Just when Lola Young‘s career was blowing up thanks to the success of her breakout single, “Messy,” she checked into rehab to deal with a cocaine addiction. Now she says having that experience provided some great life lessons.
Speaking to The Guardian, Lola says her addiction was something she’d had “for a long time.”
“It’s been a struggle – I’ve definitely had to work on some internal healing while grappling with touring and stuff,” she says.
“I’ve had to be away for a bit while battling with things. But it teaches you a lot, being addicted to substances,” she tells the paper. “It makes you more empathetic about other people that have gone through that. It’s just a constant journey.”
And Lola says she’s grateful that she’s in the music business during a time when people talk openly about mental health. Her manager used to work with Amy Winehouse, Lola says, back when “mental health wasn’t a conversation, addiction wasn’t a public conversation, and so people end up dying because they’re not open, they’re not able to seek help.”
She also says she’s appreciative of the fact that she was able to get help without being judged and that she had access to treatment facilities. As she notes, “A lot of people don’t have the privilege of being able to do that.”
Lola also reveals that even though her new album, I’m Only F****** Myself, doesn’t come out until Sept. 19, she’s already working on the deluxe edition and looking ahead to her next album, which she hopes won’t be quite as on-the-nose personal as the new one.
“I’m very excited to talking about things that feel slightly more metaphorical,” she tells The Guardian. “I want to flip it on its head for the next one.”
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