I had to blaze a trail – there was no Lizzo before Lizzo, singer says

Music superstar Lizzo has said she is embracing her “confidence and power” to create modern-day beauty standards, following in the footsteps of reality show queen Kim Kardashian.

The Grammy award-winner, 33, who has become a figurehead for the body positivity movement and black beauty, said she is determined to make sure her success is not a “flash in the pan”.

Starring on the cover of People magazine’s Women Changing The World issue, she said: “I deserve the spotlight. I deserve the attention.

“I’m talented, I’m young, I’m hot. And I’ve worked hard.

“I had to blaze a trail. There was no Lizzo before Lizzo.”

The plus-size pop star has previously said she wants to normalise her body.

Lizzo said: “I think I have a really hot body! I’m a body icon, and I’m embracing that more and more every day.

“It may not be one person’s ideal body type just like, say, Kim Kardashian might not be someone’s ideal, but she’s a body icon and has created a modern-day beauty standard.

“And what I’m doing is stepping into my confidence and my power to create my own beauty standard.

“And one day that will just be the standard.”

The singer, real name Melissa Jefferson, was raised in Houston, Texas, in a family “proud of our blackness”.

“They taught me at a very young age how America treats black people. How it treats black women.

“And I saw very quickly how we treat fat people.

“I was like, ‘OK, what can I do with this? How can I make the best of this?’

“I wasn’t supposed to survive. I wasn’t supposed to make it this far.

“I wasn’t supposed to be a millionaire. I wasn’t supposed to be a sex symbol.

“So how can I make this worthwhile.”

Lizzo won Best Solo Pop Performance for her hit single Truth Hurts at the 62nd Grammy Awards in 2020, a category also containing Beyonce, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift.

She also won the Best Urban Contemporary album prize for Cuz I Love You and Best Traditional R&B Performance for the single Jerome.