Lizzo once dominated radio, TikTok, award shows, and self-love anthems. Now, her latest album “B*tch” is raising tough questions about whether the disconnect is about the music, the rollout, or fans who no longer feel as connected to the brand she built.
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According to Rolling Stone, “B*tch” arrived on June 5 through Atlantic Records and sold just 2,649 copies in its first week, while pulling in under 2.7 million on-demand streams. By week two, the album reportedly dropped to 650 sales and under 900,000 streams. Even more surprising, the project missed the Billboard 200 entirely, though Forbes reported it only reached Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart. That is a major fall from “Special,” which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in 2022 with 69,000 equivalent album units.
The numbers are especially jarring because Lizzo was not a quiet success story. “About Damn Time” became her second No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, after “Truth Hurts,” and later won Record of the Year at the 2023 Grammys. She also won three Grammys in 2020, including Best Pop Solo Performance for “Truth Hurts.”
Still, some insiders believe Lizzo’s issue may be deeper than one album cycle.
“I think the biggest reason is that she never had a core fanbase,” one former senior label executive told Rolling Stone. “She was a very song-driven, radio-hits-driven artist who lacked a core fanbase, and that’s what you need today for career longevity.”
Lizzo appeared to acknowledge that shift herself, writing on X, “The industry changed so much in the last 3 yrs. streaming replaced radio & I was a radio darling. That’s how my fans discovered my music.”
I actually can answer this: the industry changed so much in the last 3 yrs. streaming replaced radio & I was a radio darling. That’s how my fans discovered my music. Not to mention the very obvious & public attack on my career changed things.
But I’m out here doing my absolute… https://t.co/hSlxl64C7s
— LIZZO (@lizzo) June 7, 2026
But industry pundit Ray Daniels pushed back, telling Rolling Stone, “I speak like a manager, that’s all BS to me.” He added, “If you know that the industry is changing, you should be warning your fans ahead of time. Why are you not telling your fans to request your song on radio?”
The other unavoidable factor is trust. In 2023, three former backup dancers sued Lizzo, alleging sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. Lizzo has denied the allegations, while some claims have been dismissed or dropped, including the fat-shaming allegation. However, CBS News reported that some sexual harassment claims remain active, and Lizzo said she would rather fight than settle. “I’m fighting the case because I know that it’s not true,” she told Gayle King. “The truth will come out,” she added. “The truth is less salacious than the headlines.”
That legal cloud matters because Lizzo’s public image was built around joy, body positivity, and feeling safe in your own skin. As one former executive told Rolling Stone, “A big part of her brand was being the underdog and being very self-confident,” but when fans feel that brand has been challenged, “they desert you.”
Musically, “B*tch” may not have helped repair the gap. Rolling Stone’s review called the album “full of tired moves and cynical appeals to the streaming algorithm,” while The Guardian described Lizzo as sounding “lost” across weak genre-hopping songs.
For Lizzo, the road back may depend on more than a hit single. She may need to rebuild fan trust, clarify her artistic direction, and prove that the message behind the music still matches the woman delivering it.
