Most artists would give anything to be in the position Lola Young is in right now: a worldwide hit single, headlining tours, awards and more. But the “Messy” singer says there are some aspects of her current success that freak her out.
“I never want to let the glitz and glamour take my head to a different place,” she tells ELLE UK for a cover story in its October 2025 issue. “You can get swept away quickly – it’s terrifying.”
“When you’re living a more luxurious life – being brought out to a fancy boat by a brand or something – you realize how many different pockets of the world exist and it’s easy to lose yourself,” she notes. “People treat you differently. They know who you are before you walk in. I’ve never spoken about this before, but it’s something I’m still grappling with.”
Another thing Lola has to deal with is, of course, online hate.
“I used to watch others go through it and wonder what it felt like. Now I know,” she says. “When you get a million comments, it’s hard not to let the bad ones in.”
“Some days I can’t go online – the intensity and the remarks that target your insecurities can be too much. But I know what I stand for. There’s no façade or alter ego. I’m just promoting who I am. Some people don’t like that.”
Lola’s new album, I’m Only F****** Myself, is out Sept. 19; on Friday she’ll release her next single, “Spiders,” her favorite song on the new record. She wrote on Instagram that the song “encompasses all the pain and fear i have ever felt towards myself, and it’s about wanting someone to love me beyond all of that.”
The new issue of ELLE UK goes on sale Thursday.
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