Charli xcx Praises David Cronenberg Collab at Toronto Concert: ‘Completed the Whole Thing’

Charli xcx was in Toronto last night (Sept. 21), and she had some big words for Canadian film hero David Cronenberg.

During the singer’s show at Scotiabank Arena — the only Canadian stop on her tour — she told the crowd that the acclaimed director was the key to her new album Music, Fashion, Film.

“When I was making this album, the last thing I did was come to Toronto to record Mr. David Cronenberg, who is born here and from here and lives here and makes films here,” she said. “I just wanted to tell you it was the last thing I did for this album, and it kind of completed the whole thing, coming to your city.”

Then she treated fans to the closing track — on both her latest album and her concert setlist: “No One Lasts Forever.”

Cronenberg is included on the five-minute track and is the only featured artist on Charli’s eighth studio album — his spoken word monologue is a shortened version of an hour-long conversation recorded between him and the “360” singer.

“We recorded a conversation for an hour, and we kind of chose the parts that felt most related to the song,” Charli told music station Triple J. “I think he has a really interesting perspective on legacy and on art and artists. I really wanted him to be a part of this song because I knew that he would speak so effortlessly about it.”

The show marked Charli's first-ever solo arena show in Toronto, two years after the Brat star played the venue with pop act Troye Sivan on their joint Sweat Tour.

Music, Fashion, Film reached No. 6 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, her second-highest charting project in Canada, following 2024’s Brat, an album that prompted a pop culture movement.

Shouting out the legendary director wasn’t the only surprise Charli had for Toronto fans. The singer has been performing older songs from her discography during a surprise song set — a concept that many pop artists have folded into their recent tours, including Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Gracie Abrams, among others.

“I’ve been talking about playing old songs, and I wanted to play you something from my first album, True Romance — it’s called ‘Grins,” she shared before launching into the song. It’s a 2013 deep cut from Charli’s debut project, but many of the singer’s earliest fans belted out the lyrics to the nearly decade-and-a-half-old song.

After kicking off the tour earlier this month at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena, Charli will head back to the U.S., wrapping up the tour on Oct. 23 in Las Vegas at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Next year, she’ll bring the show in six cities across the U.K. and Europe.

The relatively abbreviated tour has sparked controversy within the singer’s fanbase after she toured extensively for Brat.

In an Instagram statement, Charli explained her rationale and addressed the comments. “I am really sorry if you feel disappointed, but I have to honour my truth as an artist: touring is really emotionally and physically hard for me,” she wrote.

“I am not looking for sympathy and I have a huge amount of respect for artists who can handle it at an intense, lengthy and high-octane level, but I am just not one of those human beings and I never have been.”

Charli’s next show is scheduled for Sept. 24 at Boston’s TD Garden.