Lizzo felt “stressed and really sad” after her new album Bitch failed to chart.
The 38-year-old pop star released her fifth record on June 5 but Bitch failed to make it into the Billboard 200 chart in the US and the top 100 in the UK Albums Chart – and Lizzo has admitted she felt troubled by the “soul-crushing” performance after her previous chart successes.
During an appearance on the Swiftologist podcast, Lizzo explained: “I think right now, dropping the album, I took it to heart. Really, really heavily .. I hurt my own feelings and I was really stressed and I was really sad for a few days because I was like: ‘Wait a minute, this is some of my best stuff’.
“I had to come to terms with the fact that not only is the music industry different in the last three years – and we need to talk about that, we need to talk about the radio aspect that I got my a** chewed out for but it’s happening and it’s true.
“But also my relationship and my connection musically with the world is different. And I think I had to mourn that … “
Lizzo’s last album, Special, reached number two on the Billboard 200 chart in 2022 while her previous effort, 2019’s Cuz I Love You, made it to number six.
She added: “I didn’t think it would be crazy, but I also didn’t think it would be this [bad] … and there was like 24 hours of my life where I based by success on and my worth on a number and I think that was soul-crushing. “
The singer went on to reveal she was supported by fellow artist SZA – real name Solana Rowe – after Bitch was released. She said: “Thank God for Solana, she called me and was like: ‘You’re on my mind.’
“I was like: ‘Am I a failure?’ and she was like: ‘Oh my god, no!’ – she’s so sweet.”
I like meditated and I prayed on it and I was like: ‘This is why I don’t judge myself on my success or my impact on numbers. This is why I don’t do that because it’s soul-crushing if you do.”