Belinda Carlisle Turns Back The Clock To Her California Roots With New Studio Album "Once Upon A Time In California"

Belinda Carlisle, beloved solo artist and voice of the Go-Go’s, returns to her roots with Once Upon a Time in California, released on 29 August 2025 by Demon Music. The album debuted at #3 in Australia, #11 in the UK, #11 on U.S. iTunes Pop, and #40 on U.S. iTunes. Featuring ten newly recorded studio interpretations produced in Los Angeles by Gabe Lopez (who also worked on Wilder Shores, 2017), Once Upon a Time in California is available on CD, vinyl, and digital formats.

Following the success of Belinda’s 2023 EP Kismet, Once Upon A Time In California sees Belinda Carlisle take a deeply personal journey through the golden sounds of her youth with this ten-track collection. Steeped in the spirit of her Californian upbringing, the album is a heartfelt tribute to the vintage pop culture that shaped her musical identity.

What sets this album apart is that it’s a celebration of Californian culture that stretches its canvas beyond the familiar evocation of the Laurel Canyon sound. It’s a carefully curated and beautifully realised salute to Belinda’s personal education in pop music, and the magical sounds that arrived in her life from near and far, on the radio and on cherished 45s.

With the assured and distinctive vocal delivery of someone who herself has become one of the Golden State’s greatest exports - initially as front woman for the Go-Go’s, who enjoyed Top 10 hits with Our Lips Are Sealed and We Got The Beat and as a solo performer with a multitude of hits including Mad About You, Heaven Is A Place on Earth, Circle In the Sand and I Get Weak amongst others, Belinda Carlisle completes this sentimental journey back to her youth with timeless style.

Once Upon A Time In California opens with a stirring remake of the Burt Bacharach & Hal David gem written for Dionne Warwick, Anyone Who Had A Heart. Belinda then pays her respects to such timeless artists as the Carpenters (Superstar) Gordon Lightfoot (If You Could Read My Mind) and Jim Croce (Time In A Bottle), and to songs for the ages including The Air That I Breathe (Albert Hammond), Everybody’s Talking (Harry Nilsson) and Reflections Of My Life (Marmalade). The result is an entirely different kind of Californian dreaming for a new generation. Although this marks the first time all ten tracks have been available on one album, three of them – Superstar, If You Could Read My Mind and Get Together have been available on previous Belinda Carlisle collections.

“I was born and raised in California at a time when music was an important part of Californian culture. I lived and breathed music, it was my great escape - a refuge of fantasy and imagination. Every day after school and when it was summer vacation, I would listen and sing along to the music on the radio for the entire day. Always fantasizing about being a singer myself, one day. This collection of songs is the best representation of what I loved back then that I could think of - listening to it brings back so many memories of a time and a California that doesn't really exist anymore. That’s not meant to sound like a bad thing, it's just different - there was an innocence and energy back then that was unique and magical. Things I doubt will ever be felt in quite the same way again. Here's to the California of my dreams.”

With Once Upon A Time In California, Belinda Carlisle invites fans old and new to join her on a journey through the melodies that defined a generation

Once Upon A Time In California Tracklisting:

Anyone Who Had A Heart
If You Could Read My Mind
One
Never My Love
The Air That I Breathe
Time In A Bottle
Superstar
Everybody’s Talkin’
Get Together
Reflections Of My Life

Connect with Belinda Carlisle: 

Instagram | Facebook | X/Twitter

Connect with Gabe Lopez:

Instagram | Facebook | X/Twitter | Website | Spotify | Apple Music