while still actively involved with Disney projects. At the time of this interview, she was filming Zombies 5 in New Zealand, which is slated for release in 2027. “The stereotype that has been created, and I felt like one that I was going to have to follow, was like, ‘OK, I’ll do Disney. Then one day, unfortunately, that journey will come to an end, and then my music career will begin.’ The fact that they’ve been able to coincide is something that, honestly, I was surprised by and [feel] really lucky for.”

Following the completion of filming, Skye will embark on an expanded Stars Align Tour supporting her Stardust EP, released in February 2026. The tour will include 40 new dates starting in June across Australia, the U.S., and the U.K. She has been vocal about keeping ticket prices affordable, especially after witnessing scalpers resell $30 tickets for her sold-out solo acoustic shows late last year at exorbitant prices. To combat this, she utilizes Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange and provides separate VIP upgrades to protect premium seats from bots. “Keeping tickets as affordable as possible is so important, especially with my fanbase where we’re all teenagers and young girls. You never want to close people out because of how expensive your ticket prices are.”

Despite her professional composure and poignant songwriting, Skye remains grounded, crediting her parents, friends, and management team for their support as her career accelerates. Even with her songs resonating widely, she embraces the prospect of expanding her audience. “It’s one of my favorite things when I see someone saying, ‘Who is she?’ It excites me. I’m like, ‘There’s so many more people I have the opportunity to reach and find.’ Maybe it’s meant as an insult, but I find it quite thrilling.”

Freya Skye continues to rise as a fresh voice in pop music while balancing her acting career, proving that her breakthrough is only just beginning.