Madison Beer Reflects on Her Tumultuous Journey from Teen Sensation to Empowered Artist
At just 26 years old, Madison Beer carries the experience of a pop industry veteran. Her career began explosively at age 13 when Justin Bieber shared her YouTube cover of Etta James' At Last, launching her into the public eye. Now, over a decade later, she's finally creating music on her own terms while reflecting on the challenging path that brought her here.
The Slow Burn to Success
Beer's rise has been anything but meteoric. Her recent single Bittersweet marked her first entry on the US Hot 100 chart at number 98, arriving in October. When congratulated on this milestone, she responds with characteristic humility. "I'm obviously super excited and thankful whenever a song performs well, but I think I'm at the point where I love what I make, and I'm proud of it regardless," she shares warmly before adding with laughter, "Only took me like, 15 years! But it's cool."
This measured perspective reflects an artist who has learned to detach from conventional measures of success. "It was definitely hard for years to detach from that ideology, but I feel so much better off now that that's not something I drive myself crazy over," Beer explains. "I haven't had No 1s, I haven't had gigantic songs – actually, that's not true, I think I have had gigantic songs, but not to people's criteria."
Navigating Early Fame and Online Cruelty
After her initial discovery, Beer's family relocated from Long Island to Los Angeles where she signed with Scooter Braun, Bieber's then-manager. Her early career followed predictable teen star patterns: brand collaborations, partnerships with established idols like Cody Simpson, and gradual album development. However, she entered the industry during social media's disruptive emergence, facing intense online vitriol common for young female stars.
"People are so quick to be like: 'This is what's wrong with this person,' and attack someone's character," Beer recalls. "The first boyfriend I had ... I got so much hate from his fanbase and all of these people online. I learned, very early, that people can be quite cruel."
At 16, Braun and Island Records dropped her – an experience she later described as having her childhood stolen. When asked about Braun's recent high-profile separations from clients like Bieber and Ariana Grande, Beer diplomatically sidesteps. "I feel like I'm just at a point in my life where I'm doing my thing, and I'm focusing on my music and my career," she says. "I've done a lot of therapy, especially regarding those early years, and I've really tried to let go of it all."
Creative Evolution and Personal Growth
Beer's new album Locket represents a significant artistic evolution. Following 2023's introspective Silence Between Songs – which featured sleeper hits Reckless and Home to Another One – this third album showcases more direct, emotionally raw songwriting set against lush dream-pop soundscapes reminiscent of Lana Del Rey and Sabrina Carpenter.
"With Silence Between Songs, I really let people get to know me – that was really what I wanted to get out of that album," Beer explains. "Whereas with this one, I kind of felt like I didn't need to go crazy over explaining myself and my story so much. I was more so creating music that I loved. It's a new chapter, it's a new energy – I'm older, wiser, in a really good place."
The album chronicles what Beer describes as "a pretty up and down, intense relationship" she experienced while writing. "I feel very deeply, and I get spirally, I guess I could say, and kind of find myself being someone that dwells on things," she admits. "I'm the kind of person that's like: if I'm in a fight with my partner, I feel like I literally don't have a place in the world."
Embracing Vulnerability and Setting Boundaries
Between her 2023 memoir The Half of It and her musical output, Beer has deliberately showcased her humanity beyond internet celebrity. The book detailed her mental health struggles, teenage sexualisation, and personal challenges – an attempt to connect authentically with audiences.
"I've been online since I was 12, and some people have their minds made up about me – they judge me, which is all OK, I've made my peace with that," she reflects. "But at the end of the day, I felt with writing a book, at least the people who do want to take the time to get to know me ... I had to give them an opportunity."
This hard-won perspective informs how she approaches sharing personal material. While Locket contains disarmingly honest lyrics about relationships, Beer remains protective about interpretation. "It's scary for me to release an album like this," she acknowledges. "I dated this person for a long time, and I don't want anybody to go and attack them or rip them apart. I don't wish ill upon literally anybody."
Finding True Success Beyond Metrics
After years of therapy addressing borderline personality disorder diagnosis and public scrutiny, Beer has reached a place of genuine contentment. "I've done every kind of therapy – I'm talking about everything all the time, and I think I've come to a point where I can acknowledge these things about me without feeling shame," she reveals.
Her definition of success has fundamentally shifted from chart positions to personal fulfillment. "Those things are out of my control," she says of commercial achievements. "To me, the true meaning of success is being able to feel peace and happiness, no matter what."
With Locket now released and UK tour dates scheduled for London's O2 Arena and Manchester's Co-op Live this May, Madison Beer stands as an artist who has navigated pop's treacherous waters to find her authentic voice – proving that sometimes the most meaningful breakthroughs arrive not with explosive fame, but with hard-won self-knowledge.
