Meet the First Superstars of the Beyoncé Generation

Meet the first two superstars of the Beyoncé generation.

- Jada Yuan

You were not expecting this, but here you stand, transfixed, in the doorway of a Hollywood rehearsal studio, your throat clamping up and your chest tightening, watching 16- and 17-year-old sisters Halle and Chloe Bailey sing a single word, “Hallelujah,” in gorgeous, repeating crescendos, like a church choir sending a dying loved one off into the light. Those harmonized “Hallelujahs” aren’t even a song, just their way of saying grace. You are not religious. But you will start to cry. And as soon as they spot you, it’s over. “Hi! I’m Chloe,” says Chloe, rushing out from behind her piano to give a stranger a hug. “I’m so excited! We’re going to have so much fun!” She means it; Chloe is a grin embodied. She gasps. What’s wrong? “I like your sneakers! Blue is one of my favorite colors.” Halle, the younger sister, follows Chloe’s lead, flashes a sweet smile, puts down her electric guitar, and gives a more timid hug. Meanwhile, Chloe has moved on from complimenting my sneakers to raving about the vegan place, Gracias Madre, where we’re having lunch after rehearsal (the sisters are both vegan) and how she’s already dreaming of her order and how it’ll probably have pesto, which is maybe her favorite thing to eat, and she does an enactment of the exact look of joy that’s going to cross her face when it touches her mouth. Halle, her brow furrowed, lost in concentration, adjusts her reverb, then looks up with a shy giggle when she realizes she’d sort of drifted off.