Written by @kristenshylin_
In this week’s cover story of PEOPLE magazine, Brandy Norwood discussed fame, family, heartbreak, and mental health.
In addition to getting personal, the R&B star addressed the time she attempted to end it all after dealing with a lengthy battle with depression.
Reflecting on her childhood stardom, Brandy revealed that she began to feel trapped by her “perfect” public image.
In 2002, Brandy welcomed her daughter Sy’rai into the world with former lover and producer Robert Smith. The pair, who posed as a married couple when the singer announced her pregnancy, split a year after Brandy gave birth.
Brandy said her love affair with Smith changed people’s perspective of her, but she added, “I had to focus on what was important, which was Sy’rai.”
The Moesha star was also involved in a 2006 car crash that took the life of a 38-year-old woman. She later settled with the court and the woman’s family, avoiding criminal charges.
After surviving the fatal car accident as well as heartbreak from the failed relationship, Brandy said she became “super depressed.”
“I remember laying in bed super depressed,” she told PEOPLE. “I [told] myself, ‘So, you’re just going to go out like this? That’s wack. You have a daughter. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for her because this is not the way to leave a mark in her life.”
The singer said she wouldn’t have been able to get through that dark period of her life if it was not for her daughter.
“If Sy’rai wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be either,” Brandy said of her daughter, who is now 18-years-old. “That place that I was in, it just felt; it wasn’t going to make it through.”
According to the New York Post, following the release of Brandy’s new album “B7”, she discussed one of her latest singles, “Borderline,” which mentions the mental-health side effects of a one-sided love.
“I loved someone that was not available to be loved by me, and so that drove me crazy,” she told the newspaper. “I wanted to use my music as a way to start more conversations about mental health and how that’s something that we all need to work on every day.”
