Lizzo Declares She Is Not An ‘Overnight Success’ And Outlines Her Long And Humble Road To The Top

This time last year, Lizzo was not the household name she is today. Last November, she was still over a month away from dropping “Juice,” her first big single that exposed her to a wider audience. A year ago, she had about 350,000 Instagram followers, which is plenty, but also a far cry from the 6.5 million she has today. Although her rise to the top happened pretty quickly over the course of this year, it wouldn’t be accurate to call Lizzo an “overnight success,” as she herself pointed out recently.

On Twitter yesterday, Lizzo outlined what it took for her to get to where she is now, and it was a journey that includes nights spent struggling to sleep in her car, giving away free tickets to try to fill a room, and having a negative balance in her bank account: “8 years of touring, giving out free tix to my undersold shows, sleepless nights in my car, losing my dad & giving up on music, playing shows for free beer & food w/ -32$ in my bank account, constantly writing songs, hearing ‘no’ but always saying ‘yes.’ Glad I never gave up.” She shared a screenshot of that tweet on Instagram and added, “This is what ‘overnight success’ looks like. Don’t give up. Your moment is waiting for you.”

Lizzo shared a similar message this summer, writing, “When did I become mainstream?!? I WAS AN INDIE RAPPER FOR 10 YEARS!!! NOBODY KNEW WHO I WAS–SH*T, PEOPLE ARE *JUST* NOW CATCHING ON! Wow.. sh*ts crazy. I’m poppin a bottle. MAMA, I MADE IT.”

Lizzo’s grind has paid off, and her work from that era is really being appreciated now: Her two most successful singles, “Truth Hurts” and “Good As Hell,” broke out this year, but they were originally released in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Read our review of Cuz I Love You here.

Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music.