TeddyBear: The Belgian Pop Sensation Who Turned Pink Shoes Into an Anthem

TeddyBear, the 24-year-old singer from the Mons region, has gone from playing drums in other people’s bands to filling Brussels’ Botanique before he’d even released a single song. His breakout hit “Chaussures Roses” (“Pink Shoes”) has been streaming non-stop on Belgian radio and TikTok for months, turning a grandmother’s shopping mistake into one of the most talked-about pop stories of the year. Behind the catchy melody is something that speaks directly to anyone who’s ever been told to tone down who they are: a young man choosing tenderness, sensitivity and a pair of pink shoes over anything resembling toughness. For LGBTQIA+ audiences used to scanning pop culture for cracks in traditional masculinity, TeddyBear’s whole persona is worth paying attention to.

From drummer to viral phenomenon

Born Jules Scinta, TeddyBear grew up in Jurbise near Mons, the grandson of a coal miner and son of a drummer, and studied music in Hasselt, which left him fully bilingual in French and Dutch. His nickname came from his university flatmates, stuck through music school, friends and family, and eventually became his stage name almost by default. He built his career behind other artists first, drumming for various acts, before stepping into the spotlight himself as what RTBF calls one of the major revelations of the Belgian pop scene.

The song that changed everything started, fittingly, in a basement in Evere. “I wrote this song in a cellar in Evere, and now, funny enough, people hear it on the radio. It’s beautiful, all of it,” he told RTBF.

A song born from a grandmother’s stubbornness

“Chaussures Roses” tells a real story. TeddyBear’s grandmother came to his very first concert and told him bluntly that his songs were good but that he, on stage, “wasn’t much to look at.” As an apology of sorts, she bought him a red jacket and promised matching red shoes — except the box she came back with held pink ones instead. “They cost her a lot of money, and she’s a stubborn woman, so I wore them, and I wrote a song about it,” he recounted with a laugh.

The track has since amassed millions of views across platforms, helped along by an official video featuring Belgian comedian François Damiens as a grumpy hairdresser — and, of course, TeddyBear’s grandmother Michelle herself. He has since followed it up with the single “Enfin Bon” and continues to work on a debut album.

Softness as a statement

TeddyBear has drawn comparisons to Stromae and Eddy de Pretto, and it’s easy to see why: like them, he builds pop music around emotional honesty rather than bravado, singing about self-doubt, identity and the thousand existential questions of being young today. RFI describes him as “a young man, dense and sensitive, who reveals himself with both force and tenderness” behind an apparent layer of second-degree humour.

There’s no need to label an artist’s identity to notice what his image is doing culturally: a big, gentle guy in pink shoes, unafraid of vulnerability, singing about presenting himself “from head to toe” as he really is. In a genre that has long rewarded hardness and swagger, that kind of visible softness matters — for anyone who has ever felt pressure to perform a version of masculinity that didn’t fit, seeing it rewarded on national radio is quietly significant.

A Belgian success story, made in Brussels

TeddyBear’s rise has been deeply tied to Belgium’s own stages. He sold out the Botanique in Brussels for his very first-ever concert, reportedly moving much of the room to tears before headlining bigger rooms since. He’s since played the Francofolies de Spa, performed in front of 100,000 people at the Belgian Party, and opened for major names like Clara Luciani, Julien Doré and Alain Souchon. Later this year, he’ll represent Belgium at France’s prestigious Trans Musicales de Rennes festival, following in the footsteps of Stromae and Zaho de Sagazan.youtube+1

It’s a very Brussels-adjacent kind of success: an artist from Wallonia, shaped in Flanders, who wrote his breakout hit in a cellar in Evere and had his big moment at a legendary Brussels venue before the rest of the country caught on.

Practical information

“Chaussures Roses” is available on all streaming platforms via TeddyBear’s link. TeddyBear performs at the Trans Musicales de Rennes festival in France from December 2 to 6, 2026. He can be followed on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook for upcoming tour dates and album news.

Pink shoes, a stubborn grandmother and a whole lot of heart: TeddyBear is proof that sometimes the softest story is the one that ends up everywhere.