Singer Charli xcx said she’s been stepping back from social media as she navigates anxiety, mental health struggles, and the pressures that came with her career breakthrough
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LOS ANGELES — Singer Charli xcx said she’s been stepping back from social media as she navigates anxiety, mental health struggles, and the pressures that came with her career breakthrough.
"I have actually been a lot more offline," Charli said in a Rolling Stone.
"I don’t really look as much anymore. It’s just better for my brain,” added the singer, whose Brat era became a full-blown cultural takeover.
The statement comes as Charli gears up for her next era with Music, Fashion, Film, her upcoming album that has already sparked plenty of online discourse thanks to lead single "Rock Music."
The track’s distorted guitars and bold declaration that "the dance floor is dead" immediately set the internet buzzing, with fans debating whether Charli was reinventing herself, trolling everyone, or both, reports people.com.
Charli says she’s become far more intentional about how much of that conversation she allows herself to see.
"The discourse is loud, and sometimes that can be very overwhelming," she said.
For years, Charli embraced the internet, building a direct relationship with fans and helping shape online pop culture in the process. But the massive success of Brat brought a level of attention unlike anything she'd experienced before.
The album, which was released in June 2024, dominated charts, inspired countless memes, earned three Grammy wins and turned its signature lime-green aesthetic into a cultural phenomenon.
Charli, whose real name Charlotte Aitchison,knew she was dealing with something much heavier.
"I know people probably won’t believe me, because I am inherently, at least in the past, a very online artist," she said. "But I recently have been really struggling with my mental health to the point where, if I’m being real, I’m in the worst place mentally that I’ve been in my life."
She noted how the constant commentary surrounding her career, combined with the demands
of touring and public life, eventually became difficult to manage.
"It got to a place where my anxiety was physically affecting me, and I can’t actually proceed in life like that," she said.
Along with spending less time online, she’s cut back on coffee, rethought how she approaches work, and focused more on spending time with her husband, The 1975's George Daniel.
She's also looking for more meaningful ways to connect with fans. Charli has started hosting intimate events where she can meet listeners face-to-face and talk about art, creativity and music.
"Things have changed now. I’m interested in making things really intimate between me and my audience, and sitting down one-on-one with a person and having a conversation."
She has no interest in doing is making Brat 2.
"I knew when I was making it that I was never going to make that record again. It’s not creatively rewarding for me to make the same thing twice. All of my albums work in opposites. They repel against each other, and that's the connective tissue."
"I want to live my life exactly the way that I want to live it, because I don't get a redo."