Lola Young details her recovery after becoming 'severely burned out and self-sabotaging' as she graces the cover of British Vogue

Lola Young has made her British Vogue debut, posing for the November cover as she speaks about her transformative year.

The 25-year-old is known for her honest songwriting, with her hit tracks detailing her battles with drugs, addiction and mental health as well as her sex life and ADHD diagnosis. 

Lola took a break from the limelight last year after collapsing on stage in September 2025, and she revealed in March that she had been in 'drugs recovery'. 

Speaking to British Vogue, the star explains how prior to that stage collapse she had been to rehab twice in a year to treat cocaine addiction as well as seeking help at a holistic facility and attending AA meetings, leaving her 'severely burned out'.

Following the huge success of her 2025 album I'm Only F**king Myself, Lola is currently working hard on her follow-up with singer-songwriter and producer James Blake.

She says the new record is more 'joyous and reflective' than her previous efforts, and that's a reflection of a metamorphic period in her life.

Describing the differences between how she felt when writing her 2025 album to this year, Lola explained that a year ago 'a lot of things were going on for me personally. I was working but I also was self-sabotaging and that is not a good combination.'

Asked by the magazine whether performing songs from I'm Only F**king Myself brings back emotions from the months before her breakdown, she reflected on learning to take pride in the album: 

'There was a time when I didn't want to play it, I didn't want to perform it,' she admitted.

'And when I started performing, I was like, "God, this album is so honest". It's exactly where I was and that's something I should be proud of.'

She added though that she was worried about if she could be the same artist with the same creative drive without drugs and alcohol, explaining: 

'Even off the back of the Grammy, I was so elated [but] I was experiencing these feelings that I'd felt a couple of months before: can I still be that person now? Now I know the answer is yes.'

'I've lost the dark times. I've lost the kind of pain and the comedowns and the really excessive big feelings. And I've lost being high. But I've also gained so much perspective and clarity and joy.'

After she addressed her burn out online, commenters suggested that her team had been pushing her too hard but she is keen to set the record straight.

'I want to say this: there was a lot of hate [online] to people around me, my manager and other people that were in my team. I'm in control; my team work for me and that's the truth,' she told Vogue. 

Last week the Grammy-winning artist announced her 17-date Everything Begins North American Tour in Spring 2027, which will mark some of the biggest headline shows of her career. 

The tour follows a string of live dates in the UK over the summer, which earned the star five-star reviews.

To her fans' delight, she also returned last month to All Things Go, the festival that she collapsed at the previous year.

Lola started her career at the age of 17, and was nominated for the BRITs Rising Star award in 2021.

She achieved global mainstream fame in 2024 when her single Messy went viral on TikTok and topped the charts around the world.

Read the full interview in British Vogue, on sale now.