When Olivia Rodrigo dropped her third studio album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, it quickly became one of the year’s biggest breakouts, with legions of fans seeing themselves in its melancholy themes of sadness, loneliness and heartache. On the standout track “what’s wrong with me,” she opens the song with a wrenching and telling line: “I’m just staring at the ceiling, can’t describe this feeling.” Luckily, she was fibbing on that last part: Rodrigo has a knack for describing the depths of despair, and making us all feel a little less alone as a result – with Grammy nominations possibly waiting in the wings as a result.
Rodrigo’s album would make the perfect soundtrack for today’s World Mental Health Day. An annual tradition since 1992, it’s a moment to acknowledge that, like Rodrigo bravely points out, we’re not alone in our struggles. In Billboard’s latest episode of their Like Minded series in partnership with BetterHelp, Monaleo and Kehlani discussed motherhood and the permission to take care of oneself. “63% of U.S. women struggle to prioritize their health,” as reported in the launch of The Permission Project, a BetterHelp initiative focused on women’s mental health.
Between giving yourself permission and this year’s theme of World Mental Health Day, Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change, it all coincides with the music industry’s intimate relationship with mental health and giving oneself the OK to seek help. In the past year, the music world saw a genre-spanning slate of artists both wearing their hearts on their sleeves in their art, as well as publicly prioritizing their own mental health like never before.
Proving that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a fledgling singer-songwriter playing coffee shops and looking for a break, or the record-breaking artist Ella Langley, struggles don’t discriminate. Langley, who is breaking Billboard Hot 100 records as of late with her No. 1 smash “Choosin’ Texas,” has regularly sung about mental health and feeling less than. Take, for instance, “Be Her,” Langley’s vulnerable single from sophomore album Dandelion. On the song, Langley talks about wanting to emulate a fellow gal she’s idolizing. “I just want to be her so bad it hurts,” she croons with a signature twang, alluding to fretting about being less-than and an empty feeling of longing.
But beyond the lyrics, Langley has prioritized her mental health even as her immense success was unfolding before her. In fact, just before the dawn of her record-breaking run, Langley canceled a chunk of her 2025 tour, writing on Instagram: “I want to be fully present for the moments ahead, and I know I can’t do that without taking care of myself,” adding, “Sometimes we have to listen when our bodies and hearts tell us to slow down.” It was a vulnerable choice, and one that eventually paid off for the current superstar: She slowed down in preparation for something better.
Prioritizing oneself is something Ariana Grande has been brave about as well, with Grande perhaps the poster child for the biggest mental health story of the year. While belting out raw anthems on her 2026 album Petal (including the emotive anti-romance ballad “Hate That I Made You Love Me”) in the wake of her stunning success with Wicked, Grande announced a hiatus from public life and canceled all engagements after her current tour, including a turn in a much-ballyhooed upcoming production of Sunday in the Park With George. Grande cited “ongoing public scrutiny,” as fans around the world then rallied to her defense about knowing when to step back from the inferno of fame. In June, Grande also launched B-Line through her Brighter Days Ahead Foundation, in support of the below-the-line workers that make the industry sing.
Langley and Grande aren’t the only ones who knew when to rest in face of a grueling schedule, which serves as popularity’s double-edged sword. Look no further than the typical vulnerability singer Lola Young exhibits, with the talented UK singer-songwriter also taking a step back from her burgeoning spotlight, which included a best new artist Grammy nomination (and best pop solo performance win for “Messy”) to work on herself amid rising fame. “It’s an ongoing process,” she said earlier this year. “I’m not the finished article, but I’m doing a hell of a lot better.”
Another one of music’s biggest acts, the beloved country star Jelly Roll, has also been frank about taking care of his mental health, amid personal struggles including his recent divorce as well as being a recovering addict. “I just gotta go do a little bit of work on myself to make sure that I’m all the way ready,” he said when it comes to handling the next steps of his skyrocketing career. “I’m completely sober, though. I’m clear-headed, and I’m deep in therapy, I’m deep in my Bible, but I think that I gotta separate from the chaos of the business for me to really hear what God wants for me to do next.”
From breakouts to veteran acts, the pop songstress Meghan Trainor was so overwhelmed on the eve of her 2026 tour she pulled the plug on it entirely. Speaking to Billboard earlier this year in a candid interview, she spoke about being a brand-new mother and explained she needed help to see the bigger picture in her life amid the pressure of an impending tour. “I was drowning. I couldn’t do it all and I thought I was doing it all,” Trainor noted.
As the music industry has proven, mental health checkups are an essential part of life, including for artists who are seemingly on top of the world. It’s a worthy reminder on World Mental Health Day, and the rest of the year as well.
