Big Freedia's Pressing Onward
The Queen of Bounce is breaking into new music genres and entrepreneurial pursuits, all while rooting deeper in her faith.
Something spiritual awakens when an artist locks themselves away to create. The Rolling Stones went to France to write the 1972 classic rock album Exile on Main St., and Big Freedia went to Joshua Tree to write "Celebration," the song that inspired her debut gospel album Pressing Onward.
Grammy-award-winning New Orleans bounce entertainer Freddy "Big Freedia" Ross Jr. recorded 50 songs in five days while at a writing camp in Joshua Tree, CA, in 2023. Of those 50 songs, the gospel anthem "Celebration" stuck with her the most. While The Queen of Bounce expected to leave the starry-skied desert with a hot new dance record, Big Freedia was inspired to make a gospel album instead and released her debut gospel album Pressing Onward in August 2025. "Once I started working on the gospel record, my whole team got inspired," Big Freedia said. "With what's going on in the world, this record was needed more than anything that I had in my vault at the time. This was needed to give us all hope to keep pressing forward."
Big Freedia has a gift for creating music that gives people hope. For nearly three decades, Big Freedia has helped people release their wiggle with an abundant catalogue of New Orleans bounce songs and features that have transformed the sound of music, catapulting New Orleans bounce music to new heights. Freedia went from performing underground New Orleans bounce music in clubs around town to recording songs with music icons including Lizzo, Ciara, Drake, Charli XCX, Kesha, and RuPaul. She has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and earned a handful of awards over the years, including a Grammy for her unforgettable feature in Beyoncé's "Break My Soul."
While a gospel album from "The Queen of Bounce" may have been unexpected for some, those who know Ross before he became the Queen Diva knows his music career is rooted in the church. The Central City native began singing in the choir at Pressing Onward Baptist Church at the age of 10. Welcomed with open arms by his choir director godmother, he was encouraged to use his talents in the church. He started as a tenor singer before becoming the youth choir director and eventually the church's assistant choir director.
"That was my upbringing," Big Freedia said. "Just a young, Black, gay boy in New Orleans singing down for the Lord." While recording Pressing Onward, Big Freedia drew on the energy she grew up with to create a one-of-a-kind worship album that calls for worshipping God and celebrating life—with a dash of twerking.
"With bounce music, we catch some type of spirit that comes over us," Big Freedia said about the connection between bounce and gospel music. "It's the same thing as gospel. That's why it meshed so well together. Being the first openly LGBTQ+ artist to come out with a gospel record, as well as incorporating bounce music, I could not be more proud." Freedia recorded the album in Tremé at Esplanade Studios, a former 1920s church. To accompany her sound, she directed a choir of 15 local singers, bringing the church sound to life. This was the most fun she's ever had working on an album, she said. And without realizing it, this album would be the light in one of her darkest times.
Three months before Pressing Onward was released, her partner of 20 years, Devon Hurst, died due to complications with diabetes. She dedicated the album to him, paying homage to her beloved. "I think it was the toughest time in my life," Big Freedia reflected. "I couldn't have imagined losing him at such a young age. He was only 38. We had planned to die together, and for it to just happen out of the blue, I'm trying to keep my mental [health] intact."
Since experiencing such a devastating loss, Big Freedia has been on a healing journey. In a way, she believes God may have been preparing her for Hurst's death with the gospel album. She has been focusing her attention on her music, travelling, talking with a therapist, praying, and surrounding herself with close friends and family.
She has multiple albums in the works, including a second part to Pressing Onward, the dance album she shelved after her time in Joshua Tree, a voguing and bounce album, and a children's book and album. In addition to her musical career, Big Freedia continues to grow her entrepreneurial ventures in the cannabis industry with her cannabis line, Royal Bud, and THC energy drink, Wobble, made in collaboration with Crescent Canna.
After unveiling plans in 2023 for Hotel Freedia, a boutique hotel, restaurant, pool, clubhouse, and live music venue near Frenchmen Street, Freedia said the hotel is still in development and plans to open in 2026. Though she is juggling a lot right now, Big Freedia eventually plans to lean more into entrepreneurship and put her days of twerking, swiggling, shaking, and liberating listeners to rest.
"They got a few more years of me," Freedia said about her music fans. "The Queen has been doing this nonstop for going on 25 years, and I'm tired. There's a lot of wear and tear on the body. It's not just popping up on stage and performing. It's a lot that goes into it, logistically." But don't fret. The Queen Diva isn't going anywhere yet. With January 28 being her birthday, and a plethora of albums and projects on the way, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate the Third Ward's very own. As Big Freedia finds healing and peace through her faith, her music carries that hope forward, reminding us to spread love, count our blessings, and embrace people exactly as they are.
