Grammy-nominated singer Valerie June: 'I couldn't get out of the bed for a year and a half'

‘I was really, really sick. I would crawl on stage and do my thing and crawl off and just sleep and repeat. That was my life for a decade.’

Valerie June: "The biggest challenge has always been believing in and trusting myself. I do affirmations that keep me motivated."

Sun, 20 Aug, 2023 - 17:45

Mary Cate Smith

I grew up in Jackson, Tennessee. It was real rural America; there were only about 8,000 people in the whole town.

I was born singing. I came out and the doctors spanked me on the bottom and I just started singing. I've been singing my whole life ever since.

My parents were very strict so we never stayed in other people's houses. I was a pretty wild teenager because by the time I was able to drive, I was like, ‘I'm going to do what I want to do.’

I grew up religious in the Church of Christ. I'm not anything now. I'm very grateful for my upbringing. I believe in the beauty of Christianity but also in the beauty of all other religions.

Most of my childhood memories are around working with my dad because he owned a construction company. Then, he owned a music production company. We learned how to work hard and basically hustle from the time we were able to walk.

The biggest challenge has always been believing in and trusting myself. I do affirmations that keep me motivated.

I believe that I'm a magical creature and that I have a beautiful heart. This planet is a hard place for me to be sometimes. I have to do all these tiny practices that are about joy, positivity, and beauty, in order to keep myself tuned to the sweetness in the world.

When I got diabetes, I couldn't get out of the bed for a year and a half. I’d crawl to the bathroom. My whole day was built around checking my sugar, what am I eating and at what time, and making sure that I had the physical strength to get through the day.

I was 27 when it happened. It taught me so much and made me appreciate this life. Most days, I hit lows but not all day, every day.

I was really, really sick. I would crawl on stage and do my thing and crawl off and just sleep and repeat. That was my life for a decade. Twelve years on, I feel like I'm doing good at monitoring my diet, exercising, and taking care of myself.

Having things out in the world is my proudest achievement — my books and my records.

Valerie June: "I'm not scared of much because I look at everything with a clear eye. I realise that I have a choice."

It feels so good to wake up and be like; ‘damn, I was a cleaning lady for seven years.’ I dreamed about living as a writer and I never thought it was possible.

The person I turned to most was my best friend Mary. She had cancer and I sat with her on the bed every day. When she left this planet, a few friends and I helped her make the transition to the other place. It was really hard.

We talked every day for 20 years, and we got on each other's damn nerves but she was the one I talked to the most. And I still talk to her — just not in her physical form.

The planet is so out of balance — racially — with climate change — AI — all the things that we're facing. If we're putting fear and hate into each transaction, then that's what we're getting back.

The only time I find [fame] difficult is when the media focuses on the negative. We need to know about gun violence, we need to know about wars but we can't know about those things without also providing balance.

That's why I sing the blues. It was banned from African American heritage 400 years ago but we carried it in our bones; we wake up every day and choose joy.

If I could change something from my past, I would never have gotten married twice. I would keep them as boyfriends. I'm not a good wife.

In so many ways, climate change has impacted the way I live. I wish that it was that I could find an easier way to be a traveling musician and leave less of an impact on the world.

I am a plant lady and I have over 100 plants. I'm constantly trying to keep the earth as green as possible. When I'm on the road, my partner or my mom takes care of the plants.

I'm not scared of much because I look at everything with a clear eye. I realise that I have a choice. It breaks my heart but I come from a town mentality where the highest gun violence in the whole country is happening there, especially with teenagers.

The heart of people when you really sit down, share the cornbread, and pass the fried chicken is not as fucked up as what is perpetuated on the news. There are more good-hearted people than not.

I've been nominated for a Grammy, and I've been nominated for awards. I’m a manifest generator; I put out content that inspires other people. I start the fires and let the sparks go where they may.