Opera Is Having a Moment Again. Here’s Why It Matters.

When Rosalía was a kid, her grandmother used to play Maria Callas and Luciano Pavarotti around the house. “I think she would’ve liked me to be an opera singer,” she told NPR a few years ago. When Lux came out last fall, it sounded like her grandmother got her wish: the album is full of operatic excellence, with the singer working closely with the famed London Symphony Orchestra. “The real deal for her was classical music and classically trained voices,” she said after releasing the album. “It stuck with me.

Rosalía is not the only artist with opera on her mind. Raye, who is releasing her new album This May Contain Hope in March, is infusing some of her classical training and a live orchestra into her new music. Bebe Rexha revealed to Jennifer Hudson recently that she was planning to pursue opera before pop stardom, showing off her chops live on Hudson’s show. On Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé drew from an Italian opera for the ballad “Daughter.” FKA twigs has also found ways to evoke her own opera training into her music, most notably on her 2019 album, Magdalene. She has spoken about wanting to write a proper opera one day, as has Solange, who revealed last year that she is currently writing one. Even artists like Billie Eilish and Katy Perry cut their teeth in similar training as these artists, proving the genre is foundational to a number of great singers on your pop playlists.

FKA twigs leaned on her opera training on her 2019 album, Magdalene.

“Popular music draws on opera historically, perhaps more than one may realize,” says Jen Luzzo, press director for New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House. “In fact, when opera was in its heyday [in the late 19th century] it was the pop music of the time. And opera in pop music isn’t a trend, it’s been there all along.”

Meanwhile, the “opera girl” is an increasingly popular aesthetic on social media. On Instagram Reels and TikTok, there are countless videos of influencers, mostly young women, dressing to the nines to attend performances at classic opera theaters around the world.

Raye will showcase her classical training on her new album This May Contain Hope.

At the end of last year, Pinterest reported “opera aesthetic” was on the rise for 2026. According to Sydney Stanback, Pinterest’s global trends & insights lead, there was a 435 percent increase in the search term “phantom of the opera outfit ideas,” a 415 percent increase for “opera outfits for women” and a 210 percent increase in “opera core.” Users were pinning vintage gowns from the ’30s, ’50s and ’60s in particular, and looked at party planning and décor ideas as much as they were seeking fashion inspiration.

All of the virtual popularity has been fueling real-life attendance shifts at the opera, too. Luzzo tells ELLE that the average age for single ticket buyers at the Met Opera over the past few years has decreased from 57 to 44.

“The opera girl is inspired by the dramatic, theatrical world of opera. … She’s not afraid of bold fashion choices and making a moment of the evening.”

The Instagram page Last Night at the Met, which documents the fashion of attendees at their shows, is full of young women and female-presenting opera fans, attending with friends or dates. Photographer Rose Callahan has been taking pictures for the account since it launched on Tumblr over a decade ago, capturing the aesthetic as it’s developed in the modern age. “In our opinion, ‘opera girl aesthetic’ does not have a single defined set of rules the way other trends might, but it’s a growing stylistic energy that we’re totally here for,” Luzzo continues.

“The opera girl is inspired by the dramatic, theatrical world of opera. She appreciates culture, art, and music. She seeks out experiences that allow her to connect with history, creativity, design, and self-expression. From a fashion perspective, she often loves rich textures, jewel tones, and old-world glamour. But more than anything, she has her own personal flair that nods to the spectacle of opera itself. She’s not afraid of bold fashion choices and making a moment of the evening.”

In recent seasons, a younger demographic has opted for the classics, with under-35 ticket buyers attending shows like Carmen, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, The Magic Flute, Turandot, Luzzo says. When the team behind Last Night at the Met has had a chance to speak with the operagoers Callahan photographs for the account, it has been excited to talk about why they are attending and eager to show off outfits they don’t often get to wear outside of special occasions.

“This opera-goer arrived in a breathtaking white lace gown and revealed to us that it was her wedding dress,” Luzzo relays. “She shared that the opera is the rare occasion to re-wear such lavish and sentimental garments. There’s also this couple that regularly attends the opera together, and for a performance of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick, the gentleman arrived in a sweater with text from the Melville classic that his significant other hand-knit.”

With more pop stars making opera an accessible part of Top 40 music, an institution like the Met Opera is thrilled by how it is keeping the medium alive. “It’s incredible to hear so many pop singers weaving operatic elements into their sound and performance,” Luzzo says. “Today’s listeners are drawn to authenticity and innovation. Rosalía’s album Lux is such a great example of that authenticity. We’re here for it. Also, Rosalía, if you see this, we’re dying to have you at the Met.”