Page 100 - July ONLINE VERSION

L Lauren Pritchard Cobb, or you might following the events of 9/11 in 2001.
know her best from her stage name,
LOLO, is an impressive human, singer,
O songwriter, and Broadway actress.
ZGP: Where did LOLO come from?
LOLO: It is a longtime nickname; my best friend Alex from
L and one day he didn’t feel like saying it. I tried going by my
high school decided that my original name was too long
middle name (Pritch) but people called my dad and brother
that in high school, so it got a little confusing. So, LOLO was
O more concise and specific.
Q
ZGP: So, you are a singer, songwriter, and ac-
tress and most recently a wife and a mother.
How is that all working together?
LOLO: COVID made it an interesting year. I don't know
that I've ever envisioned having to be so sectioned off from
the world during this part of my personal journey, but in a
way, it has been kind of nice too. We've had a lot of family
time, us time. If COVID hadn't happened, it would have
been more challenging because of work, traveling, and
being pregnant. It was so nice having the little backstage at
the Christmas special with my husband; the little dude had
his headphones on. I had always daydreamed about those
things, having my little one at shows, wondering how those
& ability, wordy, complex, but still so simple. You can
moments would be like. Seeing them in the wings was so
sweet and emotional, encouraging.
ZGP: When did music start for you?
LOLO: Music is this osmosis thing that lives and breathes
within everything. It’s a thing that can't be explained, it
exists, but even how it gets created is so strange. The late Ol-
iver Sacks was at the forefront of a study called “Musicophil-
ia”, which is understanding the scientific breakdown of what
music is, why, who, how, down to the minutiae. However,
even someone like Sacks would be the first to tell you that
music can't be fully explained. Music gets created every day,
all the time, in a lot of different forms. Music becomes a
placeholder of a movement or time. The rebirth of the song
"God Bless the USA," a song was somewhat patriotic in the
By Tammy Yosich '80s, became a glaring patriotic representation and unifier
100 www.zoegracepublishing.com ZGP Magazine
A
people have crazy lives. This past year, Lisa's only
Even at a young age, music became an identifier
and unifier; nothing felt as a complete as music did.
I wanted to be a part of music in any way I could
be singing, playing an instrument, writing music,
anything really. When I was 13-14, I began to really
understand artists; the bands I was listening to were
creating their own music and performing it. That
was their job. Once I realized all that, I just decided
I wasn't interested in anything else. I expressed this
to my parents who were incredibly supportive, and
they were like how we do these things, this crazy
process, and I was very determined to figure it out.
I was writing, practicing, and focused. I was sharing
my music with anyone who would listen. I spent my
time singing anywhere I could. I'd sing mostly cover
songs and some of my original material because I
knew I would need to be comfortable sharing my
personal stuff.
ZGP: Who are some of your musical in-
fluences?
LOLO: I am a big lyrics person. So probably my
favorite all-time old-school singer/songwriter vibe
of all time is Billy Joel. His has an ability to tell a
story using words in songs that people don't use.
They aren't just another break-up song or love song.
Joni Mitchell uses the internal rhyme, to fit really
interesting words into songs. Eminem, I loved since
I was small and would get into trouble listening to
him on my Walk-Man. I was fascinated with his
envision the picture he was painting. Aretha Frank-
lin, she is a brilliant songwriter and a brilliant piano
player. More modern is MGMT, an alternative
rock band, but they use many metaphors and paint
pictures; their music doesn't sound the same, and
they remind me a lot of the same techniques used
by Pink Floyd. Maren Morris and Billie Eilish are
both strong and inspirational females and writers,
unafraid to put themselves out there. Honestly, I
literally listen to everything.
ZGP: I read that you lived with Lisa Ma-
rie Presley. What did her kindness mean
to you?
LOLO: You know, it's interesting because I've had
many people ask me about that situation. Famous
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son Ben passed away from suicide, he was a dear
friend of mine. He was the most wonderful human,
dying just a week before my son was born. Their
family has been through a lot going back before
Elvis passed.
When I lived with them, I was in high school and I
was in a band, an agent, auditioning in L.A., song-
writing, doing everything I could to launch my mu-
sic career. My brother was in a terrible car accident
that required at least six months of intense physical
therapy and care. So, we moved back to Jackson to
care for him. I went around saying my goodbyes to
every. Riley, my friend, and Lisa Marie’s daughter
agers, we thought everything was as simple as that.
said why don’t you just live with us. You know teen-
But a few days later, Lisa called my mom and said
she would love for me to come live with them and
continue building my music career.
Lisa Marie and Riley saw the hard work I was
putting into my career and believed in me. They
did not want to see that momentum diminished
When I got back to LA, I went on an audition and it
completely changed my life. I don't have any doubt
I'd be in the music industry in some form. Without
Lisa Marie’s kindness there would have been a delay
in pursuing my passions. Noteworthy too is that I
wasn't living off their money. I was literally just pro-
vided a roof over my head, and like any of her other
children, access to food and so forth. I worked
really hard to get my career off the ground, and Lisa
Marie provided me the same way my own parents
would have to support my dreams.
Interestingly, Riley and I were friends literally
before I ever knew who her family was. I found out
on a sleepover. On the piano were pictures of Lisa
Marie and Riley and Ben or a young Lisa Marie
with Elvis. Growing up in West Tennessee, you had
an idea of who Elvis was. Lisa Marie invited me,
welcomed me into their world. We stayed up all
night playing music around this piano. I would love
to see more people kinder to her, especially in the
light of her son's passing. She's been increasingly
giving to many people even before me.
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