At the beginning of last year, Paris Hilton received a fortuitous affirmation from her longtime friend Sia: "You were born to be a pop star."
The duo were flying back to Los Angeles from Miami, where they had joined Miley Cyrus on stage for the "Flowers" singer's NBC holiday special, "Miley's New Years Eve Party," the night before. It had been the "Hannah Montana" star's idea to have Hilton perform her signature 2006 hit, "Stars Are Blind," and the surprise appearance had the crowd — and the internet — in a frenzy. But it wasn't until Sia asked Hilton why she had stopped making music that the star took a moment to reconsider her dormant pop music career.
"I explained to her that I was so busy focusing on my brands and all my businesses, and I just didn't really take the time," Hilton recalls to GRAMMY.com from her palatial estate in Beverly Park, California. "And she was like, 'Well what if I was executive producer and I wrote the album with you?'"
The very next day, Sia sent her over 60 ideas for songs — and Paris Hilton the Pop Star was officially reborn.
More than 18 months later, Hilton's long-awaited sophomore studio album, Infinite Icon, is finally arriving on Sept. 6. The project is full-circle in many ways for Hilton, particularly its home of 11:11 Media, the global media company the multi-hyphenate founded in 2006 (and rebranded from Paris Hilton Entertainment in 2021) to steer her ever-evolving business empire.
The 12-track collection of sparkling, electro-fueled dance-pop features guest appearances by Rina Sawayama (anthemic lead single "I'm Free") and close pal Meghan Trainor (the bouncing declaration of independence "Chasin'") as well as production by the likes of Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson — Harry Styles' GRAMMY-winning collaborators on 2022's Harry's House — and songwriting credits from titans like Greg Kurstin and Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa's trusty right-hand woman.
With its glitzy, high-fashion sheen and club-ready sound, the album is exactly what Little Hiltons (as the singer's fans lovingly call themselves) have been anxiously waiting upwards of two decades to hear, whether Hilton is stepping into her power on liberated opener "Welcome Back," gushing over her happily ever after with husband Carter Reum on starry-eyed cut "Infinity" or trading verses with Argentinian star María Becerra on bilingual banger "Without Love."
But Infinite Icon is much more than just a sophomore album for the superstar — it's another chance to take her story back from the clutches of the media.
The last time Hilton released a full-length studio set — her 2006 debut album, Paris — her life looked very different. The socialite was still filming her hit reality series with bestie Nicole Richie, "The Simple Life"; the show had turned Hilton into one of the most famous faces in the world since its 2003 premiere, largely thanks to her persona as a ditzy wild child from one of L.A.'s wealthiest and most powerful dynasties. That quickly pigeonholed her as a spoiled party girl who was only famous for being, well, rich and famous.
As the characteristically ruthless Y2K-era press doggedly constructed a scandal-ridden narrative about her life and famous friends like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan (The New York Post's "Bimbo summit," anyone?), Hilton turned her fame into a full-blown empire. She leveraged her celebrity into media ventures and brand deals galore, including a fragrance collection that contains more than 30 products as of 2024 and has reportedly generated more than $3 billion in revenue since its 2004 inception; she also continued blazing a trail on reality TV with popular shows like the global "Paris Hilton's My New BFF" franchise and 2011's "The World According to Paris."
Hilton unapologetically embraced her public persona on Paris, creating a soundtrack of slick, candy-coated confections like "Turn It Up," "Screwed," "Nothing in This World," and, of course, the aforementioned "Stars Are Blind." The LP, which featured production by heavyweights like Scott Storch, Fernando Garibay and Kara DioGuardi, even came with a breathy, baby-voiced cover of Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" to close out the track list for good measure.
The self-titled studio effort served as another reminder of Hilton's star power, becoming a surprise success for Warner Records when it peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200; it eventually sold more than 600,000 copies around the world. "Stars Are Blind" also became a cult hit in its own right, notching Hilton with a Top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as a No. 1 on multiple dance charts.
While Hilton views "Stars Are Blind" as "such a defining moment in my career," she alludes that the version of Paris on Paris is far removed from the Paris on Infinite Icon. "My first album was definitely just about being fun, about going out, partying, being hot. I don't know, it was just very me at that time," she says.
"Now, in my life, I feel like I've been through so much. It's been this whole journey, and I've just lived through so many different phases of my life," Hilton — now a wife and mother of two — adds. "So I wanted to make this album something that was deeper and more introspective, and just celebrate everything that I've learned in life and reflect the evolution of who I've become."
Part of that evolution includes a new perspective on the years she spent chasing validation and fulfillment through the public's adoration. In fact, the first taste of her musical comeback came with one of Infinite Icon's boldest and most surprising statements: "Fame Won't Love You."
The synth-drenched power ballad — a duet with Sia, which was also included on the nine-time GRAMMY nominee's latest album, Reasonable Woman — finds the woman once notoriously derided as being famous for simply being famous dissecting her global stardom with an unflinching and surprisingly vulnerable eye.
"I searched in your eyes for some glimmer of light/ Tap dancing for one million miles/ I looked for the smiles, hoping in them I'd find/ Validation for my futile existence," she sings on the second verse. Sia joins in on the surging chorus, "Little dreams come crashing, let them wave in passing/ 'Cause fame won't love you like a mother, like a father should/ And you may wish for Oscars, GRAMMYs and blockbusters/ 'Cause fame won't love you like a lover, like a brother should."
Calling the song "deeply personal," Hilton explains, "It really captures the truth that I've lived and learned over the years. And I just wanted people to understand that fame can never replace real love or true happiness. 'Cause when I was younger, I thought that fame was everything — it just seemed like the ultimate validation. But over time, I've realized while fame can bring you attention and opportunities, it really can't fill the voids in your heart or bring you the deep connections that we all need in life. It's just a reminder that the world can love your image, but it's really the love from within and from those who truly know you that matters the most."
"Fame Won't Love You" is hardly the only song on the album where Hilton showcases an inspiring amount of soul-searching and personal growth, either. She casts off stigmas and opens up about turning her lifelong struggle with ADHD into her own personal "superpower" on the appropriately titled "ADHD" ("That is a song that I needed to hear when I was a teenager," she says), gives sweet insight into the private life she's created behind the public fantasy on "Legacy," and even questions her own mortality and the legacy she'll one day leave behind on glittering standout "Stay Young."
Infinite Icon also affirms that Hilton is proudly aware of the impact she's had on today's modern celebrity culture, specifically on the outrageously fun "BBA," which includes a Hottie-approved guest appearance by Megan Thee Stallion.
The runway-ready romp shows Paris is more than happy to school the next wave of celebrity influencers and aspiring socialites: "Step one: when you're gettin' ready, look hot/ Step two: gotta catch a cab to the bar/ Step three: get a drink with a cherry and tie it in a knot/ Step four: dance your ass off/ Welcome to the Bad Bitch Academy," she coolly instructs her fame-chasing pupils over a pulsating beat.
"I feel really proud being the OG It Girl and the blueprint for modern celebrity," she says. "It was about redefining what it means to be famous in the digital age. Just pioneering a new kind of celebrity -— someone that blends fashion and media and business and pop culture all into a powerful personal brand. It's really cool that I was the first to turn my life into something where I've shaped trends and set standards, and inspired so many to embrace their own unique star power.
"I didn't just follow the rules, I created them," the business mogul continues. "I was at the forefront [of] showing the world that you can be glamorous, you can be fun, you can be a businesswoman. My journey is more than just about fame, it's really about building a lasting impact and empowering others."
Years before Hilton even considered making her sophomore album, her lasting impact as a pop culture icon was further proven when a then-unknown Kim Petras asked her to appear in the music video for her debut single, 2017's "I Don't Want It At All." The unabashed Little Hilton kicks off the visual by praying at an altar dedicated to her idol, with Paris then appearing like a high-fashion fairy godmother to make all the young starlet's designer-laden dreams come true. (The two blonde bombshells became fast friends, and later collaborated on the 2023 re-recording of "Stars Are Blind (Paris' Version)." Hilton now adoringly considers the GRAMMY-winning trailblazer "like my little sister.")
More recently, metal-pop newcomer Scene Queen also cited Hilton as a direct inspiration and "very much the aesthetic drive" behind her own alternative stage persona. "She talks about how she put on this voice and everything, because people were just gonna assume that she was dumb anyway," the singer born Hannah Collins told GRAMMY.com in July. "So she completely capitalized on that and was like, 'That's fine, I'll take your money and make my career successful. If you're already gonna assume negatively about me, then that's my superpower.'"
"I love that I can inspire people that they can really just be authentic and fearless, follow their dreams and make them happen," Hilton says of the artists and influencers following in her footsteps. "I would have loved to have someone like that to look up to when I was a teenager, and I didn't. So it's cool I can be that person for others… I know that teenage Paris would be very proud, 'cause I would never have been thinking this back then when I was a kid."
As Hilton's loyal fans know, Infinite Icon is just one of many ways the multi-hyphenate is inspiring future generations as well as working on her own healing.
With the release of her 2020 documentary This Is Paris and publication of 2023's Paris: The Memoir, she publicly recounted the heartbreaking years she spent at Provo Canyon School, an involuntary treatment center for troubled teens in Provo, Utah. She openly detailed the physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered there, as well as the suffocating PTSD and trauma that has subsequently followed her into adulthood and megastardom.
The "Paris in Love" star now proudly counts political activist and children's safety advocate among her long list of accomplishments, having introduced the Stop Institutionalized Child Abuse Act into Congress in April 2023 to reform the largely unregulated troubled teen industry that stole her adolescence.
"I want to be remembered for that," she says of her advocacy work. "Fame and all that is whatever, but to be remembered for making a difference in children's lives and being the hero I needed when I was a child, that means more to me than anything."
Whether she's in the recording booth, testifying before Congress or on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans, Hilton remains dedicated to telling her own story, in her own way and on her own terms.
"Every song on this album is a piece of my truth and a reflection of my journey," the pop icon says of Infinite Icon. "It's allowed me to reclaim my narrative and share who I am beyond the headlines and the persona people think that they know.
"This album isn't just about making music," she continues. "It's really about owning my story, embracing my past and showing the world the woman that I've become."