Lizzo is the latest Vanity Fair cover star. In the November issue of the magazine, the “About Damn Time” star opened up about her love life, her music, the infamous crystal flute, and Radiohead.
Presenting our November cover star, @Lizzo.
Halfway to achieving EGOT status, the Emmy and Grammy winner sat down with Lisa Robinson for a frank conversation about internet criticism, the nuances of positivity, and the “love of [her] life.”
?: https://t.co/jt7AnpZLhN pic.twitter.com/WNpBOKtQ1J
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) October 11, 2022
In the detailed interview, Lizzo talks about growing up in Houston and how she was bullied in high school. The story says that while she did listen to her share of rap (Houston rap, especially, obvs) along with her peers, she was listening to Radiohead a lot. However, she kept her affinity for the British rock band a secret for fear of inviting more bullying than she was already experiencing.
“It was a Black school,” Lizzo explains. “Mostly Black and brown, Caribbean, I had Nigerian friends… They were all listening to what was on the radio: Usher, Destiny’s Child, Ludacris, and I was into Radiohead’s OK Computer. I kept it hidden, even when I was in a rock band because I didn’t want to be made fun of by my peers — they’d yell, ‘White girl!’ Also, I was wearing these flared bell bottoms with embroidery down it — and they’d say, ‘You look like a white girl, why do you want to look like a hippie?’ I wanted to be accepted so bad; not fitting in really hurt.”
Even though she kept her passion for the music of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and company silent, she said that she overcame bullies by being funny. Surprised? Neither are we.
“My defense mechanism was humor,” she said. “I became the class clown, that’s a kind of perceived confidence. And I have the type of social anxiety where I get louder and funnier the more stressed I am.”
Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
