Selena Gomez / Rare
Selena Gomez is back on top of the music world. Following the chart-topping performance of her hit single “Lose You to Love Me,” her new album “Rare” has debuted at No. 1 on the North American Billboard chart. It’s a stunning return to glory for Gomez who has undergone many difficult moments in the four and a half years that it has taken her to release Rare.
Gomez has long tended to make things hard for herself. Despite being a highly talented, intelligent, charismatic, and wildly successful pop star, she has never bought into the hype. But the flip side of being a deeply introspective young woman is that one is given to questioning everything about one’s life. Yet one of the sources of her immense popularity is her authenticity. She insists on being real for her fans who has been very open about suffering from bouts of depression and anxiety.
“I had low self-esteem, and that’s something I work on continuously,” admitted Gomez recently. “But I feel so empowered because I’ve gained so much knowledge about what was going on mentally. My highs were really high, and my lows would take me out for weeks at a time. I found out I do suffer from mental health issues. And, honestly, that was such a relief. I realized that there was a way to get help and to find people that you trust. I got on the right medication, and my life has been completely changed.”
This month, Gomez released her first album in four years – “Rare” – that signals not only a more evolved musical sensibility but a more empowered and fearless perspective on life.
“I wanted a record that made people feel something,” Gomez said. “Whether that was a hard relationship to get through, or gaining your confidence back, or being okay with just having fun. So there’s different layers to it, and I’m so grateful that it ended up becoming what it is now…”