Lizzo reveals how a nervous breakdown helped her career
Lizzo was the queen of 2019 with numerous honors, including being named Time magazine's Entertainer of the Year.
But she's also overcome several obstacles, including a nervous breakdown in 2018.
She says that setback actually helped her: It led the "Truth Hurts" singer to start therapy, and those sessions boosted her confidence.
"That was really scary," she tells Rolling Stone in its February cover story. "But being vulnerable with someone I didn't know, then learning how to be vulnerable with people that I do know, gave me the courage to be vulnerable as a vocalist."
Lizzo, whose given name is Melissa Jefferson, became depressed after ending her romance with the man who inspired many of the songs on her breakout album, "Cuz I Love You." But like her therapy, she says the breakup was also good for her.
"I needed that heartbreak experience," she says. "I'm not sad, because I use the pain so constructively. It's inevitable. The pain is human experience."
The "Hustlers" star, 31, also suffered from low self-esteem when boyfriends left her for slimmer women. Now she's become a champion for curvy females.
"I've come to terms with body dysmorphia and evolved," she says. "The body-positive movement is doing the same thing. We're growing together, and it's growing pains, but I'm just glad that I'm attached to something so organic and alive."
Lizzo's success has also brought critics, from body-shamers to those who says her music's for white people.
"My music is for everybody," she responds. "As a black woman, I make music for people, from an experience that is from a black woman. I'm making music that hopefully makes other people feel good and helps me discover self-love."
Lizzo's now preparing to perform at Sunday's Grammy Awards. She leads all artists with eight nominations, including best new artist.
