& bull; Lizzo – who’s real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson – was born April 27, 1988. Lizzo lived in Detroit, Michigan for the first 10 years of her life before her family relocated to Houston, Texas. In an interview, Lizzo revealed that when she was younger, she used to call into a local Houston radio station and freestyle rap in order to win competitions and show off her abilities.

& bull; She moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2011 for a fresh start after her father passed away.

& bull; Lizzo says she doesn’t “ascribe to just one thing” when it comes to her sexuality. Speaking to Teen Vogue, Lizzo opened up about her sexuality. “When it comes to sexuality or gender, I personally don’t ascribe to just one thing. I cannot sit here right now and tell you I’m just one thing,” she said. “That’s why the colors for LGBTQ+ are a rainbow! Because there’s a spectrum, and right now we try to keep it black and white. That’s just not working for me,” she told the publication. She has made similar comments in subsequent interviews.

& bull; She is widely regarded as a beacon of body positivity and self-love, but she did not always feel like this. Speaking to Papermag about her inspiring approach to body image, she confessed, “When I was younger, I didn’t see myself in the media. I didn’t see myself in fashion. I didn’t like how I looked because of what I saw on television. It didn’t reflect me so to become this super body positive I think my journey was so much a part of that. I had to really learn… I’m still learning; I’m still not there. I be having my moments, but it’s through that process I think I’m able to help other people.”

& bull; A sleeper hit, Truth Hurts was first released in 2017. Speaking about the release of Truth Hurts in an interview with People magazine in July 2019, Lizzo recalled: “The day I released Truth Hurts was probably one of the darkest days I’ve had ever in my career. I remember thinking, ‘If I quit music now, nobody would notice. This is my best song ever, and nobody cares.” The song went on to attain top-tier status in 2019, becoming Billboard’s longest-running No.1 rap song by a female artist and scoring a historic seven-week run atop the Hot 100 chart.

& bull; The singing sensation etched her name in the history of Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-hop songs chart after her single Good As Hell replaced Truth Hurts at the top spot on the chart dated Nov. 23, 2019. With this enviable feat, she became the first woman to replace herself at No. 1 with her first pair of chart hits.