Zara Larsson’s Sweet DM Turned Into a Charting ‘Stateside’ Remix With PinkPantheress

Zara Larsson did not overthink her way onto the “Stateside” remix. She sent a DM, got a response, and soon found herself collaborating with PinkPantheress on one of the pop star’s biggest releases to date.

The two artists teamed up for a new version of “Stateside,” released in October 2025 as part of PinkPantheress’ Fancy Some More? project. The remix is currently charting on the Billboard Hot 100, and the pair dropped an official music video on Jan. 15.

According to PEOPLE, Larsson was thrilled about working with PinkPantheress. “I love her. I think she’s so cute and very, very, very talented. She’s unapologetically herself, which I love, and she’s doing things her own way,” the “Midnight Sun” singer shared with the outlet. “She’s also very smart and funny.”

Larsson says the collaboration happened almost by accident. Just days before PinkPantheress invited her to join the remix, Larsson had already reached out with a message of support. “I actually DM’ed her two days before she asked me to jump on the remix, like, ‘Queen.’ I think that’s all I said,” she explains with a laugh.

The message was part of a larger burst of appreciation. “She was like, ‘Hey queen.’ I just went, ‘I love you.’ I wanted to show some love. I was on a love spree. I just DM’ed a bunch of pop girlies, like, ‘Queen.’ I just want to appreciate all the girls who are killing it,” adds the Grammy-nominated artist.

PinkPantheress soon followed up with a proposal. “I was like, ‘Duh, I would love that.’ And she was like, ‘I’m doing this remix album. Are you down to do a song?’ I was like, ‘Yes,’” recalls Larsson.

At the time, Larsson was opening for Tate McRae on the Miss Possessive Tour. That schedule did not slow the process. She recorded her verse “somewhere in middle America” while on the road.

“It was cute, boom boom boom boom boom, wrote my verse, sent it in, and then it was out like four days later,” she said.

When Fancy Some More? was released, Larsson briefly worried she might not have made the final cut, especially after seeing Kylie Minogue featured on another “Stateside” remix. “I got really scared, like, ‘Oh my God, what if she hated it? I thought she liked it,” said Larsson. “But then it turned out she had, like, a million people on the remixes, which I think is actually a really fun way to do it.”

Larsson appears on one of four remixes of “Stateside,” alongside versions featuring Minogue, Bladee, and Groove Armada. Fans have responded quickly. “People also seem to like it, which makes me really excited,” she adds.

The remix has reached No. 83 on the Hot 100 so far, and the Charlotte Rutherford-directed music video earned nearly 10 million views in less than 10 days, proving that a simple DM can still lead to a major pop moment.