While Lola Young‘s career started taking off last year, things became “Messy” — in a bad way — behind the scenes.
That’s detailed, with her permission, in a new profile in The New York Times. She writes on Instagram, “We talked openly about many things including some of my more personal struggles. As scary as it feels to be this open, I feel very grateful to those who take the time to understand me.” She then thanks the writer for the “thoughtful piece.”
The article notes that Lola was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and ADHD as a teen. It also reveals that in November, ahead of recording her upcoming I’m Just F****** Myself album, she went to a treatment center for five weeks to, as the Times puts it, “address her dependence on cocaine.”
Lola tells the Times of that experience, “It was dark and I’m very happy I’m growing out of it. I want to be an advocate for people who’ve suffered, but I’m not quite in a position to go, ‘Sobriety is the way.’ Not yet.”
Indeed, the article notes that Lola was set to perform her song “Dealer” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in July, but it never happened because she relapsed and went back into treatment.
Her manager Nick Shymansky, who used to work with Amy Winehouse, offered to cancel her fall headlining tour and her promotional activities, but Lola chose to continue.
“It’s not going to be perfect,” Shymansky told the Times, “but I believe she can work with her mental health stuff, work with her demons, I believe she can grow, be huge and I believe she can have it all. I want her to have it in 2025 in a way that Amy could never have it.”
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