Pop star SZA has revealed she felt like she was ‘drowning on stage’ when she headlined Glastonbury 2024.
The Kill Bill hitmaker, 35, whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe, headlined the festival’s closing night but her performance was marred by technical difficulties.
The singer’s sound seems muffled and distorted, causing people to label her set as ‘disastrous’.
Now SZA, who is only the third black woman to grace the Pyramid Stage at the festival after Beyonce in 2011, has shared the immense pressure she was under at the time, admitting it’s even painful to talk about months after the performance .
In a new interview with British Voguethe star said: ‘I just felt like nothing I could do would be enough for Glastonbury, no matter what I did. It scared me. I thought, well, I wish I didn’t do it, but I couldn’t run away from it…’
She said she thought at the time, “I’m scared. I feel like I’m drowning on stage and like I’m failing.’
Pop star SZA has revealed she felt like she was ‘drowning on stage’ when she headlined Glastonbury 2024
The Kill Bill hitmaker, 35, whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe, headlined the festival’s closing night but she immediately suffered performance problems (pictured in June)
And when she became the second black soloist in history to headline, she called it “such a big task.” It’s like no matter what you do here, you’re going to be subject to criticism. Because of who you are. But that’s life. That’s life, you know?’
At Glastonbury, the star ultimately attracted one of the smallest crowds, despite being one of the most dominant forces in the industry, as England were also playing in the European Championship at the time.
Her studio album SOS was released in 2022 and stayed on the Billboard 200 for nine weeks in a row – the first female artist to achieve this since Adele in 2016.
Nevertheless, she announced a break from live music just weeks after attending Glastonbury to “get her life back on track,” and also revealed to Vogue that staying in the music industry has remained a constant struggle.
The star confessed that she sometimes thinks that maybe she isn’t meant for fame and that she feels like she is ‘crashing and burning’.
SZA admitted that she suffers from “so much” anxiety and said she continues to try to “rise to the occasion,” claiming that God wouldn’t have put her in this position if she hadn’t had to work in the music industry.
Despite her Glastonbury setback, SZA set London on fire with an incredible performance at BST Hyde Park the same week as her headlining set.
Metro’s review called the show “virtually flawless” and claimed that “her live singing is truly something to admire” – a sentiment echoed by fans and critics alike.
In a new interview, the star said: ‘I felt like nothing I could do would be enough for Glastonbury, no matter what I did. It scared me. I thought, well, I wish I didn’t do it’
As she discussed not being able to see faces in the crowd and panicking, she thought, “I’m scared. I feel like I’m drowning on stage and I feel like I’m failing
Despite her reservations about the industry, SZA has another album on the horizon, Lana, which she is expected to release before the fall is over.
Discussing her thoughts behind the album, the star said she was creating new music from a “better place” rather than “anxious.”
She claimed that her music is “shifting” piece by piece and that she does not identify with her “brokenness” as it “is not my identity.”
SZA also recently revealed that she regretted getting plastic surgery — specifically her BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift), saying, “It was just so stupid.”
When she was given a BBL, she said: ‘I’m so angry I did that. I gained all this weight from being immobile while I recovered and tried to maintain the fat. It was just so stupid. But who cares?’
‘You got a BBL, you realize you didn’t need that s**t. It doesn’t matter. I’ll do a lot of things like that if I want to before I fucking die, because this body is temporary. ‘
‘It just wasn’t super necessary – I have other things I need to work on about myself… I need to get my damn mental health in order… Not to say you can’t do those things at the same time. For me, I realize that wherever you goes, you’ll be there.
‘But I love my ass. Don’t get me wrong. My booty looks nice. And I’m grateful that it looks like this… I don’t know, sometimes of course, but I don’t even care. It’s something I wanted. I enjoy it. I like to shake it.”
See the full article in the December issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from November 19.