Lizzo Reveals Why She Nearly Quit Music After Releasing ‘Truth Hurts’
Lizzo has been a tour-de-force since signing with Atlantic Records in 2017, where she dropped her well-received EP Coconut Oil that same year. But 2019 has been truly been her year. The “Juice” singer has been snatching up all the things left and right, from magazine covers and award noms to landing a beauty deal with Urban Decay and making her official foray into acting.
The rapper-singer-twerker-flautist has quickly won over the mainstream with her unabashed love for her curves, firecracker personality and fun yet grounded music. Most recently, the 31-year-old artist lit up the 2019 BET Awards with an electrifying performance of her 2017 smash hit, “Truth Hurts,” that earned a standing ovation and round of applause from an impressed Rihanna. Seriously, watch it for yourself.
So, it’s hard to imagine that the Lizzo, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson, almost quit music two years ago. She recently opened up to PEOPLE about the ups and downs she’s faced during her 10-year career, which started in Houston where she learned how to play classical flute and started rapping before she made her way to Minneapolis, where she caught the eye of Prince (he took her under his wing as his protegé).
Lizzo broke the revelation that she briefly thought about packing it up, flute and all, after the bossy anthem didn’t pop off the way she had expected it to.
“The day I released ‘Truth Hurts’ was probably one of the darkest days I’ve had ever in my career. I remember thinking, ‘If I quit music now, nobody would notice. This is my best song ever, and nobody cares,'” she recalled of the dark period. “I was like, ‘F— it, I’m done.’ And a lot of people rallied; my producer, my publicist and my family, they were like, ‘Just keep going because this is the darkest before the dawn.'”
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Thankfully, her team’s uplifting words gave her the motivation she needed to keep chasing after her dreams. The songstress, who is currently on tour for her debut studio album Cuz I Love You, just found out that “Truth Hurts,” which currently sits at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, has been nominated for a Grammy two years after its initial release.
She reflected over how the song that nearly led to her quitting music is what ultimately won over the general public after Netflix film Someone Great gave it a second wind.
“Now the song that made me want to quit is the song that everyone’s falling in love with me for, which is such a testament to journeys: Your darkest day turns into your brightest triumph.”
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